Medical School, Canadian Army

Still only 21 years old, I have worked towards the goal of becoming a doctor for the last several years. As soon as I became serious about this decision, I began volunteering a few hours a week at the East York General Hospital near my home: feeding patients, assisting nurses and other staff, and helping to transport patients between wards. I also enrolled in the Health Sciences Program at York University to prepare myself for medical school. I will be graduating this coming May, 2008. I have had CPR training through the St. John's Ambulance Service. My military education as part of the Canadian Army Reserve has also been an influential part of my life these last several years, helping me to mature and achieve greater levels of focus, determination, and discipline. I am looking for a very rigorous medical training such as provided by XXXX that will qualify me to sit for the USMLE, at the same time that I am very attracted to the school's setting on the island of XXXX in the Caribbean. In addition to the beauty and serenity of the place, I also very much like the idea of being part of a program in a Third World setting that prepares local people for medical practice and is dedicated to making local improvements in health education, research and disease prevention for the local population.

I look forward to studying medicine at XXXX because I seek a profound intellectual achievement that is more than medical knowledge: also decision-making skills and the ethical basis for the practice of medicine. Through a lot of hard work and dedication, I hope to mature into the kind of professional who will represent the XXXX with distinction. In addition to its Caribbean location, I appreciate the emphasis at the XXXX on the bio-psycho-social nature of medical practice and the solid clinical skills that facilitate a smooth transition into medical residency training. I am pleased that the XXXX is recognized by the World Health Organization and listed in the latest World Directory of Medical Schools with its students recognized as eligible to take the U.S.M.L.E. Of all of the things that draw me to the XXXX, however, first and foremost, I look forward to the experience of the Clinical Medicine program involving 72 weeks of clinical rotations at hospitals in the United States and abroad. I very much appreciate this hands on approach to medical school pedagogy.

While raised in Toronto, I was born in Lebanon; thus I am Arab and Lebanese. I am also deeply saddened by so much violence in the Middle East. Furthermore, my feelings toward the Canadian military are very positive, I truly enjoyed my time in the military; it developed my personality to be more reliable, decisive and a stronger team player. And I believe that it is extremely important to give back to a country that has given me so much. After becoming a surgeon, taking into account that there are very few Arab-speaking surgeons available for service in the Canadian military, I may serve my country again, oversees or at home. I may also find my services useful for humanitarian reasons in my native Lebanon. What has inspired me to become a doctor is the reaction of people who are successfully treated; their joy and appreciation. I have worked over the course of the last couple of years in various doctor's offices doing data entry, bookkeeping, and research on liver disease; and I have performed electrocardiograms on patients. This has further reinforced my determination to pursue medicine.