Admission Essay for Medicine Studies
Medicine is not only about treating conditions using existing treatment methods, but it also entails research into modern and new methods of combating a growing number of healthcare challenges. In the process of researching the causes and possible cures for some of the most chronic diseases affecting humanity today, medical scholars and scientist have narrowed down the unitary cell as the key to solving these healthcare challenges. Certain virulent diseases such as plaques and HIV, as well as cancer, diabetes, degenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimers and Parkinson’s continue to be evasive in terms of modern methods of treatment (Jackson and Chester 262). Unfortunately, most of these diseases are terminal, more so when diagnosed at a relatively advanced stage. However, gene therapy promises to reverse this status quo if recent scientific breakthroughs made at the MIT are anything to go by.
I have always wanted to study medicine since it became clear that certain diseases could not be cured. It did not make much sense to me why doctors would not be able to treat certain diseases even after the patients had reported to hospital early enough. Therefore, as I progressed in my primary and high school level of education, it became clear that my true calling was to figure out the reason people still die even as the world has some of the best healthcare systems to date. All academic achievements in these levels of education reflected a distinct desire to join a reputable university and study while training to become a doctor. Later on, I would pursue advanced post-graduate education and begin research into gene therapy as potential source of solutions of the chronic healthcare problems affecting humanity today.
Gene therapy entails a concise study of each patient’s DNA structure in order to understand their genetic predisposition and characteristics that have allowed the diseases affecting them to develop and thrive. Gene science and engineering suggests that most of these chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes have certain genetic markers in the patient that enable them to thrive in their victims’ bodies (Jackson and Chester 263). Therefore, re-engineering these genetic characteristics could not only improve the patient’s ability to combat the disease naturally, it could also optimize their response to modern treatment options while preventing recurrence. Such cutting edge treatment options involving gene therapy were previously unheard of, unless in theoretical discourse among medical science visionaries.
The MIT publication from 2017 announced that a French boy had been cured of sickle cell anemia, which is a devastating disease among young children globally (Mullin n.p). Additionally, it reported how scientists had developed two cutting edge cancer therapies that relied on the patient’s immune system to fight off rare and devastating types of cancer.
According to the publication, gene therapy has also led to the discovery of potentially effective treatments for other debilitating diseases such as hemophilia, genetic retinal diseases, and connective tissue disorders such as epidermolysis bullosa. Such scientific breakthroughs that involve gene science continue to encourage me in the pursuit to engage in the study of medicine because they restore faith in science among hopeless cases such as rare cancer and degenerative diseases (Kagawa and Fujiwara 72). The continued innovation in cell therapy and genetic engineering fields usually begins with bachelors and post-graduate degrees in medicine or genetics. Therefore, my conviction in studying medicine remain strong based on what is currently being achieved in the world of medical research, as well as the potential for far more innovative treatment options for society.