“Grow old with me! The best is yet to be.” - Robert Browning.
With an aging population predicted to double by 2050, the world will soon face more elders than care facilities available. I question how Thailand will deal with its aging population, as it can’t even meet general population needs. Thailand produces 3,000 new doctors a year, well below demand. As I recognize this issue within my own family, with a grandmother who had a stroke and its repercussions on our family, I foresee how families will suffer similarly. Only by becoming a medical professional can I help to solve this inevitable problem.
To meet my goals, I studied biology and chemistry. I have completed both individual and group labs, including the monitoring of ventilation in humans at rest and after exercise using chest belt monitors. Additionally, I conducted a pGLO transformation lab, inserting genetically modified plasmids into E. Coli bacteria and placing different agar plates to observe how transformed cells grew in the absence and presence of ampicillin. Curious whether natural and artificial enzymes were effective, I conducted a comparison lab to investigate the catalytic activities of extraction from fresh fruits and artificial enzymes. In Chemistry, I performed an esterification experiment mixing isomeric alcohols with carboxylic acids and conducted titration using a burette. In my chemistry individual assessment, I investigated whether claims of iron content in iron tablets were accurate, observing potassium thiocyanate reacting with iron (III) releasing color and collecting data via spectrometry. My extended research paper, assisting professor Kittikhun Kerdsomboon at Mahidol University, set out to prove that Moringa Oleifera leaves, known for high levels of antioxidants claimed to help prevent DNA damage leading to cancer, were an effective dietary additive. This paper will be published with JBB Editorial Board (The Society for Biotechnology, Japan) later this year.
My internships have continued my growth. For 1.5 years, I have shadowed doctors in all departments and operations at Nakornthon Hospital, where I have observed many operations: surgical removal of a primary malignant brain tumor from the frontal lobe, bullet removal from the face, which later was skin grafted, and knee replacement for an arthritis patient. Through these operations I have seen how doctors carefully observed and reacted to patients’ physical and emotional reactions. At Siriraj Hospital, Thailand’s largest public hospital, I interned in the maternal fetal medicine department and attended lectures alongside medical students, observing small operations including contraceptive implants and contraceptive loop insertions. Attending to lectures and consultant sessions, I experienced how diagnoses were reported to patients and how doctors managed unexpected reactions. Finally, interning at the Institute of Aviation medicine I saw how technology could be used to both predict aeronaut success and prevent accidents in the field. As technology improves, our lives are enriched.
Volunteering at a home for childcare and disabled people for 2.5 years has taught me to value human dignity regardless of condition. I have also participated in clubs and competitions. To improve public speaking, I joined Model United Nations conferences and entered the National Junior Achievement Competition, producing long sleeve gloves for bikers to prevent skin cancer. As public speaking and teamwork are critical to the medical field, these activities are invaluable.
I am now ready to continue my medical journey by attending medical program in Fudan University, the university that will provide the diversity, academic setting, and technology to enhance current skills. Experiences in the Chinese healthcare system will allow me to learn methodologies that I can bring back to Thailand, progressing medical services in my home country. Hopefully, elders in developing countries will no longer be neglected, receiving the treatment they deserve.
