Admissions Essay - Died Last Night :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay - Died Last Night "Jane died last night." His voice, though quiet, seemed strained. "Are you all right?" I asked. There was a pause. "She wouldn't let go. Do you remember when we were working out a few years ago and you told me Jane looked as if she were going to fall over? She would have if the instructor hadn't told her to sit down. She was so angry with herself for not being able to go on. It was like that at the end. Her heart would stop for long periods and then she would breathe and it would start again. I finally had to tell her it was O.K. and that she should go to sleep." Diagnosed with lymphoma four years ago, Jane had been at war with her disease since. She had lived longer than expected. She had been a fighter. He wasn't telling me for my sake. I was listening because he needed to tell someone. She had not only been his wife, she had been his world. They had had one of those rare relationships where they had loved each other so deeply it was often to the exclusion of the rest of the world. She had been awarded her black belt in Karate the day before she died. She was 52. I had a few hours to kill before meeting my mentor at Swedish-American Hospital so I asked a physician I know to introduce me to someone in the ER whom I could follow. Whenever the books begin to get too heavy and the study hours too long, I head for the hospital to watch surgery or spend time in the ER following doctors. It helps me to remember that the practice of medicine involves taking care of people, not just their bodies. For the first 45 minutes we had the normal whirlwind of fractures, hypoglycemic diabetics, patients in respiratory distress and assorted minor difficulties, and then the call came over the radio. Fourteen year-old male, gunshot wound to the head. Four minutes of organized commotion later I watched as a multitude of attendants swarmed over the body of a boy who had treated life as a game and was losing. Quickly nurses and technicians sliced his clothes away to gain access to life-sustaining blood vessels.