Writing To Explore Student Sample

Student Name Ms. Clements English 106 16 February 2009 Engineering and Medicine I wanted to choose something that I was interested in exploring as a career. Therefore, I choose to work on the first scenario, which was to explore a career or major at Purdue. I have been interested in a career in Medicine for a long time; because of some of my experiences in the past. Additionally, I love to engage in problem solving, and I want to be one of the people who help solve the problems that this world will face in the future. It seemed like a natural fit to pair engineering with pre-medicine. While it isn’t very common, I hope that this connection aids in embracing the facts that we, as a people, society, and most of all, individuals, are the sum of the dreams of tomorrow, and the hope, and realization, of today. I chose to go with a less traditional approach than an essay, but creating more of a magazine article format. I believe that by using a magazine article, it enhances the story I am trying to tell because it allows me to take the reader on a less traditional road. I felt that this genre would help in showing my goals, as well as highlighting some of the opportunities at Purdue, because it allows others to see the steps to successfully engaging in engineering and pre-medicine. Also, this genre allows me to use things like graphs, charts, tables, and pictures which all combine to represent a larger picture, and reinforce core values in my exploratory journey.

Additionally, the genre allows this piece of writing to act as a roadmap to not only a destination but also a purpose. For me, it is all about exploring where I might want to go in my life. Furthermore, by using an article format, I believe that it was better able to embrace the spirit of exploration, because it allows an author to climb with multiple tools that create a broader sense of understanding than a traditional essay format. For every achievement mankind has made, there has been a dream, and further, a commitment to look toward not what we are, but what we can be. It defined the Mayflower voyage and the challenge of the Apollo missions; and most of all, it defined exploration as continual journey, not just a one handed trip. In reality, the same is true with writing. While I am not saying that essay writing is boring; it is just familiar—too familiar; and, by breaking out of that mold, a true sense of exploration can be felt.

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Engineering and Medicine A Look at a Future in Medicine, Rooted in Engineering By: Student Name Engineering Today

Engineering Today

Engineering and Medicine A Look at a Future in Medicine, Rooted in Engineering I have always thought of engineering as the process to seek, solve, and prevent the problems of a current time and day, while at the same time working toward meeting the challenges of tomorrow. Engineering is more than just the visions of someone using a slide-rule and carrying a pocket protector; an engineer, in my perspective, is someone who has an impact on the world, no matter how small or large. However, my interests have always been very broad. I came to Purdue to get a degree in Engineering, but I also have a strong desire to attend medical school post graduation. In looking at other options, this is not the most traveled path, but I believe it will give me the knowledge and the skill to help tackle the problems that are most important to the future and the persistence of man. In the Book, The Engineer of 2020, written by the National Academy of Engineers of the National Academies, it states, “the word engineering comes from ingeniator…engineering will be synonymous with ingenuity…using science and practical ingenuity, engineers identify problems and find solutionsii.” Further, it states that the core elements of engineering, like science and mathematics, are used to design solutions for a particular challenge. According to the text, it is one thing that remains the same about engineering: the need to create practical, usable solutions. It also warns that the problems to come will likely be more complex, and thus demand a solution that is not just related to one career fieldii. Additionally, Dennis V. Damp writes in the book, Health Care Job Explosion, that “health careers are the still the rising stars of the employment outlookiii.” Further, the Department of Labor and Statistics, in the 2008-2009 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, lists “the employment of physicians and surgeons is projected to grow 14 percent from 2006 to 2016.” Additionally, it describes the role of physicians and surgeons by saying that they “diagnose illnesses and prescribe and administer treatment for people suffering from injury or disease. Physicians examine patients, obtain medical histories, and order, perform, and interpret diagnostic testsiv.”

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According to the same document, the most common plan of study as an undergraduate student, in a pre-medical program, involves a variety of science classes and humanities designed to prepare a prospective candidate to enter into a medical schooliv. Jennifer and Marita Danek write in a manual of sorts, Becoming a Physician, that “medical schools do not want a group of clones who have sacrificed themselves to accomplish a set of pre-medical prerequisites. While pre-medical culture may encourage conformity, medical schools appreciate diversity in their applicants…they look for academic achievement, self-awareness, [and] a commitment to medicinev.” The fact that Medical Schools look for diversity gave me confidence to pursue this idea putting pre-medicine and engineering together. I went to Dr. Ebert’s, my advisor in the Engineering Education Office. She told me that it was not an unheard of idea, and that she knew of people who had gone on to

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Engineering Today

medical school with a degree in engineering. While it required a lot of work, she went on to say that medical schools are looking for qualified candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds to fill their ranks. However, she warned me that the process would not be easy and that a very high GPA would be needed. She referred me to Amy Terstreip, the coordinator for premedical studies within the College of Sciencevi. I meet with Mrs. Terstreip one morning in January, and she gave me a pamphlet of the required courses that Medical Schools look for in applicants. Moreover, I found out that is no preferred plan of study that allows admission to medical schools. In other words, it meant that I could stay in engineering and preparing for a chance to go to medical school at the same time. To get more information on the requirements, I went to the College of Science website where I found out that I would need one year of Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics and Englishvii. However, these requirements are a generalization and vary by school. For example, at Georgetown University, a number of requirements are listed that vital to care of patients, like motor skills, and communicationviii. Requirements

Purdue Equivalents

One year of Biology (with laboratory)

Biol 110 and 111 or Biol 131-132 and Biol 231-232

One year General Chemistry (with

CHM 115-116 or CHM 125-126 or

laboratory)

CHM 123-124

One year of Organic Chemistry (with laboratory) One year of Physics (with laboratory)

CHM 255-256 or CHM 261-262

PHYS 220-221 or PHYS 152-251

One year of English (required by 60% of US Medical Schools) (See footnote vii for citation information)

From this I realized that it would not be very easy, but it was still something that I was very interested in pursuing. Because the program allowed for a lot of leeway I looked at several engineering programs at Purdue, including Multidisciplinary Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biological Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. Chemical Engineering is known as a broad field, but it also has the reputation of being the hardest and most challenging engineering program at Purdue. I would have to not only meet the requirements of the chemical engineering program, but also exceed them. Based on the plan of studies I found Chemical Engineering to be the closest fit in the long run. I would still have to take a year of Biology, an extra semester of Physics and English. Additionally, according to a student advisor in the College of Engineering, Gautam Kumaraswamy, choosing Chemical Engineering would enable me to graduate sooner, and require less additional classes to fulfill the Premedical requirementix. However, there are other routes that enable an engineer to work in the medical field without actually becoming a doctor. Elizabeth Roper, a freshman at Purdue, is planning on going into Biomedical

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Engineering Today

Engineering. She stated that, “ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be a doctor, until I realized how time consuming it would be and how much money it would cost. I talked with a recruiter at a biomedical firm, and I realized that still have an impact, and do what I loved, without going to school for so long.” She went on to say that she would be able to help people on a much larger scale, by designing devices and implantations, instead of just working individually with a patient, and thus have a greater impact on the needs of tomorrowx. Still others, like Robert Gustafson, a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering, said that he liked knowing that he would not be limited to one specific field in Mechanical Engineering, because it is so broad. He recommended that I look it as an option to fulfill the pre-medical requirements. He went on to say that both biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering are very similar, with the main difference in the rigidly and structure based largely within the biomedical programxi. Overall, I found out that this goal would be exceptionally challenging, and that I would have to keep a high course load and GPA, but if I got things right, I would be on my way to my dreams. In conclusion, Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr., once said that “I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, but in what direction we are moving.” Likewise, I hope to sail towards my dreams with a degree in engineering and a career as a Medical Doctor, and I know that this combination of careers will give me a leg up when facing the problems and challenges of tomorrow.

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Notes:

i

J0411776. Photograph. http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/ preview.aspx?AssetID=MPj0411776/. 2009. Microsoft Corporation. 15Feb. 2009 National Academy of Engineering. "Attributes of Engineers in 2020." The Engineer of 2020.

ii

Washington D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2004. 53-57. iii

Damp, Dennis V. Health Care Job Explosion. 1998. New York: Midpoint Trade Books, 2001. 02.

iv

Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Physicians and Surgeons." Occupational Outlook Handbook. Vers. 2008-2009 Edition. 2009. Department of Labor. 10 Feb. 2009 .

v

Danek, Jennifer, and Marita Danek. Becoming a Physician. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. 64.

vi

Ebberts, Cindy, Dr. Personal Interview. 27 Jan. 2009.

vii

Purdue University. "General Information for Pre-Medical Students ." Purdue University College of Science. 2005. Purdue University. 29 Jan. 2009 .

viii

Georgetown University. "Technical Standards for Admission & Graduation." School of Medicine . 2009. Georgetown University. 11 Feb. 2009 .

ix

Kumaraswamy, Gautam. Personal Interview. 12 Feb. 2009.

x

Roper, Elizabeth. Personal Interview. 12 Feb. 2009.

xi

Gustafson, Robert. Personal Interview. 12 Feb. 2009.

xii

J0411776. Photograph. http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/preview.aspx?AssetID=MPj0423013/. 2009. Microsoft Corporation. 15 Feb. 2009

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