A Case for a Doctor

Al, come empty the dishwasher! Al Ali was in 6th grade when tragedy struck. In a

second, Mama! As he played indoor nerf basketball with his two teenage brothers, Al smashed

his finger into his brother, Zao's biceps going up for a rebound. The bone was visible as he

howled in pain and fell to the wooden ground. Zech, his other brother began to calm him as the

tears streaked down his face. Al raced out of the dim room and down the stairs just as his father

exited his own room following a shower. As Al strode towards him, his father looked at the tears

and shook his head in disgust and entered the room once again. Al then ran across the rough,

uneven tile floor to his mother, who had been calling him earlier and howled in pain. His finger

began to swell as the top turned white because of the visible bone. The surrounding areas

turned purple and as big as an eggplant. As Als mother and two brothers examined the injury,

Als father, Baba as Al called him, returned. He stated that they needed to go to the hospital.

They rushed to the ER, and Al received x-rays and examinations, all while his finger

continued swelling. Finally, a physician assistant returned and reported that a cast was needed.

While the cast was molded to Als, he was amazed by what the doctors could do, and how they

helped him through that pain. Al continued his life as normal, missing only his covered right

hand. He struggled to write in his classes, but learned to write with his left. He adjusted to his

new life style. Later, he had an appointment for his finger. He was greeted by the nurse

practitioner, and she examined his finger. She stated that he wouldn't need surgery and Al was

relieved. He left without worry, but little did he know.

It was April, and for his first time, Al visited the Great Lakes Crossing Malls. He went

around to shops and bought attire. Feeling pleased, as Al walked to the car with his mother, her

phone rang. Ring Ring, his mother answered and had a look of shock on her face. She said

goodbye, and Al asked her what was wrong. She replied, You, uh, need surgery. Al was
shocked, during his last visit, he was told that he was fine. As the surgery date approached, Al

was nervous, he was going to receive anesthesia and be put to sleep. Finally, the day came,

and Al was called. Everything was blurred, he tried to watched the tv they turned on for him.

People finally came and wheeled him down to the surgery room. They faced him under the

bright yellow light. A clear mask came down, then Al drifted off into darkness.

Al woke up with great fatigue. He saw his mother and a nurse clicking away at the

computer in the bright room. He moaned quietly and the nurse offered him a cold grape slushy.

He accepted it gratefully, and slowly consumed it. He began to vomit as a side effect. Soon, he

got to go home. Metal pins were inserted into his finger and stitches were put. Over the next

weeks, Al went to physical therapy and later his stitches dissolved, the pins were taken out, and

his finger got back to normal strength. He was amazed by the work the doctors had done, and

how originally he was in much pain and discomfort, his bone showing! Now, though, his finger

was fine and he felt great. Al knew from then on, that it was his dream to become a doctor.

3 years later, Al Ali arrived to a foreign high school lifestyle. Throughout his 4 years, Al

researched and volunteered. He took the SAT and did well. Finally, he applied to the University

of Michigan Ann Arbor and got accepted. He finally took the next leap forward, towards the life

of a doctor. Al researched, but had trouble maintaining a good GPA. He took math and science

courses, but felt that he wasnt competitive enough. Instead of taking the MCAT, he took the

GRE and applied for a Masters Degree in public health. He was accepted into the HMP (Health

Management & Policy) program and for the next two years, Al made himself a better candidate.

He raised his GPA to 3.79 and took the MCAT, scoring 34.54 (90.8 percentile). He applied to

medical school and aced his interview, later getting a letter saying that he was accepted.

For the first two years of medical school at U of M, Al took classroom-based classes.

Then for the last two years, he started rotations. He took all of his standardized tests and did
well. He then began thinking about his specialty, and decided on pediatrics. That would be 3

years of residency. Al begin treating patients under the supervision of an experienced doctor.

When he finished up, he applied for a fellowship in Neonatology. The subspecialty took him 3

years to complete, but finally, his dream had come true. A great sense of relief had washed over

him as he finally completed his long and gruelling journey.He discovered the art of assisting. It

was beautiful to see the families of the premature patients he worked with, their joy seeing the

baby they thought wouldnt make it, be alright.