Admissions Essay: Facing Tragedy -- Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay: Facing Tragedy    On January 26th, 2001 a major earthquake rocked the state with a measured severity of 6.9 on the Richter scale. During my travels throughout the state of Gujarat, I witnessed the after effects of the earthquake. In addition, I worked as a volunteer at Ahemedabad's Civil Hospital, which was the main hospital used to treat that city's earthquake victims.    Although reports have previously indicated that nearly 35,000 people perished in the natural disaster, the final state reported numbers were 20,083 casualties and 166,836 injured. The largest damage was in the Kutch region of Gujarat, which is mostly desert. I spent the majority of my summer in Svarastra, a region including cities affected such as Ahemedabad, Rajkot, and Jamnagar. There were 370,000 homes destroyed and a total of 1,020,000 homes damaged. Some of the largest casualties came from the nearly 20 high-rise apartment complexes in... ...here has been extensive recovery on all fronts. It was wonderful to help out at Ahemedabad's Civil Hospital and BJ medical college. I also enjoyed spending time at M.P. Shah medical college and the Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in Jamnagar. This overseas experience gave me the chance to truly volunteer where help was needed most, and as I begin my studies at Oxford in a few weeks, the realization that public service is never done will continue to grow in my conscience.