Personal Statement: Pathology Has Been Essay

Pathologists are often called 'the doctor's doctor ' -- when other doctors are experiencing an impasse, they go to a pathologist for advice, to provide clarity. As someone who has always enjoyed working as a teacher and preparing teaching materials, I look forward to this role in relation to my fellow physicians.

Upon arriving in the United States to practice medicine, I gained experience in the field of pathology-related research, collecting data about survival rates of patients with colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. I came to learn how pathology touches all fields of medicine. Even in my work with patients suffering substance abuse and psychiatric problems, I saw how the progression of the addiction created a pathology in terms of the way that the body responded to the patient's negative behaviors. I hope that this residency program will expose me to the laboratory and clinical aspects of the field, and give me the ability to learn from -- and perhaps to teach -- others who are grappling with issues spanning from cancer to nephrology to infertility to lifestyle-related illnesses.From birth to death, I have seen the many varied states the human body can take in health and illness. My desire to engage in a pathology rotation is based upon these past, formative experiences and my desire to place this diversity within the uniquely helpful paradigms particular the discipline. By the end of the residency I know I shall not have realized my goal of becoming a 'doctor's doctor' but I am eager to enter upon the path and begin this lifelong journey.

J. Carlos Manivel, "Choosing pathology as a specialty," the University of Minnesota, May 2, 2010, [August 21, 2010]….....