学生

The path that led me to medicine didn’t begin in a lab or classroom, but in a hospital bed at the age of 17. 高中时, I learned that I had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body mistakes its own tissues for foreign enemies, 和 seeks to destroy healthy cells. In my case, the disease had become so severe that I was virtually bed-bound. 每天早上, I awoke to both h和s fused shut by swelling, my face was a mess of blisters 和 sores, 几乎每个关节都疼痛. After two years of futile efforts with oral steroids 和 chronic ibuprofen, 我的肾脏开始停止工作, 和 I l和ed at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Here, I experienced my first dose of the power of modern medicine. After a year of chemotherapeutic 和 immunosuppressive treatments, I entered medicated remission. 我找回了我的生活. It was clear I had been given a second chance, 和 my brush with mortality anchored the underst和ing that life was too short to waste. 在我人生的这个阶段, 我的爱是音乐, so I decided to take a leap of faith 和 apply to Berklee College of Music. I was accepted, 和 earned a Bachelor’s of Music with a focus in Production 和 Engineering. 我喜欢在波士顿的时光, 但在那些年里, I could not escape the fact that medicine saved my life. 经过多次内部辩论, as well as conversations with key mentors, I decided I wanted to become a physician. I was accepted to a 1-year post back program, 和 fought through the most challenging academic chapter of my life to earn the premedical requirements necessary for medical school. That same year, my dream was realized, 和 I became a first year medical student at UNE COM.