Urology is a field where surgical competence, compassion, and sensitivity are paramount to patient care. I believe my personal strengths and experiences will allow me to succeed in the field.

My interest in urology began in college. I lived in a fraternity and served as a Peer Health Counselor while attending UCLA. This meant conducting student seminars discussing topics ranging from dysuria to sexually transmitted diseases. I felt privileged to be confided in by so many people about their intimate personal problems. As a result of this experience, I authored a paper exploring the psychogenic versus the organic causes of impotence among the elderly as a class project during my senior year.

After college, my road to becoming a physician took a detour. I worked in a business management company for the music entertainment industry and then started and operated a computer consulting company. These experiences taught me important organizational skills, self discipline, and knowledge in the inner workings of computer hardware and software.

My vision to pursue urology came into sharp focus in medical school. After my first exposure to the operating room, I realized the structure, team work, and the challenge of the various surgeries had sparked an interest in me. I jumped at the opportunities to do everything in the operating room from starting IVs and intubating the patient to closing the wound. I enjoy staying late in the hospital, which meant more opportunities to be involved with cases I would have otherwise missed. My interest and love of surgery was reflected in receiving a rating of 11 out of 10 from my first surgical clerkship as well as excellent comments from all of my preceptors. Coincidentally, it was during my urology rotation that my father suffered urinary retention secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia. Through the rotation and my father's experience, I was able to fully appreciate the prevalence and management of prostatic diseases and other urologic abnormalities. Just when I thought the cases could not become anymore interesting, I was fortunate enough to assist in an ureteral-appendiceal interposition in a trauma patient. Needless to say I was fascinated. After speaking with practicing urologists both in private and academic settings, I decided that I want to combine my natural ability to discuss sensitive issues and my love for the operating room with the fascination I have dealing with urological pathologies.

I have balanced my academic and clinical endeavors with an active personal life. Shortly after I immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan at age 11, I became involved with two-way amateur radio communications. I enjoy the ability to succinctly and accurately relay messages. I have found this to be an important skill both in and out of the operating room. With English as my second language, I especially welcome the challenge of public speaking. Synthesizing my knowledge of medical education as a student and personal computers, I frequently give presentations in front of large audiences. In my spare time, I like to run, play basketball, and weightlift. Having completed a marathon and numerous 10K runs, I feel that I have the stamina to endure the rigors of a surgical subspecialty. Lastly, there is nothing more relaxing than to spend a weekend with friends snow skiing on a monoski.

My varied interests make deciding on my future goals in urology a difficult task. There are many topics in urology which intrigue me and I am unable to decide on a specific area at the moment. I would consider furthering my training in a fellowship program as I learn more about what is available. In order to combine my desire for public speaking, love for helping others, and ability to succinctly explain complex topics, I am certain that I will be involved with teaching. I would like to continue my clinical research efforts and to eventually practice urology in an academic setting.

I seek a well-balanced program which will further my intellectual and technical development through varied and numerous surgical cases along with exposure to different subspecialties within urology. Combining my personal strengths and dedication with a strong residency program, I am looking forward to incorporating compassion with results in becoming a urologist.

When applying to medical school four years ago, I spent a considerable amount of time attempting to give definition to my future. Now seeking a residency position, I again find myself clarifying my future. The same principles that characterized my desire to go to medical school still shape my professional and personal decisions, however, today my thoughts are more directed and inclusive. More directed in that I am focusing on a specialty, Urology, and more inclusive in that my interests and priorities outside the medical arena are playing an increasing larger role in my decision making process. Medical school has been a wonderful opportunity. I look forward to a new challenge, that being my postgraduate training.

During each third year clerkship I tried not only to learn the required material, but also attempted to envision myself as a career physician within that field. After completion of all the clerkships I found my interests lay within the field of Urology. My exposure to Urology during the thrid year and again during the beginning of my fourth year of medical school impressed upon me the diversity and uniqueness of this field. Both the breadth of disease processes it encompasses and the opportunities for research from both a clinical and basic science perspective, make Urology an exciting career choice. Yet, the most influential quality that attracts me to Urology is the intimacy of patient interaction prevalent within all aspects of the field-a quality I find to be essential to be content and satisfied with a acareer. The urologist, whether in general practice or a subspecialty field, often works with patients when they are phhysically and emotionally most vulnerable. These individuals may include, among others, the impotent male, the gentlemen recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, or the parents of an infant with hypospadias. It is clear that the physician must form an open relationship with the patient to effectively treat these and other urologic conditions. it is important to me to be involved in a career that demands such a personal interaction.

When making a specialty decision, the type of training one seeks is also important. As I am interested in pursuing a career as an academic urologist, I am applying for postgraduate training to university affiliated hospitals. Having engaged the challengs of both basic science and clinical research while in medical school, it is apparent to me that both provide an intellectual stimulus that is invaluable to being a good physician. Also, a career in academic medicine affords me the opportunity to become a teacher of future physicians. This is again a component I find essential to a profession for lasting satisfaction.

In conclusion, I feel I have grown considerably, both in knowledge of medicine and people, during the last three years. I started medical school with a strong drive for personal excellence and a genuine interest in science. Nearing the conclusion of medical school, I still find my interest in science strong. I have refined that interest into a desire to be a teacher of future physicians and to be actively involved in academic research. The anticipation of a brand new future is exciting. I look forward to the process as well as the destination.