Food desert - Harvard - AMCAS statement
Hometown: Los Angeles, California, USA
Undergraduate School: Private, Loyola Marymount University
Major: Health and Human Sciences/Public Health
GPA: n/a
MCAT: n/a
AMCAS statement
My stepfather was a product of a “food desert.” Raised in inner-city Los Angeles, his diet was limited to the convenience of fast food. In an environment that fostered unhealthy dietary behaviors he was unable to modify his eating habits and fell victim to a life of morbid obesity. I watched my stepdad lose his mobility with time. When I reached middle school, he could no longer “shoot hoops” with me in the backyard, and instead spent the majority of his day on the couch. Ashamed that he was unable to fit into restaurant booths or comfortably drive a car, my stepfather often stayed at home and eventually became socially isolated. His ability to engage with the world around him became defined by a chronic disease. When I was 16, my stepfather died of a heart attack as a result of Type-2 diabetes. Although I wanted to be a physician since I was a young girl, it wasn’t until November 21, 2010, that I realized how imperative it is that I commit my life to advocating for the medically underserved. As an African-American woman in the sciences, I will use my education to ensure that marginalized families are empowered to effectively fight against preventable diseases.
Two years after my stepdad’s death, I became the first person in my family to pursue a career in the sciences. Since my first day in college, I have utilized my education to serve marginalized communities. As a freshman, I began volunteering at the Good Shepherd domestic violence shelter (GS); later, as a senior, I was awarded a grant from the Clinton Global Initiative University to create a bilingual nutrition and exercise program for low-income, pre-diabetic women at the shelter. At GS, I was continually inspired by the women’s resilience as they worked to rebuild their lives after surviving immense trauma. The strength that I saw in these women reminded me of the strength of my mom, who raised me as a single mother and rebuilt her life after the trauma of losing her husband. Unfortunately, like my mother, the women at the shelter suffered from a host of chronic diseases inflicted by stress. Witnessing the parallels between my own family and the women at the shelter illuminated the extent to which marginalized populations can be excluded from the healthcare system. This discovery further ignited my passion to serve as an advocate for and stand in alliance with the medically underserved.
Witnessing my family and community members navigate an often unfriendly healthcare landscape has highlighted the importance of kinship in medicine. Through my personal and voluntary experiences, I discovered that empathy and kinship are at the core of the patient- practitioner relationship. Kinship is evident in many facets of medicine, from macro-scale patient advocacy to smaller moments, such as the sighs of relief that I heard when Latin-x patients discovered that I speak Spanish. After witnessing the positive impact of speaking a patient’s native tongue, I was inspired to further explore methods to improve the healthcare experiences of marginalized communities. As an intern at the Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC), I witnessed homeless patients continuously return to the hospital for the same ailment. I therefore pursued a research project focusing on how a recuperative care facility could help address this problem by providing homeless patients with a safe space to recover from operations. Through diligence and collaboration, the National Health Foundation’s Pathway Recuperative Care facility was opened last summer. Notably, my undergraduate experiences highlighted that advocacy is not solely a habit, but a lifestyle. Thus, I have pursued advocacy beyond my undergraduate career, evident through my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar.
My passion for preventive medicine and social justice has amplified during my year as a Fulbright Scholar. At Rafael Puga Ramón High School, I utilize the classroom to lecture on various topics, ranging from food deserts to domestic violence. To supplement my lesson on domestic violence, I am organizing a solidarity march and fundraiser, “Puga Se Mueve,” to support an organization that provides resources to domestic violence survivors in La Coruña, Spain. In addition to my advocacy projects, I am conducting research on adolescents’ attitudes toward obesity and diabetes to then develop targeted educational materials for teens that promote a healthy lifestyle. My commitment to creating patient-centered preventative health materials and initiatives like Puga Se Mueve has affirmed my desire to become a physician activist.
As I reflect on my work as a Fulbright Scholar, I am reminded of the words of my stepfather, “Shyra, you can do anything you put your mind to”; I have decided to put my mind to serving others. From leading nutrition courses at Good Shepherd Shelter to advocating for homeless patients, I have diligently worked to serve my community. As a physician with an MD/MPH, I will continue to commit myself to studying the upstream determinants of health affecting my patients and vulnerable populations. I strongly believe access to healthcare is a human right and therefore would like to dedicate my studies to serving marginalized patients, like my late stepfather, as a leader in medicine.
Analysis
It is clear from the start that Lash is passionate about preventative care and improving health care for marginalized communities; she establishes this through the story of her stepfather, who suffered from obesity. The main strength of this essay is the clear focus on Lash’s aforementioned passion. This focus is maintained throughout the essay and supported by a series of experiences and accomplishments.
First, she mentions her experience volunteering at GS and designing a bilingual nutrition and exercise program. Not only are these activities impressive on their own, but she relates them back to the overarching theme of serving marginalized communities, too. She also discusses her time as an intern for VCMC and as a Fulbright Scholar, providing further examples that highlight her passion for advocacy. Each paragraph serves as an insight to Lash’s drive.
In the conclusion, the essay comes full circle with a meaningful quote from Lash’s stepfather. She shares her plans as a physician and, one last time, reaffirms her commitment to serving the under-served, which creates a powerful ending to the essay.
From 50 Successful Harvard Medical School Essays edited by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson. Copyright (c) 2020 by the authors and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group