Application Update

As things stand:

The perverbial ball is in their court.

VCOM has already decided that, though I was qualified, I didn't not rate high enough in their applicant pool and said "not this year. But, hey! try our post-bacc program."

WVSOM has me on deferred status. As today is March first and it has been about a month since they received the final parts of my application and pretty much everyone who is going to apply has to have applied by now, they may be revisiting me as a potential D.O. candidate.

PCOM will be opening the final part of my application package today (which I've had almost three months to get together - more on procrastination later). Their application deadline was also today. So, again, all who will be applying have applied. If they still have any of the 250 spots available for 2010, I am in the running for one. Besides a couple of glowing letters of recommendation and a review of my transcripts (which they saw before they asked me to continue applying) they will read this:

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Every person has a story. Going from patient to patient as a volunteer in the emergency room I have heard many stories that involve significant suffering. That need for hope and cry for help compels me to take action. People want to feel that their stories are valid. If a few minutes of compassionate listening can begin to plant the seeds of hope, how much more powerful when combined with medical care and health education. A hopeful patient will get well, but they can not always initiate that hope on their own.

I believe that the world can be more vibrant and healthy than it is now. I also believe that I can play an instrumental role in improving it. I have faith that by continuing to do my best to elevate the lives of those around me the world will become a better place. I am convinced that my greatest ambition is to continue pursuing health care. From my first semester of college I have been directing myself such that I am able to relate to all kinds of people, understand health and disease and integrate myself into the medical field. I soak up new ideas and personal stories like a sponge. The more I assimilate, the more I am compelled to climb higher and continue my quest to restore health and hope. Medical school is the next step for me on that journey.

I must continue climbing. As a child I wanted to know everything but I quickly learned that the wealth of knowledge before me was vast, and I could achieve more if I focused my attention on one field. To me, physicians have the most useful training and abilities. The knowledge they hold and authority they possess are combined to improve the health and wellness of their patients. Because of my dedication to renewing the hope and health of others, my fullest potential would be realized as an osteopathic physician.

In my quest for knowledge, I seek the very best. I believe that you have the best program in the country. My mentor, Dr. Stephen Restaino, is a graduate of PCOM. It is stated on your web site that in your curriculum you emphasize looking "beyond the person in front of you and discovering the social and economic factors that impact him or her." I have seen firsthand how that priority in his education has continued to shape Dr. Restaino's approach to medicine for the past twenty nine years. I want that same emphasis in my own medical education. I realize that many osteopathic programs are established in rural, small town environments. While the countryside is where my roots are and a noble place to practice medicine I believe that a metropolis is more conducive to education. I thrive in an urban environment and I believe that for access to diversity and information there is no better place than the city.

I can not wish the world into a better place. But with the skills, knowledge and authority that I am hungry for I can work to improve health and give hope to many people.

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So here's to the right people taking my application seriously. Being compelled by the taste they are starting to get of who I might be that they must invite me for an interview to see me for themselves. Not that I'm some spectacle or too good to be true, but because they realize that I am ready for success and they can play a part in that and there by allow a little more compassion to flow out into the world.

Five Qualities (open for critique)

Family – Love, humor, responsibility. I am the oldest of six siblings. I am a husband and a brother-in-law. I am a classmate, a teammate, and a roommate. I have many good friends and I am a good friend to many. I attended birthdays, weddings, commencements, graduations, funerals, and cookouts. I actively instill an almost tangible quality into every relationship in which I engage to the point that walking into class feels like a family reunion.

Athleticism – Energy, creativity, team building. I have participated in athletic activities since I was a child. I believe in physical fitness for training the build up and release of energy in both athletic and professional activities. I love to employ improvisation in group sports like soccer, and also to create new games to allow a playful free thinking approach to challenges. Team sports cultivate communication and interdependence that translates easily to a professional and/or academic setting where we must rely on and support our peers.

Ingenuity – Courage, dedication, initiative. I have a knack for appreciating the mission of an organization and finding ways to improve it. In the Religious Studies department at UVA, I founded a peer mentorship program to help make newcomers feel more included and well oriented. At Rosetta Stone I developed new sales techniques. Growing up on a farm, I planted potatoes in old tire treads to increase warmth and retention of nutrients.

Stamina – Vigilance, perseverance, faith. From supporting myself through college, to riding my bicycle everywhere I go, to working three part time jobs at once, to entering long distance foot races - I take on more than seems possible and exhibit stamina in finishing what I start no matter how tough it gets.

Inspiration – Hope. I discover inspiration in many places – the pages of National Geographic Magazine, watching Olympic athletes, listening to a pediatrician give wellness advice to his patients. Many people continue to put hope, faith and love into me because I have a tremendous capacity to receive inspiration and use it to make their world a little better. In return, I seek through both example and guidance to inspire those around me by supporting my peers and kindling the fire in rising generations.