在厨房的角落里，母亲和父亲聚精会神地低声交谈，她的眼中充满了恐惧。我是一名高三学生。我8岁的妹妹丽齐(Lizzie)口渴得难以抑制，经常小便，她平时活泼的性格也戏剧性地变淡了。我父亲是一名训练有素的麻醉师，对他来说，这些症状是明显的迹象。带她去医院后，我父母的担心变成了现实。正如爸爸所怀疑的那样，莉齐被诊断出患有1型糖尿病。这一天标志着我妹妹一生考验的开始，也是我将永远铭记的一天。看到父亲在医学院接受的训练在我们自己的家里在姐姐的照顾下变得栩栩如生，对我来说是一个关键的经历。我看到了以前从未看到过的生活目标——在重要的时刻以他们无法控制的方式为他人服务。从今天起，我一直渴望在自己的生命中实现这一目标。 My compassion for those in need, coupled with my desire for meaning is what sparked my unchanging ambition in pursuing a career in medicine.
虽然许多经历在我成为一名医生的愿望中发挥了作用，但也许最关键的时刻是在多米尼加共和国湿热的一个下午。在一个藏在高山上的小村庄里，周围是河边的丛林树叶，我们找到了棕榈叶华美达，我们将在那里安顿我们当天的流动诊所。当病人到来时，我协助医生提供伤口治疗、药物治疗、建议和倾听。大约中午时分，一位名叫伊利莎(Elisa)的病人蹒跚着慢慢走进诊所。伊莉莎50岁出头，一生中大部分时间都在从早到晚地工作。在与她交谈后，我得知几个星期前，Elisa在工作时刺破了她的脚底。由于抽不出时间，她每天都忍受着工作带来的痛苦。随着时间的推移，在没有适当清洁或覆盖的情况下，组织中的感染加剧，伤口变得更宽更深。在观察了她的情况后，医生告诉我们伤口感染严重，很深，需要立即治疗。当医生告诉她他需要用工具清理她的伤口时，伊利莎的脸因为恐惧变得毫无表情。 Noting her anxiety, his assistant and I took her hands and reassured her that everything would be well. As the doctor treated the wound, removing the infected tissue and fluid, Elisa grimaced with pain and clung tightly to our hands. After her wound had been dressed, she was given an antibiotic and invited to rest her foot before returning home. Before we could move to prepare a place for her to rest, she quickly embraced the volunteer and me who had "endured" with her, thanking us with tears in her eyes and words of gratitude pouring from her heart. The pain of the wound was not just physical pain. For Elisa, her wound brought with it grief and worry, in that she feared she would be unable to work if her foot did not soon heal. As I conversed with patients like Elisa that day regarding their difficulties, I realized that we were not just providing treatment to patients. While our clinic offered much-needed medical attention, more importantly, it offered a symbol of hope for this small community. This hope is what I seek to emulate as a doctor.