One morning, in my freshman year of high school, I thought my life had been ripped away from me. Without any warning, I was flooded by excruciating pain and rushed to the emergency room for a strangulated inguinal hernia. “Is this how it ends?” I wondered, feeling utterly helpless and isolated as the pain continued to ravage my insides. However, upon hearing the comforting voice of my surgeon, I was filled with renewed hope. “We’re going to help you get through this,” he reassured me before I drifted 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 to my normal life. I was grateful for my surgeon’s comforting words and immense medical knowledge in supporting me through this suffering, and I felt an immense desire to also be there for others during their most vulnerable moments. After my surgery, I continued to observe the indispensable role that health plays in our lives and 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, remembering her heartbreaking struggles caring for her terminally ill daughter who had recently passed away. 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 shared her wonderful memories with her daughter. Hearing Mrs. H's words of appreciation at the end of the visit, I felt grateful that I could support her in her grieving process, in the same way that my surgeon had comforted me. I realized that a physician's responsibility wasn’t just addressing a patients’ physical ailments but genuinely caring for them as a whole, including their emotional needs. Witnessing the impact of social 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. In response to this, rather than immediately offering medication, Dr. M took the time to understand her unique circumstances and challenges. Dr. M 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 stress, Dr. M was able to determine the best course of improvement for her mental health and quality of life. 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 this 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. I became determined to incorporate these principles as a physician to holistically provide better care to my future patients.

Through my explorations of the intersection of technology and medicine, I realized I could complement this holistic approach by inventing digital health tools for patients. One way I’ve done this is through creating 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 Mr. 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.