The Filipino Nurse is a stereotype, but one that holds true; according to UCSF, 20% of nurses in my home state of California are Filipino. My family was no different, nursing was our ticket to the US. My aunt’s skills allowed her to sponsor the rest of my family for American citizenship. Nursing is integral to our story, and though through her I have the freedom to choose any path I wish, I hope to continue this legacy. I was always in awe of how compassionate and informative my aunts were when an ill family member was hospitalized; they knew the illness’s complexity after a brief chat with the nurse and were able to neatly package medical terminology in a comprehensible manner. These memories and my exposure to the medical field, through shadowing and collaborating with nurse practitioners as a hospital volunteer, are what inspired me to pursue nursing. Nursing is listening, making patients feel comfortable in an unfamiliar, sterile, and oftentimes intimidating environment, and taking their lived experience and biomedical data to pave a pathway to health. Nurses are integral to the healthcare system because they are the frontlines of patient interaction, spending more time providing care to the patient than diagnosing clinicians. They are not just support staff, but liaisons of medical information and the embodiment of what it means to holistically care for someone. In my undergraduate studies, I explored how health inequities are the culmination of a person’s environment: access to transportation, healthy food, and outdoor spaces. Health is the result of many factors, with medicine playing an integral but oftentimes reactionary role. I saw this every day while working at a clinic for the unhoused population. I watch providers go beyond their medical scope by connecting patients to social workers, basic resources, and housing. I aspire to provide this same level of comprehensive care to my patients as a nurse. I believe my optimism and compassion will make me a good nurse. When I disagree with someone, my first instinct is to put myself in their shoes and consider how their shoes might not have been as supportive as mine. This thought process is essential for a nurse in primary care who deals closely with chronic disease management. While it is important to provide evidenced-based medical care, it is also crucial to ensure patients don’t feel ashamed or inferior due to their health issues. I have heard this complaint many times from family members and friends who come back from their appointments feeling lectured or even berated. I will strive to create an environment where patients feel like they are talking to a friend who happens to be well-versed in medicine, working together to develop a plan of care. After graduating from nursing school, I want to work at a primary care focused Federally Qualified Health Center and continue to pursue my passion for combating health inequities, both at the individual patient scale and also at a larger systems level. Eventually, I would like to dedicate my time and skills to the Peace Corps and being a nurse would give me the hard skills to increase access to quality health in low socioeconomic areas. I want to go beyond practicing medicine, building trust in patients whose previous encounters with institutions of authority lead them to be skeptical of medicine. I believe that serving my community as a nurse will allow me to blend my passion for medicine with my desire to advocate for the medically underserved.

The Filipino Nurse is a stereotype, but one that holds true; according to UCSF, 20% of nurses in my home state of California are Filipino. My family was no different, nursing was our ticket to the US. My aunt’s skills allowed her to sponsor the rest of my family for American citizenship. Nursing is integral to our story, and though through her I have the freedom to choose any path I wish, I hope to continue this legacy. I was always in awe of how compassionate and informative my aunts were when an ill family member was hospitalized; they knew the illness’s complexity after a brief chat with the nurse and were able to neatly package medical terminology in a comprehensible manner. These memories and my exposure to the medical field, through shadowing and collaborating with nurse practitioners as a hospital volunteer, are what inspired me to pusure nursing. Nursing is listening, making patients feel comfortable in an unfamiliar, sterile, and oftentimes intimidating environment, and taking their lived experience and biomedical data to pave a pathway to health. In my undergraduate studies, I explored how health inequities are the culmination of a person’s environment: access to transportation, healthy food, and outdoor spaces. Health is the result of many factors, with medicine playing an integral but oftentimes reactionary role. I saw this everyday while working at a clinic for the unhoused population. I watch providers go beyond their medical scope by connecting patients to social workers, basic resources, and housing. I aspire to provide this same level of comprehensive care to my patients as a nurse. After graduating from nursing school, I want to work at a Federally Qualified Health Center and continue to pursue my passion of combating health inequities, both at the individual patient scale and also at a larger systems level. Eventually, I would like to dedicate my time and skills to the Peace Corp and being a nurse would give me the hard skills to increase access to quality health in low socioeconomic areas. I want to go beyond practicing medicine, building trust in patients whose previous encounters with institutions of authority lead them to be skeptical of medicine. I believe that serving my community as a nurse will allow me to blend my passion for medicine with my desire to advocate for the medically underserved.

The Filipino Nurse is a stereotype, but one that holds true; according to UCSF, 20% of nurses in my home state of California are Filipino. My family was no different, nursing was our ticket to the US. My aunt’s skills allowed her to sponsor the rest of my family for American citizenship. Nursing is integral to our story, and though through her I have the freedom to choose any path I wish, I hope to continue this legacy. I was always in awe of how compassionate and informative my aunts were when an ill family member was hospitalized; they knew the illness’s complexity after a brief chat with the nurse and were able to neatly package medical terminology in a comprehensible manner. These memories and my exposure to the medical field, through shadowing and collaborating with nurse practitioners as a hospital volunteer, are what inspired me to pusure nursing. Nursing is listening, making patients feel comfortable in an unfamiliar, sterile, and oftentimes intimidating environment, and taking their lived experience and biomedical data to pave a pathway to health. In my undergraduate studies, I explored how health inequities are the culmination of a person’s environment: access to transportation, healthy food, and outdoor spaces. Health is the result of many factors, with medicine playing an integral but oftentimes reactionary role. I saw this everyday while working at a clinic for the unhoused population. I watch providers go beyond their medical scope by connecting patients to social workers, basic resources, and housing. I aspire to provide this same level of comprehensive care to my patients as a nurse. After graduating from nursing school, I want to work at a Federally Qualified Health Center and continue to pursue my passion of combating health inequities, both at the individual patient scale and also at a larger systems level. Eventually, I would like to dedicate my time and skills to the Peace Corp and being a nurse would give me the hard skills to increase access to quality health in low socioeconomic areas. I want to go beyond practicing medicine, building trust in patients whose previous encounters with institutions of authority lead them to be skeptical of medicine. I believe that serving my community as a nurse will allow me to blend my passion for medicine with my desire to advocate for the medically underserved.