Hometown: Randolph, New Jersey, USA

Undergraduate School: Private, Yale University

Major: Sociology and Biology

GPA: 3.95 out of 4.0

MCAT: 513. CP: 127, CARS: 128, BB: 129, PS: 129.

Free example medical school application essay

If my DNA could be extracted from an inanimate object, that object would be my grandpa’s address book. It represents his and my determination to connect with those around us and have a life devoted to service.

I remember that worn leather address book jostling next to the oxygen tank in the pocket of my grandpa’s wheelchair as I pushed him up the intimidatingly steep hill located near the exit of the zoo. “I’m going to win. I’m going to win . . . I’m going to beat this thing,” my grandpa hollered, laughing.

He didn’t win—not in the traditional sense. Two years later, when I was nine, he died of a rare lung disease, although he lived far longer than his doctors had predicted.

Only after his death did I open his address book. It was filled with the names of hundreds of people who had dined in his home. Despite rising to become a prominent dentist, my grandpa, whose immigrant parents died when he was twelve, never forgot his roots. Virtually every Friday night he brought home patients and friends who lacked family and were oftentimes financially unstable. Aside from his sincere kindness, he wanted to make sure that his daughters saw that even in their comfortable town, not everyone was so fortunate.

My parents, too, both university professors, wanted to expose me to the world’s realities. As in my grandpa’s home, there were always extra places set at our dinner table on Friday nights. Moreover, beginning when I was in early elementary school, my family has traveled twice a year to underdeveloped nations or economically disadvantaged regions of the U.S. My parents wanted my sisters and me to experience life outside our comfort zone, and we often stayed and interacted with people in areas that were far from traditional tourist destinations.

In Tunisia, I walked down streets lined with churches, mosques, and synagogues existing peacefully side by side while religious-based violence erupted not far away. In Senegal, I helped a mother watch her nine children and could see the love that she had for each one, although they together constituted part of what others view as an overpopulation problem. In Haiti, I played soccer with boys who lived in mud shacks with tin roofs and no electricity; but they took pride in the sport, and you would never imagine their living conditions if you saw their field. In New Orleans, I helped build small houses for the homeless after Hurricane Katrina and listened to the future residents of those houses play musical gigs at local soup kitchens because they considered themselves blessed.

Largely due to these experiences, I’ve always wanted to get close—close to the people and the real problems. After my freshman year of college, I participated in a study abroad program in China on population aging. I learned that China, adopting a Western idea, had increased its number of nursing homes to house its growing elderly population. For my research project, I visited nursing homes to analyze how the people were adapting to this new trend. I didn’t specifically go to study medical outcomes, but I quickly discovered that many nursing home residents had high blood pressure and frequent colds. I then checked on the health outcomes of elderly persons who instead lived with their children, i.e., those whose families had adopted the traditional Chinese emphasis on filial piety and care for one’s parents. This latter group appeared to fare much better than their nursing home counterparts, leading me to conclude that there are certain tangible medical benefits in allowing people to grow older and stay in communities near family and friends.

A year after this trip, I was in my biochemistry lab researching the dynamics of certain amino acids and corresponding effects on whole proteins when I had a “eureka” moment. Waiting for an experiment to conclude, I read “The Social Organism,” an essay in which sociologist Herbert Spencer envisions society itself as a living organism. I began thinking about sociology as a discipline that examines many of the same questions as biology, namely how individual parts interact with the whole and vice versa, but from a different perspective.

I became fascinated by the interconnectedness of the natural and social sciences and how their intersection shapes health and treatment of disease. Medically, I realized that although biology is, relatively speaking, the same everywhere, health is a political issue insofar as it is culturally defined and valued. And, I recognized that medical outcomes and experiences are always influenced by social elements. For these reasons, I believe the immersion in and study of other societies and cultures is fundamental to improving health care.

Ultimately, I want to be a physician as well as a leader in health care policy. In addition to nurturing the well-being of my patients, I want to tackle what I consider to be the greatest challenge in medicine in the 21st century—rampant disparities in health care—which, in my mind, can best be addressed by having a multidimensional understanding of the people being served.

I plan to construct an address book of my own like my grandpa’s, which still rests on my desk. I want to help a new generation of people reach the summits they seek with their own grandchildren.

Analysis

An import ant strength in Derek’s essay lies in the strong theme that unites each and every paragraph within the personal statement. From the onset, Derek makes clear that fundamental to his character is his determination to connect with and to serve others. He utilizes this central theme to guide us through the lessons and values his upbringing and travels instilled in him and the moments that first drew him to medicine. In doing so, he makes readers aware not only that he has reflected deeply on his desire to pursue a career as a physician but also that he holds both the empathy and passion necessary to do so.

In the latter half of his essay, Derek elegantly connects different key experiences like his research project in China and his realizations within a biochemistry lab to describe how they have inspired his interdisciplinary approach to medicine. He maintains a clear thesis: to improve health care for individuals, we must understand those we are trying to serve. This is a fitting transition as he declares his aspirations to become both a physician and a policy maker. In tying these thoughts, he effectively demonstrates his commitment to being a compassionate and understanding doctor.

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