Her body was getting cold and hard. It’s eight o’clock on a Friday night and I am at a hospital cleaning over a dead body. I’ve arrived here for my volunteering shift about an hour ago and a nurse told me that they’ve been waiting for her death for approximately four hours now. Right after she ended her sentence, we heard a loud “beeeeeeeeep.” The patient’s heart has failed her.
After months of waiting, the patient finally got a heart transplant few days ago. Unfortunately, her body’s immune system failed to recognize the new organ and ended up rejecting it. After finally realizing that she has stopped breathing, her husband slowly walked out of the unit with a fat “Death Packet” in his hands. And that was it. Her heart and a little of her husband’s heart had stopped beating.
My passion for medicine began when I was a little girl. When I was in elementary school, I lived in Brazil for a short period of time. In Brazil, I observed many underprivileged kids who were ill but couldn't afford to pay a visit to the doctor. When I witnessed this, my dreams of becoming a doctor became stronger because I wanted to come back as a missionary doctor and cure the poor people of the Amazon. During summer of 2010, I went to Myanmar with couple of missionary doctors to provide free medical services. Without a degree, I was only able to do simple check-ups and provide pre-packed medications.
I want to become a doctor who can keep people’s heart beating. Even though all I can do right now is to provide warm blankets and make green tea for the patients, I am giving them the service and the care that they need. Whether I am either washing their hair or carrying out a heart transplant surgery, at the end of the day, I made a difference in their lives. Why do I do what I do? I do what I do because it makes my heart beat when I keep other people's heart beating- both literally and figuratively.
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