A doctor – from dream to reality
“ A dream ” is a word that has always been present in me, because a dream gives each of us the drive to reach higher. It is the same for me: from the day I was born until now I have had many dreams. As a small child I dreamed of becoming a superhero to defend what is right; a little older, I dreamed of becoming a teacher; older still, I dreamed of becoming a policeman to catch wrongdoers; and now I dream of becoming a good doctor, a doctor of both heart and standing in the field of orthopaedics.
That dream, that goal, came to me quite naturally. I was in grade 8 that year when my father fell seriously ill with arthritis and had to stay in hospital. I went in and stayed with him for two weeks, and after that he had to be transferred to Hà Nội for surgery. As a student who had only reached grade 8, there was nothing I could do to make my father well again. It made me very sad, and from then on I was determined to become a doctor so that one day I could care for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, my relatives, and more widely still, for everyone. I began to look into the medical field and took the science stream, hoping I would pass into medical school. After all my efforts I was admitted to Thái Bình University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The day I received my letter of admission I was glad and happy and sad all at once. Glad because I was drawing nearer to my dream, and sad because I was soon to be far from my parents, far from my family, far from my homeland — this was the first time I had gone far from home.
In those first days away from home, away from my family, meeting an entirely new environment, I felt lost and sad. But when I saw the older students in their white coats, I felt the dream come rushing back. That dream helped me through the homesickness, the longing for my family, the bewilderment, so that I could go on standing firm and moving forward. The deeper I studied medicine, the more I came to love this profession. A doctor is not simply someone wearing a white coat; a doctor is not merely someone with professional knowledge of the field. More than anyone else, a doctor must be a person of love and compassion. A doctor feels with the patient. He regards the patient as his own family, the patient's pain as his own pain, the patient's joy as his own joy. Having witnessed so many scenes of death and grief, the soul of a doctor must never grow hardened; instead the doctor takes them as a source of strength. I understand that the affection and the responsibility of a doctor lie in regarding everyone as his own family and always putting the patient's health first.
To become a good doctor, I first need to work harder at my studies and be more disciplined, so as to have solid knowledge for my clinical work later on. I will take part in many extracurricular activities and go actively to hospitals to meet patients so that I can take in more knowledge. After graduating I will try to study and work at the same time so that I can specialise in orthopaedics, which is what I am aiming for. I want to return to my home region and work there, to serve my own countryside, because there are still very few doctors there. I want to become a good doctor so that I can heal many people, just as those doctors healed my father.
Phạm Văn Sinh Gia Phố - Hương Khê - Hà Tĩnh General Medicine Thái Bình University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
