Timothy Johnson submitted 2020-04-02
My name is Tim Johnson, and I live in Yakima Washington. I just recently returned from serving a two-year full time mission for my church in Virginia and North Carolina. These past two years have been some of the most rewarding, eye-opening, and fulfilling of my whole life. Before my mission I attended Brigham Young University in Rexburg Idaho for 2 semesters which is where I plan on returning to in the fall. I really enjoyed my time there as well and learned a lot about what I want to do with my life. I achieved a 4.0 GPA my first semester and a 3.85 my second and I studied Health Science.
Since I was about 8 years old I have always wanted to be an emergency room doctor. All my life people always told me how tough that would be and how I should maybe consider some other route for my profession but I knew what my dream was, and I was going to achieve it! My plan now is to finish my undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University with all my pre-requisites completed to attend the University of Utah Medical school and officially pursue my dream!
The reason I have wanted to pursue a career in emergency medicine for so long is actually because of an experience I had when I was 8 years old. I was at a large family gathering and my and my cousins were all running around playing and roughhousing as young kids do when all of the sudden out of the corner of my eye I see an object descending towards my face at a great deal of speed. Next thing I know I catch a stuffed toy to the face and get a sharp pain in my left eye. Within about 10 seconds the pain grew to more than just sharp, it became unbearable and I lost control of myself. I thought my eye was going to fall out. IN my extended family medical professions are very common and in the room were two dentists, a podiatrist, a family practitioner, a radiologist and an emergency room doctor. None of them had a clue what to do, in fact some of them began to even panic a little which certainly did not ease the situation for me at all. None of them except for my Uncle who was the ER doctor. Within about three minuets he had corralled a bevy of house-hold item that he could use as a little operating table to work on me and got right to work. He sat down by my side and talked to me with such calmness and peace, before he had even touched me I felt better. about ten minuets later later he had took a look around and figured out exactly what the problem was and had me on my mend. I was inspired.
This example showed me the impact a calm and confident attitude can have on a patient in the medical field. I knew this is what I wanted to do. To prepare in high school I worked as a life guard. In every situation we faced that could classify as emergency I would say a tiny silent prayer to myself and then breathe deep and slow to encourage a calm spirit to come over me. I then Talk in a moderate and clear tone and try my best to mimic the actions I remember my uncle using for me. Without fail I found that when we as the lifeguards behaved in a calm manor, the people involved in the situation were almost immediately calmer.
So that would be the advice I would give to those wanting to pursue a similar career path. Pray, breathe, slow down do whatever it is you need to do to portray an imagine of confidence and calmness, even if you have to fake it. Even if you are not much of a religious person I believe a healthy practice of quick and powerful meditation can have the same effect. In the end the goal is to help the wounded be healed and to save lives, and this will be easier when you yourself have a calm mind, and when the person you are helping does as well.
I really appreciate the time you took today to take a glance into my life and what is important to me. I hope that my words today may have some benefit to those who read and share this advice. I also thank you for your gratitude and willingness to support students like us in our pursuits.
Posted: