The Harsh Reality of Medicine
Ballerina, magician, firefighter, or cop. These were always the famous choices for career day in kindergarten by all the children in my class. No one ever picked an accountant, construction worker, or psychiatrist. However, I knew from a very young age that I wanted to pursue the path of medicine. Growing up in Houston, which has the largest medical center in the world, I was always surrounded by doctors. Although neither of my parents chose to pursue careers in the field of medicine, all of their closest friends did. While kids were taking home ec in middle school, I took an extra biology class so that I could have the opportunity of watching an open heart surgery. Medicine was always a mystery to me. At the University of Arizona, I am planning to obtain my degree in pre-medicine and psychology with hopes of continuing on to medical school, where I will pursue child psychiatry. Inspiration brought me to the decision to pursue the path of medicine, which came from my uncle, Mohan Sridaran. He is a well-established practicing psychiatrist who is currently working at Midland Psychiatric Services and Kirkland Correctional Institute in Columbia, South Carolina. He taught me the importance of understanding the hardships of being a physician, the benefits that come along with it, and the essence of passion in the real world.
"The goal in life for me was to give my future kids the privilege I was provided in life by my parents, and much more." Dr. Sridaran got his undergraduate degree at North Carolina State University, where he studied biology and psychology. Although he is extremely successful in his work, it did not come without struggle. He changed his major from computer science to mechanical engineering, and then finally settled on biology. He later added on the double major in psychology, I am planning to obtain a degree in psychology, which will help me further understand patient care and will prepare me for what is to come in regard to dealing with medical circumstances. For example, if I have a 13-year-old patient that is an orphan dealing with substance abuse, I can take into consideration that he might be depressed because of the fact that he is an orphan and an adolescent, so I could prescribe an antidepressant along with admitting him into a rehab facility, where counselors will check on his behavior regularly. Throughout my freshman year, I learned an immense amount about behavioral psychology, which is the study of why humans act in certain ways rather than others. The human mind has so many dimensions, and each one is intriguing in its own way. There are so many layers to understanding behavior.
Dr. Sridaran mentio...
