Psychiatry Personal Statement

Originally when I became interested in the field of medicine, I was looking at the physical side of the issue. However, as I became more interested in the problems of other individuals I realized that their physical health was not the only important and significant issue. Mental health is at least as significant, if not more significant, to many people today, and therefore the focus of my interest moved more toward psychiatry. One of the main reasons that my focus shifted to the mental health field was that I began to notice all of the intricacies of the psychiatric patients. It is literally true that no two people are the same, even if they have the same diagnosis and have had their difficulties for the same length of time. This was something that I was always intellectually and realistically aware of, but yet it did not seem to be significant for me until I spent more time with psychiatric patients and they became more 'real' to me in so many different ways.

There have already been so many medical advances in the last few decades that it almost seems like medicine is soon going to be able to cure or prevent everything that could conceivably go wrong with the human body. However, not as much has been done with addressing diseases of the mind such as depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety among other problems. Because of this, it becomes necessary for individuals such as myself to take a fresh and more significant interest in the psychiatric field, in order to help as many people as possible. Psychiatry appears to be a discipline with a very strong future, and I definitely want to be on the leading edge of that future, with all that it has to offer for medical professionals and for the patients that desperately need the help. Psychiatry carries a risk, however, because some patients can be violent and dangerous, but I am prepared to deal with any risks that the profession might hold. My desire to help these people is much stronger than any worries I have regarding harm.