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Hey all. These are Dave's admissions essays so far. Please take a look and tell me if there are grammar problems or if something is unclear or needs to be reworded! Tien-thank you so much for all of your help thus far! Pray for us!

OH AND AARON IS WALKING!!!!

MD/PHD Essay-

I have always had a love for science and helping people. Though I enjoy each individually, I can think of no career as rewarding as one in which I have the abilities to combine both.

My father is a microbiologist. I always looked up to him and I was fascinated by his work. As a scientist he conducted a lot of research and I enjoyed learning from him. At the same time, I knew deep down that I really wanted to be a doctor. At the time I thought I had to choose between the two, so becoming a physician took first priority.

Then while I was in college I had the opportunity to work in the research lab of Dr. Richard Robison. I have always been captivated by learning how things work, and I love discovering why things happen a certain way. In the laboratory setting I had a great opportunity to explore and think critically to discover the “why’s” that enthralled me so much. I also had the chance to read many scholarly articles in which other scientists published their findings. These articles provided me with inspiration for new experiments. That seems to be the way it is with research—the more you know the more you realize you don’t know.

A colleague of mine in Dr. Robison’s lab was in the process of applying to MD/PHD programs. I was excited to learn that there was a way for me to apply research to medicine while still getting to see patients. I have always thrived in an environment where I can communicate and work directly with people. My experiences in the lab didn’t cause me to change my mind about becoming a doctor. However; I did decide I wanted to do research in conjunction with my career as a physician.

I continued working in Dr. Robison’s lab until I completed my undergrad, at which point my wife had our first child. We moved to the Salt Lake City area in Utah and I started working at ARUP Laboratories running ELISA tests. I am currently completing the coursework required to be promoted in the Medical Technologist program at the University of Utah. I have a passion for research, and I’ve been actively involved in trying to get on with Research and Development with my company. Unfortunately they are downsizing this year. I still hope to be able to help with the current research they are conducting as an unpaid lab tech.

I feel that a dual degree would aid me in being a more informed physician. I am a family man. I hope to practice as a pediatrician once I am licensed. I can think of nothing more rewarding than to contribute and further medical science to better the lives of children and their families. As a dual major I would be given the chance to live that dream. When working with patients I would also be able to conduct my own research which would lead to new discoveries in the medical field.

I know that I am made to be an MD/PHD student. I have the intelligence, motivation, and maturity to thrive in this program. Thank you for your consideration.

Personal Statement-

When I was 13, my life changed. Up to that point I had experienced a relatively normal childhood, and like most eighth graders I was just beginning to consider myself a teenager. My peers spent the majority of their time figuring out what to wear and flirting with girls, but I didn’t have that luxury.

In February of 2001 my father was laid off. My mother’s part time job wasn’t enough to sustain five children, and my parents didn’t know what to do. My father tried to find work but with no luck. Our lifestyle quickly became a desperate balancing act in an attempt to simply get by.
My parents had a door installed to the study to eliminate distractions while my father spent day after day searching on the computer for jobs and applying for work. My mother picked up a second full-time job in addition to the part time one she already had. We barely ever saw either of our parents anymore. If it wasn’t for the welfare we received from our church, we might not have always had enough food to feed all of us.

I saw the stresses and strains that were weighing on the people I cared about and knew I needed to help. I applied for a job at the local grocery store where my sister worked, and I got it. Although I only made minimum wage as a bagger, everything that I was able to bring in made a difference. My paycheck allowed me to buy my own food and clothing. The little income that my mother was making wasn’t enough to buy clothing for all of my siblings, so I pitched in and took them to the store to buy the few things that I could afford.

My parents’ absence made things difficult for all of us. I did what I could to look after my brother and sisters and make sure that they had what they needed when my mother and father couldn’t. It was frequently my responsibility to ensure they were fed. When I got home from sports I helped my brother with his schoolwork. Only after I was done helping all my siblings did I find time to work on my own homework. It was usually pretty late and I was very tired, but I worked far harder than I ever had before. Between school, sports, work, and family responsibilities I was amazed that I was able to have friends.

Through all of this, I learned the value of hard work. My GPA went from a 3.0 to a 4.0 and I discovered that I had an aptitude for science and math. My siblings started to get along better. Although I continued sports throughout high school, it was no longer as important to me as it had been.

I learned two very important things through all of this: I liked school and I really liked to help people. That is when I decided to become a doctor. My parents told me that it would be a difficult career, but that didn’t discourage me. I wanted to be able to make a major difference in the lives of others.

Five years later, my life changed again. I was called on an LDS mission to Washington DC. I didn’t realize what DC was really like until I moved there. The majority of my time was spent in Anacostia teaching the gospel to African Americans who barely knew any white people. I worked with a girl that was 13 years old and had literally never talked to a white person before. Unfortunately, many of them thought white people were the reason they were in poverty, and would steal anything they could from us. One of my roommates had three bikes stolen in six months.

The living conditions were rough. The water was undrinkable because of the high lead content. We never knew if we were going to have hot water or cold. There were massive cockroaches crawling around everywhere, even in daylight. If we needed to contact our landlords we could almost guarantee their phone lines would be shut off because they hadn’t made their payment in time.

Many of these people whom we were trying to help hated us fiercely. They would yell and throw rocks at us, spit on us, and chase us. Some missionaries had guns pulled on them. There were frequent fights. I helped break up a fist fight in my parking lot, but the fist fights weren’t our greatest worry. We heard gunshots every night. Some days we would come home and couldn’t get to our apartment because the police had blocked it off because of a shooting or a bad domestic abuse situation. I witnessed my neighbor getting stabbed. Two missionaries just across the river were shot while I was there.

In spite of how we were treated I always worked hard to help these people. Not only did we try to teach people the gospel, but we helped them in any other way we could. The locals found us as good as a moving company (and we were free). We helped with maintenance on other things, such as cars and bicycles. DC has one of the highest illiteracy rates in America, so we taught people how to read.

I now recognize that it is not the circumstances in life that hinder our ability to help people. Rather, it is our ability to overcome obstacles and treat every situation as an opportunity to become a better version of ourselves.

Because of everything that I have been through, I find myself wanting more than ever to fulfill my dream as a physician. I am especially good with children and I can think of no better way to make a powerful difference in the lives of others than to help children and their families in overcoming illness and emotional distress from the challenges that life can bring.