MedTalks: Welcome to the healthcare field

MedTalks is the Los Angeles Times HS Insider’s first-ever medical column by Sriya Datla. It highlights the role of medicine and discusses various medical specialties with a focus on their impact on modern life. In this week’s article, Datla reflects on her experiences with medicine and how it sparked an interest in the healthcare field.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound of the machine as my mother’s heartbeat raced. Little did I know back then that this machine was called an electrocardiogram. I was staring at the machine, trying to process everything that happened in the last hour. My mother suddenly fainted, and I screamed as we rushed to the emergency room.

The doctor examined her and claimed she had taken the wrong medication, which led her to experience hallucinations. If not for this doctor, I would not have a person whom I could call mother.

Although I did not understand what “magic” the doctor used on my mother right at that moment, I was curious to learn and as I started community college courses, I learned some of the scientific knowledge behind that “magic.”

This realization quickly grew into curiosity in medicine, as I was astonished by my mother’s incident. Exploring different careers in the healthcare field, one career quickly drew my attention — pediatrics. 

The job of a pediatrician is life-changing to many, as it takes much drive and effort to become one. As a child, I always loved playing “Doctor” with my teddy bear and Doc McStuffins kit. However, it took me a while to figure out what a healthcare profession actually means.

Through attending medical camps and shadowing opportunities, I learned that being a healthcare professional is much more than just taking care of patients and abiding by the Hippocratic Oath.

Effective teamwork and building a community is essential for sharing responsibility when problem-solving and making decisions to formulate plans for patient care.

Providing care to those in need has always been a passion of mine. It is incredibly touching that your patient is entrusting their lives to you and even sharing their personal information that they might not have told anyone else. Just building that trust and a close patient-doctor relationship is a rewarding experience that I look forward to.

Medical missions trips have also been another ambition of mine, as they allow students to apply their knowledge to help those who otherwise might not receive essential medical services. Medical mission trips can be amazing learning opportunities that shape one’s character while experiencing hands-on clinical work.

Being around children and bringing a bright smile to their shining faces, I wanted to become a pediatrician because it captured my heart. They are fun, playful, sincere and very trusting. It is amazing how resilient they are and the way how they do not respond to medical treatment the same way that an adult may respond is fascinating.

As an aspiring pediatrician, I think that this doctor is not only one who works with children, but also is someone who strives to ensure that every child in the world has access to a medical home.

Day by day, I take one step closer to this goal by volunteering at my local hospital, shadowing medical professionals and even binge-watching “Grey’s Anatomy.”