Medicine In An Underserved Community

My passion for medicine continues to grow with each patient that I’ve had the privilege of caring for through shadowing, volunteering and my job as a CNA. Being my grandma’s translator has inspired me to pursue a career as a physician assistant, and beyond becoming a physician assistant, I aspire to practice in underserved populations so that everyone has an equal opportunity to access the health care they need.

(1) Describe the extent and source of your knowledge of Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUSM). (750 characters max)

have professional and personal passions in my life. I am passionate about underserved communities. Growing up in Tijuana, Mexico, my experience volunteering at a Student-Run Free clinic in San Diego, and what I learned through my graduate program in Global Health have made have a very close connection to medical underserved communities and to have the desire of being involved in helping shortening the access to primary care services these communities have.

Nevertheless, due to the obstacles I face and my father’s health problems, my dream is to become a health care provider. I want to make a positive change in my community, especially for the people who struggle the most. I will make a difference by fighting against injustice, food insecurity,

During the first three years I will work as a nurse practitioner in an urgent care/occupational health care setting serving individuals living in low socioeconomic areas. Providing urgent care treatment in an underserved community is important to me, as these communities are in dire need of healthcare providers who speak their language and understand their culture. I hope to make a difference in these communities by encouraging prevention. In order to be worthy of serving this population, I will need to partner with a practice that will take me under their wing and help me reach my highest professional development potential.

Wide reaching, nurses significantly outnumbered physicians as providers of health care often having utmost vast reach remoteness to underserved communities. Having personally lived in one of the underserved communities in my hometown Western Africa before moving to the United States of America and my life calling to be a nurse from a young age with the deep desire to make a difference. I plan to contribute and continue to contribute immensely to the underserved communities by delivering quality health care to remote regions around the world. I do volunteer service at several clinics in the Atlanta area with many well-known Emory physicians that care for homeless and underserved populations, these volunteer experiences provide me with opportunities and fulfillment to develop added headship skill and experience to meet my daily patients, needs.

Today I yearn to become a medical doctor primarily to dedicate a life of service to the most vulnerable members of our society.

As a young girl, I vividly recall writing about being a doctor; this dream became more of a pressing desire as I aged and noticed the increasing needs of my neighborhood. As an African-American woman growing up in South Los Angeles, I am aware of the lack of educational, financial as well as health opportunities in my community. I want to become a physician-advocate who is sympathetic to the needs and circumstances of residents, as well as one who is active in the improvement of communal wellness. As a first year student within the Charles R. Drew/UCLA medical education program, I have been provided a foundation that will equip me with the tools needed to be an effective community-based physician, but it is my belief that participation in the GE-NMF Primary Care Leadership Program (PCLP) will offer a challenge and a gift that will mold me into a great doctor of service to the community.

To this day, my mother, a CNA at a local hospital where she’s been for the past 24 year, fears going to hospitals herself; let that sink in. This is common in the community in which I was raised and I’m sure in many other underserved communities across this nation as well. Many do not trust in our healthcare system and I want to work towards changing their perspective. I want to educate those in underserved communities on the importance of taking care of themselves and seeking treatment when necessary. Having been raised in an underserved community myself, I believe that I am in a unique position to truly make a difference. My other hope is that I can inspire the children of these communities to follow their dreams. Maybe, just maybe, they will be able to use our similarities as a starting point as they embark on the lifelong journey of self-identification and self-discovery. Having the opportunity to pursue my dream of becoming a physician, coupled with the potential impact that I can have on communities that are often neglected is the reason that I want to be a healthcare professional.

I have had the opportunity while volunteering at M.E.N.D to be exposed to the various low-income patients with no health insurance and do not have the privilege of Medicare or Medical benefits. It came to my attention the lack of leaders within health care in underserved communities. There is a need of removal of barriers created by language and lack of knowledge of cultures and heritages that address the specific needs of the underserved. Since then, it has become my ultimate goal to become a leader in health care in underserved communities I plan to become an Orthopedic Surgeon and provide services to those who are unfortunate and cannot afford procedures. I plan to first earn a B.A. degree in Psychology at California State University of

I have extremely high interest in practicing primary care medicine especially in underserved areas due to the nature of the task. Medicine in these areas tends to be independent in nature in that you get to experience unique and interesting medical cases. I very much appreciate the intellectual stimulation it would most likely provide while also serving communities that most likely need healthcare the most.

Good, accessible healthcare has always been a part of my life. This summer I got to see firsthand that this is not the case for everyone. I knew disparities in healthcare were prevalent in the world, but seeing it in person instead of reading about it in a global health textbook opened up a whole new door for me. As I have reflected on these experiences, I have come to the realization that me becoming a doctor is not about “me” necessarily. I have the opportunity to gain a good education and contribute to this world, which many people do not have, and I cannot think of a better way to do this than to help improve health. With my medical degree, I want to go and work in Zambia, and really any other country which faces large disparities in access to quality health care because I have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to enter the medical profession and it is time I use the resources I have to help the global community solve this issue.

Not only do I have a good understanding of the patient population I want to work with, I want to help reshape healthcare. I particularly want to improve the access of primary care to medically underserved populations. Everyone deserves equal access to healthcare and there should be no disparity in the quality of care provided. Therefore, each additional encounter I had with a PA or a patient has elevated my passion for helping people in need.

That being said, I have come to a deeper realization. My original goals of becoming a doctor can tremendously benefit those in need, but there is more that I can offer. Acquiring skills by working for a non-profit seeking to help others is insufficient. The realization is a simple one: The best way to assist others is creating and shaping effective public policymaking. I yearn to combine my passion to help others as a doctor with effective policy in order to maximize my potential. While a doctor can save 10 patients a day, sound public policy can alter the fate of an entire city, country, or even the world. This realization has led to a complete transformation of my passion and dreams. This transformation was made possible by the knowledge and immersion into reality that the Fund and Ms. Frye-Revere have given

Poverty economical effects take many forms. Poverty's impact can be seen in the healthcare industry. The cost of healthcare has resulted in 100 million individuals in 116 different countries to being pushed into poverty. Another 150 million people have living standards drastically altered due to the cost of out of pocket medical payments (Alam & Mahal, 2014). Some nations such as Uganda has seen impoverished individuals being forced to endure 50% of health-related expenses coming from out of pocket expenses (Kwesiga, Zikusooka, & Ataguba, 2015). Many nations subsidize the health systems for citizens in an attempt to prevent the weight of unexpected health care from crumbling individuals and families economically. The United States spends