SAMPLE SOP - PEDIATRICS

Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”- John F Kennedy.

I strongly believe that the responsibility of a pediatrician is to literally take care of the future of the world. This is why I am attracted to working as a pediatrician, in order to have a tremendous, long-term impact by taking an active role in the healthy development of children. I hope to bring my finally honed skills to your residency program in Pediatrics and I want to thank you for considering my application.

Being born into a family of the medically underserved in rural India, there was only one primary health care center staffed by one pediatrician and a handful of nurses. The only doctor in the clinic had been trained as a pediatrician and was seen as a god by the villagers; I was deeply impressed by how much the people genuinely loved him and this goes a
long way to explaining my early interest in becoming a pediatrician. Now, I would like to serve as an advocate for children in the community and encourage them to develop their talents and promote healthy lifestyles. I am fascinated and very enthused about opportunities in prevention of childhood health problems. I am perhaps most distinguished by my dedication to helping kids in medically underserved areas. It is my spirituality, my way of contributing to the
community, supporting and serving as a good example to my family as well. I have been groomed from early childhood for a life of service to others and I have always lived this calling in a very serious way. I believe that the seriousness that is attached to the educational process in Indian culture has helped me to become one of the most highly-motivated
doctors in the profession. Serious and dedicated are the words that best describe my character and life philosophy. Pediatrics will enable me to make the most positive and lasting impact possible over the long term, treating everywhere from two-week-old new infants check to sixteen year olds asking for contraception. I find the care of patients from
birth to adulthood to be especially satisfying since I have always had a deep and abiding special love for children and look forward forming the types of enduring relationships that a characterize a distinguished pediatrician, especially as patients and their families mature and learn over time.

Studying towards my Master of Science degree represented some of the most enriching months of my life. I have also very much benefited from doing clinical XXXX rotations in surgery, medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, and gynecology for one year in Miraj, following my graduation from medical school. Though I have appreciated the educational opportunity represented by the treatment of adults, I have unequalled enthusiasm for my pediatric patients because I feel that I have a natural ability to create rapport with children and gain their confidence which is all important
to their successful treatment. This was the reason why I was a favorite intern for many where I worked.
After finishing these XXXX rotations, I spent one and a half years working at XXXX Hospital, also in my native India, with a broad variety of patients from various economic, social and cultural backgrounds and collaborated with national health programs established by the XXXX Organization, such as Pulse Polio and Universal Immunization programs. I also worked with various other non-profit organizations such as the XXXX’s and Rotary clubs. I have developed a
special interest in mentally and physically challenged children and bringing smiles to their faces has been incredibly rewarding. These volunteer and extracurricular experiences have helped me to develop the communication skills that I will need for fully successful relationships with pediatric patients, families, and co-workers alike.

I see practicing medicine in the United States as a personal challenge, and an enormously important professional experience. And, so, I immigrated to the United States where I would be best able to prepare myself for this challenge through the completion of a related Masters program. The fact that the incidence of childhood obesity is rapidly rising throughout the world and especially in industrialized nations such as the United States because of the sedentary lifestyle
and unhealthy dietary habits, helped to inspire me to enroll in and complete the Master of Science program in Exercise Physiology at XXXX University in Wichita Falls, Texas. I am especially intrigued by the way that lessons learned at a young age, especially those related to exercise and health choices, tend to stay with one through life and I see the pediatrician as someone who has a responsibility to encourage children and their families to practice preventive
medicine. I look forward to helping people to understand the singular importance of physical exercise for each and every member of the family, in addition to a balanced diet. I also have professional teaching experience as an assistant for an exercise prescription lab, teaching undergraduate students the importance of healthy diet and exercise.

For the past two months, I have been enjoying the privilege of working as an observer and assistant in pediatrics, under Dr. XXXX in Wichita Falls. Here, I have come to better understood the United States health care system, the ethical and professional challenges faced by a pediatrician and to more fully appreciate the importance of having the wide base of knowledge that one needs to treat the unique and highly diverse pediatric illnesses that face the physician in America. I feel like this observer ship under Dr. XXXX is the final passage of optimal preparation for a full participation in a residency program in pediatrics. After giving my all to a residency program, I envision establishing myself in an area of the U.S. that is medically underserved and working towards
increasing the accessibility and quality of healthcare that is offered. I hope to have the opportunity to focus my energies fully on a life-long learning process concerning the most dynamic field of Pediatrics, bringing the spirit and dedication of my native India to the healing process in your health care institution