SAMPLE SOP - ANESTHESIA

For me the magic of medicine is profoundly reinforced by how we are now able to make even major surgery virtually painless. This is where I find my greatest joy and pride in life as a practitioner of anesthesiology. I am searching for my first residency assignment and hope very much to be chosen by your program. I am a very family oriented person and my family
is now mostly on the West Coast of the U.S. So, this is the geographical location that I would prefer for my first residency assignment, preferably Washington, Oregon, or California. My family is my main support system, especially since my father recently just passed away.

I feel strongly that Chinese women have much to contribute to American medicine and that our insights are complimentary to that of physicians from the West, that we often make an excellent team. Being a team player, of course, is very Chinese. I was born in China and immigrated to Hong Kong as a child, so I was already westernized somewhat by the time that I came to the U.S. as an exchange student at the age of seventeen. This experience taught me early on to rely on myself and be a
quick thinker and learner, since I came here by myself without any relatives or knowing anyone at that time. After completing high school here, I went on to study nursing in the University and completed my BSN. Next, I worked as a nurse for five
years and then went on to medical school. I recently received my M.D. Degree.

In addition to my education, my application is strengthened considerably by my professional experience. I worked in various fields in nursing prior to going to medical school: medical, surgical, obstetric-gynecology, same-day surgery, rehab, nursing home, critical care, etc. Thus, I have already had a lot of exposure to a variety of health care settings and I am highly familiar
with the practice of many different aspects of medicine.My experience in critical care nursing is especially relevant to my decision to practice anesthesiology as a physician because I
have a lot of experience dealing with very sick patients who need to be constantly monitored and, often, in need of rapid life-saving interventions needed. I am especially accustomed to IV monitoring and numerous other procedures that the anesthesiologist needs to have mastered. I am especially comfortable working in the critical area of emergency room care. I
am someone who communicates well with non-native speakers of English and people from all walks of life. I keep a cool head in emergencies and work best under pressure. It is my hope as well to be able to use my linguistic skills in the course of my work as a resident physician in the area of anesthesiology. Since I am a native speaker of both Mandarin and Cantonese, I
might be able to make a special contribution to your program since there are so many immigrant speakers of these languages in America, especially on the West Coast.

I felt most ‘at home’ in the practice of medicine when I was doing my rotation in anesthesiology. I take great pride and find great joy in dealing with one patient at a time, physiology, pharmacology, etc. I have received excellent evaluations primarily because I give my all and I have become highly skilled at treating patients and making correct medical decisions. The greatest
contribution that I might be able to make to my society is to help people survive the Operating Room with minimal discomfort. I want to be that person who has the primary responsibility to make sure that operating room patients are safe and they do not have to suffer beyond what is absolutely necessary. This is where I find my greatest joy.

I received a full scholarship for my entire medical school education at the University of XXXX’s School of Medicine in XXXX, and graduated in June of 2007. I also did my rotations in XXXX and received high marks for my evaluations as well as on the XXXX. I look forward to bringing my outstanding credentials to your residency program and working shoulder to shoulder to make the experience of anesthesia everything that it should be in our modern world of advanced medicine. I want to thank you for consideration of my application.