Why I Want to Be a Doctor

Emily | future doctor

The human brain is very interesting to me, especially since it seems like we do not know very much about it. My father has had epilepsy since he suffered seizures when he was sick with a high fever as an infant. His seizures were not able to be controlled by medicines. He kept having stronger and more frequent seizures until he was forced to have surgery to remove the diseased part of his brain before I was born, which is kind of scary, but pretty interesting as well.

I have seen with my father, who has a brain disorder, the impact that the medical community has had in his life. He had many specialized diagnostic scans that were performed by technicians and interpreted by radiologists. He was treated by many neurologists who helped to finally control his seizures and he was studied by researchers trying to find a medicine without the negative side effects, such as memory loss and mood swings that could help people who suffer debilitating seizures. Some of these medicines even made his seizures worse, which is kind of interesting since that same medicine would help other people. It is just so mysterious how that would be the case.

I would love to be a physician and scientist who studies the brain. There are laboratories that study different diseases of the brain, like Alzheimers Disease. It would be very challenging to work in one of those labs but very rewarding if I could be part of the team that one day cures it. The brain holds many undiscovered secrets and my own father's history gives me incentive to help people who might not be able to be helped by conventional medicine.