It felt like the ground beneath me split open as a calming, peaceful shower suddenly transformed into a bout of blinding pain. On this Saturday morning, in my freshman year of high school, I was rushed to the emergency room for a strangulated inguinal hernia. “Is this the end?” I dreaded, as the pain relentlessly ravaged my body and mind, along with feelings of helplessness and isolation. My dwindling hope, however, came back to life when I heard the comforting voice of my surgeon. “We’re going to help you through this”, he reassured me, as I slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

Hours later, I woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by my family and somehow pain-free. Although the pain had subsided, the entire experience had felt surreal - one moment I was drowning in pain and the next, I had been safely returned back to my normal life. I was immensely grateful for my surgeon’s comforting words and immense medical knowledge in supporting me through this suffering, and I felt a burning desire to also be there for others during their most vulnerable moments. As I continued to observe the indispensable role that health plays in every one of our lives, I became determined to serve people at this fundamental level.

Wanting to explore clinical medicine even further, I began scribing at VCU Family Medicine where I’ve learned many lessons - chief among them was the importance of empathy. While I was scribing, Mrs. H suddenly broke into tears when remembering her heartbreaking struggles with caring for her terminally ill daughter who passed away last month. I wanted to support her through this grief, and I realized that the most important thing I could do wasn't to immediately document her medical history but to simply listen first. So, I closed the medical note and sat with her, nodding sympathetically as she recalled her wonderful memories with her daughter. “Thank you for listening; it means so much to me”, Mrs. H expressed at the end of the visit. Hearing Mrs. H's words, I felt grateful that I could support her in her grieving process, in the same way that my surgeon had comforted me. Through this experience, I realized the importance of providing empathy and comfort to patients. I understand that a physician is not only responsible for addressing a patient’s physical ailments but also their psychological and social circumstances as a whole. Witnessing the impact of these factors on Mrs. H's wellbeing also broadened my understanding of health's complex, multifaceted nature.

Through another, eye-opening encounter with Mrs. L, I learned how holistic care is essential in managing these social, economic, and cultural health determinants.

Mrs. L had been battling worsening depression, exacerbated by her stressful role as a single mother to a teenage son with autism. Rather than immediately offering medication, Dr. M took the time to understand her unique circumstances and challenges. She inquired about her son's schools, transportation, healthcare, and worked to get her child the proper resources he needed. By compassionately understanding and addressing the root causes of Mrs. L's distress, Dr. M was able to lay the foundation for an improvement in her mental health and life quality. Dr. M's holistic approach reinforced my understanding that a physician's responsibility wasn't just

treating the disease but also addressing the patient's circumstances as a whole - including their nutrition, lifestyle, and social determinants of health. It also highlighted for me how powerful listening and understanding is in managing these external determinants of health to ultimately provide patient-centered care. Realizing the diverse ways a physician can meaningfully contribute to patients’ health using these principles excited me further to take on this expansive role as physician. I became determined to incorporate these principles as a physician to holistically provide better care to my future patients.

Even outside of the clinic, I’ve sought to address determinants of health through my explorations at the intersection of technology and medicine. One way I’ve done this is through project SmartMart, an AI-based web application that provides tailored nutritional advice to patients, specific to their conditions. The inspiration for this idea came about after meeting Mr. K, a middle-aged man who had difficulty understanding a gluten and soy-limited diet that was recommended to him for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. I wanted to help patients like K who felt overwhelmed by dietary advice by utilizing my background in computer science to simplify nutritional information. Through developing SmartMart, I became inspired to integrate such technologies into my practice as a physician to facilitate more personalized care. However, this process has also shown me the limitations of these AI-models, in this case their inability to provide culturally sensitive dietary recommendations. I realized that as a result, users would have to sacrifice their cultural dishes if they decided to follow the AI’s recommendations. Having learned about the limitations of AI through SmartMart, I hope to critically develop and deploy AI tools in my future practice that help patients manage their various determinants of health.

Initially, I embarked on my healthcare journey after my emergency surgery to alleviate the suffering of others and provide them with care during their most vulnerable times. While this is still a major motivation for me, I've come to develop and appreciate a deeper understanding of what being a physician truly means. Beyond the technical responsibilities, it is founded on empathy and humanistically connecting with people to improve their health. This means not only treating physical ailments but also providing care for patients as a whole, considering their social, cultural, economic, and various other health determinants. In providing this kind of holistic care, I recognize the importance of effective listening and understanding as well as the utility of integrating safe, personalized digital health tools in my future practice. Above all else, I desire to be a physician who is meaningfully involved in their patients’ lives, working with them closely to navigate their various health determinants and improve their health, holistically. A physician who sees patients as more than medical cases but as individuals with unique stories and circumstances.