| (787) 550-5571 |
| Luis A. Santiago, M.D. |
My father was diagnosed with colon cancer on June of 2005, and liver metastasis was found incidentally during exploratory surgery. Ever since his diagnosis, I had mixed feelings about my pursuit of medicine. On one hand, my awareness of his poor prognosis and of the limited benefit of his treatment made me sad and anxious on many occasions. On the other hand, my knowledge of medicine allowed me to be my father’s most loyal guardian. Most importantly, a new sensibility arose within me, which not only has allowed me to admire my father’s passion for life, but also has allowed me to be more compassionate towards my patients. For instance, not too long after my father’s diagnosis, I recall my reaction after an attending physician informed a gentleman that his younger brother had been pronounced brain dead. To this day I do not know what drove me to hug him and hold the weight of his fainting body. In the middle of a loud and heavily trafficked emergency department, I could only hear his sobbing and feel the wetness of his tears. Strangely, I never felt overwhelmed by the man’s sadness, but rather I experienced a mysterious peace. In this sense, I discovered by accident that our role as doctors was not to apologize for the futility of our interventions and then to step aside, but instead to immerse ourselves in the family’s suffering and to acknowledge that we too possessed strong, brotherly feelings. Moreover, by facilitating a religious service and by offering organ transplantation as an option, we helped family and friends not only to cope with their feelings of loss, but to also value life for its own greatness. Needless to say, I have derived great pride and satisfaction from experiences such as the latter, and my interest in pursuing a medical career continues to build up as a result. Choosing to be a doctor in medicine was not an easy decision, however. In 1999 I experienced a personal renaissance while working as an electrical engineer for the telecommunications industry. Back then I lived in Boston, MA and had grown accustomed to the comforts that a modest income provided. However, despite the fast career advancement and the pleasant camaraderie with my co-workers, I decided to leave for Puerto Rico, my homeland, to reunite with my family. Naturally, my decision came with several disadvantages, including a 40% salary cut and a tough period of re-adjustment. Nonetheless, what started out as painstaking disorientation ended up as personal revelation. Ever since I graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and joined the work force, I had grown displeased with the cold wall of anonymity that my employers fostered, perhaps unintentionally. Unfortunately, this type of environment made it difficult for me to enjoy many personal accomplishments regardless of my strong work ethic. Simply put, my idea of professional success had relied too much on salary, technical expertise and managerial skills, and too little on improving people’s lives. As a result, I felt very empty. This feeling only became apparent in retrospect after I began volunteering for the San Jorge Children’s Foundation. The mission of this institution, which is to surgically repair congenital and traumatic craniofacial anomalies in indigent children, awakened such a furious enthusiasm in me that I became involved in most tasks. I worked as nursing assistant, organized fundraising events, managed payroll and accounting, prepared television and press conferences, and volunteered as painter and electrician to the hospital. And I did it all because I knew every child by name and wished wholeheartedly to improve their lives. Needless to say, I had reached a crossroads in my life and knew that my future belonged in public service, namely, as a doctor of medicine. Ever since the beginning of my medical career, I have been intrigued by how the human body restores function after noxious insults and how repair mechanisms sometimes become new insults themselves. In my opinion, no other specialty of medicine concentrates its efforts more on exploiting the body’s self healing potential than surgery. Surgeons are educated to avoid complications by observing optimal organ and tissue function, much like engineers manage tolerance in system models. They are also trained to rapidly identify and manage a wide range of acute conditions in the critical care scenario. Moreover, the field of surgery provides an exquisite blend of science, technology, manual skills and creativity that is well- suited for me. Therefore, I have decided to pursue a career in general surgery. I must clarify, however, that my decision to choose this particular field is not based solely on academic reasons, but is also inspired by many fulfilling experiences. For instance, I have witnessed a depressed, adolescent boy with Treacher-Collins syndrome become talkative and humorous for the first time after his cheek bones were reconstructed with hydroxyapatite. I have also seen a comatose, middle-aged woman survive septic shock after an appendectomy was performed and a peri-appendiceal abscess was drained successfully. I have witnessed a room-full of thankful smiles at 3:00AM after a family was told that their father, who suffered from incapacitating heart failure, had survived cardiac transplantation. I have had the joy and privilege of operating on the medically indigent of Ecuador. Closest to home yet, my family and I have witnessed my father’s remarkable recuperation after undergoing lower abdominal resection. Not surprisingly, such great experiences inspire me to continue my training in surgery. After much introspection, I am ready to accept the challenges and rigorous demands that accompany a surgeon’s life. I look forward to entering a training program in general surgery that is willing to accept a dynamic, mature, highly motivated and goal directed professional who is always conscientious and willing to learn, but who is unlikely to conform to the status quo if an opportunity for improvement does exist. In this regard, I wish to reassure you and the members of your faculty that my talents and skills are at your disposition, should you require my collaboration. Meanwhile, I remain hopeful that you will provide the professional guidance and nurturing that I need to best serve my patients. ☼ |
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The greatest lesson in medicine I learned in our home garage. My father devoted himself to preparing fresh coffee for me every morning during my medical school years. Unfortunately, he as a business man and I as a student only had a few minutes to talk about our daily experiences. Nevertheless, our time in the garage was always well spent in the midst of warming engines and exhaust fumes. Around 6:00 AM is when we usually ate breakfast, shared our worries and successes, discussed local politics, and told a few jokes before I left for school. However, |
| school. However, during one of our morning chats, my father expressed concern for several episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding. At first, I tried to reassure him that the bleeding could be from existing hemorrhoids or a new anal fissure. Unfortunately, his suffering continued for four weeks, at which time I inquired heavily on his symptoms. To my surprise, my father described hemorrhaging so severe that large blood clots filled up the toilet bowl on his every bowel movement. He also complained of abdominal bloating, a twenty-pound weight loss in three months, and pencil-shaped stools. At that moment, my heart sank, fearing the worst, and the worst it was. |
| Personal Statement |
