I am a fully qualified doctor with wide-ranging experience of many medical environments, in my homeland of Sudan, in Europe and in the USA.  It is perhaps because I am a mother myself of three small children that I feel now that I should like to devote my career to pediatric medicine.  I feel that I have a strong sympathy for children, and always enjoy working with and for them.  I believe that I have a clear  understanding of the sort of surroundings sick children need, and of the way they should be treated.  I also have a keen sense of how parents feel when their children are ill, and of the support and comfort they need in times of crisis.  At the same time, I am always keen to build a strong professional relationship with my colleagues and to work within the framework of clinical discipline.  My dedication to child medicine is not in any way a sentimental indulgence, but an expression of a desire to be a thoroughly efficient and effective doctor, and to work at the highest level within a professional framework. In a pediatric residency I should expect to develop the skills and methods required in taking the initial history in a child’s case, making a physical examination, devising an assessment and management plan, performing general pediatric diagnosis and setting out therapeutic procedures, as well as communicating in an effective way with parents.  I would hope to explore subspeciality areas of pediatrics during the residency, including critical care, as well as learning the methods of managing routine ambulatory and inpatient care.  The role of daily conference with colleagues will be critical for developing diagnostic skills and devising treatment plans.  Developmental-behavioral pediatrics is a particular interest of mine, as is care of the neonate.  The prospect of practical experience in these fields is challenging and exciting.

My work experience has given me a good insight into various areas of medicine.  I worked for a short time in a hospital in Austria as a clerk, attending patients, joining clinical rounds, drawing bloods and attending operations.  I have held two internships in hospitals in Sudan, one in a gynaecology department, including an urgent care clinic, and attending deliveries and C sections, the other in internal medicine under the chief nephrologist, where I became familiar with the workings of the dialysis center, and the care of patients preparing for transplants.  Then in the United States I have worked in a senior care clinic in Dallas, where I saw 10 to 12 patients a day, taking their histories, making physical examinations, and discussing treatment plans with my supervising physician.  This was a wonderful and very informative experience.  Over the last few years I have been working as a volunteer at the Al-Shifa Clinic in Texas, a free center which is part of the MCC Human Services Organisation. Here I check patient histories, carry out physical examinations and report to the senior physician.  I prepare lab order sheets and supply medication.  I am a member of the MCC in North Texas and hold an ECFMG certificate.  I believe that this experience of the medical world has refined my skills, and informed my final choice of pediatrics as the specialism I should like now to focus on.

I am bilingual, fluent in Arabic, my mother tongue, and English, which is likely to become an increasingly valuable asset.  Outside my work my time is largely spent on the care of my children, as well as helping my husband in our small family business.  I enjoy reading, painting and photography.  I particularly relish helping the newly arriving doctors at our community free clinic.

I believe that I am a determined individual, with much energy and power of perseverance.  I have good social skills and enjoy working with others, an essential quality for any clinician.  I communicate well, particularly in explaining complex ideas to others.  As well as being a good team member, I believe I have leadership skills, and my resilience under stress is good.  Above all I have a personal commitment to my planned career, and already have the body of knowledge and clinical experience to make a success of it, and I hope you will consider my application.

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