I witnessed both of my parents die of terminal illness before I turned 25. I say the aforementioned bluntly because I don’t desire my personal statement to ride on the coattails of sympathy or morbidity, but rather my experiences during the most difficult years of my life. Notably, I didn’t miraculously decide I desired a career in healthcare after witnessing doctors provide excellent treatment for my family. Rather, my desire to become a physician was realized after I achieved individual growth and professional success in another field.

My father was my professional mentor in the purest sense. As a young adult, I had been willingly groomed for a career in finance, eager to learn the pillars of sales, management, and entrepreneurship. Many weekends of my adolescence involved sales calls with my father to visit potential customers. Retrospectively, I was always enthralled by the way my father influenced complete strangers to enter into partnerships with fluidity and ease. My mentorship and observations provided me with the theoretical foundation to professionally communicate, interact, and generate sales. After witnessing and learning from hundreds of successful and failed business arrangements, my largest takeaway was ultimately: uncertainty. Truthfully, I was doubtful I could convert my acquired knowledge into authentic business relationships with strangers. I was genuinely fearful customers wouldn’t do business with a young and unseasoned entrepreneur.

During my senior year of college, my father’s illness began to require more than compassion and concern. Out of necessity, my unripe business skills were tested at a rapid pace, as I found myself stepping out of class to field phone calls from clients, working daily to nourish the aspects of business that required physical attention, and frequently travelling home on school days to spend more time with my dad. Because I was abruptly forced to support myself, my father, and his business, utilizing the skills I learned left little room for uncertainty. Resultantly, by the time my father passed away I had been operating a seven-figure business fruitfully for two years. Bracing yourself for the loss of a friend, mentor, and parent is impossible. However, bracing myself for a financial future without my father’s guidance was possible.

I founded my financial services business with a platitude: customer service. Customer service is a buzz word tossed around to provide an appeal to clientele, but leveraging my youth and insecurity allowed my service centered business model to flourish. I relentlessly made myself available, responding to sales and support requests instantaneously. My first year in business I developed 30 new partnerships, and my devotion to customer service provided the backbone for each opportunity. Notably, word spread, and my customer centric disposition allowed me to reach a present portfolio of over 200 clients. Although I worked hard to create a thriving small business, I recognized a nagging truth I had been ignoring. Because I was placed in a dire situation requiring rapid and unrelenting attention, I never had the luxury to consider alternative options or reflect upon the way I felt about my career.

Through maturation, I’ve recognized the following. I’m not completely like my father. I’m not driven by sales, negotiations, or profit. In the traditional sense, I’m not a businessman. Although capable, I quickly discovered I’m unsettled executing sales to achieve large profit margins. In the realm of business my stance is considered soft at best. However, I’m invested in my business because I learn about my customers families, their struggles, and their aspirations. I’m determined knowing my business helps individuals prosper without ulterior motive. Ultimately, I’ve spent so much time talking about business and very little time focusing on medicine…So why medicine?

Concisely, medicine embodies the elements I love in business, while providing an opportunity to apply my strengths and passions in the most challenging, rewarding, and impactful setting available. Interacting professionally with patients and peers to solely improve an outcome mirrors my business model, while shifting the focus completely to the patient. A dream come true. I’ve spent years balancing revenue generation with the ideals of a social bottom line, and medicine is at the forefront of this discussion and struggle. I’m eager to use a medical education and my background to innovate, and more importantly become part of the solution.