Family Nurse Practitioner – My Career Choice

Medical field has been an integral part of my whole life. As a child, I witnessed and accompanied my mother being rushed to the hospital on numerous occasions due to a chronic asthma condition. With each grasping breath she took, a feeling within me arose to caress her and be at her side. With each visit to the hospital and the chaos of doctors and nurses in and out of my mother's hospital room, I was inspired by the true collaborative commitment from these medical professionals to my mom. While nurses took care of my mom, my brain was occupied with questions like 'why is my mother experiencing this, what is causing it, and what can she do to fix (prevent) this?' Presently at age 33 and with 13-year experience working directly with nurses/ practitioners, physicians, and patients, I have the same questions I did growing up and a deep desire to devote my life in helping and caring for others.

The greatest strength of my application to your eminent Masters Entry Program in Nursing at UCSF is undoubtedly the fact my objective in life both professionally and personally is to serve; to serve the underserved population as well as the communities with unique cultural influences, to bridge present health disparities between eastern and western medicine, and to promote health and wellness. My lifelong dream is to be a nurse practitioner who is not only compassionate but is also appropriately trained to identify early signs and symptoms of distress and implement a treatment plan. My highest motivation is to encourage people to live healthier and longer lives.

Throughout my academic and professional years, I have taken the right steps in the direction of one day becoming a nurse; however, due to family and work-life balance, I had to put my goals on hold. My decision to finally taking the next step toward my passion of becoming a nurse practitioner was not till recently when I came across the dreaded words, 'Final Stage” renal disease on my father-in law's health history. The fact that he had little to no knowledge about severity of his illness, the steps he could have taken to prevent it, and what his treatment options are for future solidified my decision. I grasped that his lack of knowledge is not due to receiving poor medical care, but a mere result of avoiding medical care all together. I finally came to realize that seeking medical attention as a primary source is not a norm in many communities worldwide. Alternative medicine, home remedies and lack of understanding of disease prevention is the forefront of health issues in such communities. My choice of becoming Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) will allow me promote health and wellness to people of all ages. I want to extend the care to families including children, parents, and grandparents in the hope to assist in early detection, prevention, and treatment. My goal is to collaborate with the community, explain the science behind medicine, be non-judgmental of those who use alternative medicine, and offer resources.

I have had a very enjoyable and extensive experience in both my academic and professional life undertaking wide range of duties. I am confident in my ability to work independently and in team environment as I currently act as a leader within my position and assist in training and operations of patient care. I understand the necessity to be sensitive to non-verbal signals when communicating with patients and that holistic approach is of utmost important. Aside from being a student, employee, housewife, daughter, and a mother, I also put effort in contributing to the community through other activities (details in personal statement. My goal after completing the program is to open my own practice to service the community. I plan on taking all the experience from working at Stanford and all the knowledge from UCSF to pass on the importance of self-care. I also plan on spending some time as a resource in various school districts to provide free education to staff.