My Intent to Study Medical Sciences in The UK

The intricate working and limitless capabilities of the human body, and the manner in which different organs work in harmony has fascinated me for as long as I have studied biological sciences. Of all the cogs, within this human machine, the heart with its rhythmic movement has captivated me the most. I believe, my family history with my father's open-heart surgery triggered due to excessive smoking, my mother's hypertensive episodes and frequent migraine attacks due to her being over-weight, and my aunt losing sight in one eye due to diabetes, intensified my desire to pursue the field of medicine. From hiding cigarette packs from my father, preparing meal-plans for my mother and administering insulin shots to my aunt; I found myself investing a lot of time reading about these various ailments and the best cures and remedies for them. In short, I began my journey into this intriguing field even before I was aware of my future plans.

My reading habits developed to the extent that I found myself frequently browsing Medscape to study different medical conditions and procedures. While studying I learnt that smoking is an avoidable cause of CHD. In a longitudinal study, Hindy, Wiberg, Almgren, Melander and Orho-Melander (2018) studied 24000 people for about 20 years. A polygenic Risk Score (PRS) was calculated for every participant by adding the number of risk alleles for 50 single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with CHD. The study concluded increase in risk of CHD due to smoking was not consistent among the subjects but higher the PRS was, lower was the risk of CHD caused by smoking. Another study published in the International Journal of Obesity shows that a person with higher BMI, lower aerobic fitness at the age of 18, is highly likely to face ischemic heart disease (IHD) later in his life. It inferred that risk of Coronary heart disease can be reduced by improving BMI and doing aerobic exercises. Gradually I realised how our lifestyles were directly responsible for our health and any issues that we might face later in life. I became more adept at sharing this information with other students, particularly those who, like me, wanted to pursue the field of medicine. While as a doctor I would be expected to diagnose and prescribe, as a student I could easily help people become more aware of healthy life choices to limit their chances of developing heart diseases among other ailments.

I have achieved the Quaid-e-Azam badge in scouting, because of which I have not only gained skills of camping, providing first aid, teamwork, leadership but have also learnt how to be compassionate towards others. I was selected stage manager for a play at my school in which while working, I established co-ordination among the backstage teams as well as the actors. I interned at the Care Foundation: a local NGO providing educational facilities to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. I developed a training program for their teachers to motivate them to develop more fluency in their speaking skills. I developed my motivational skills even further and shared invaluable information regarding healthy eating habits and importance of cleanliness, both with students and teachers. My computational skills, fluency in four languages, namely: English, Urdu, Punjabi and Siraiki, and the added advantage of having studied French up to the Delf A1 Exam level have better prepared me to freely communicate at different levels and with a variety of people.

I intend to study medicine in the UK because of the exceptional resources, facilities and the quality of education I will receive. I look forward to experiencing invaluable opportunities of meeting and working alongside people from around the globe; yet people who will carry similar academic interests as me.