For my entire adult life, I have maintained a conceptual continuity in my service to the community, an unswerving path to aiding the poor, sick and needy through dedicated nursing. Providing compassionate care is as intrinsic to me as breathing, and yet, as a mature professional, I have found that I want to affect greater change in the lives of others, and on a greater scale than ever before. I have given all that I am to my career, in terms of my energy, time and, frankly, my love.
There is no doubt in my mind as to the enhancement of my career, and I do not take this next step to simply achieve a larger paycheck. While I do not feel I have exhausted every path of opportunity or challenge, instead, because of my experiences in healthcare, I have seen distinct and growing needs within my community and extended community for addressing specific social areas, work that I cannot completely address through nursing.
Nursing deals with one of the equations, while sociology will enable me to address the issues directly, creating sustainable change. Working in a public hospital has brought me into direct and socially intimate contact with patients facing many outside issues that have directly or indirectly affected their medical conditions. Environmental issues such as discrimination by race, sex, class, and conditions such as socioeconomic depression truly add to medical difficulties if not generating them. This is wrong and I want to be an active participant in and provide relief to specific groups for their and our collective amelioration of life.
The thrust of my research would focus on socio-economically challenged elderly women, their unique biomedical and pharmaceutical needs, long term issues, etc. Having attended to a myriad of diverse patients, I have a raw passion, and understanding of the realities elderly and poor women face, particularly women of color coping with health issues, that needs to be focused, refined and fixed upon the tools that will bring about a better tomorrow for them, and for those entering their twilight years. What greater display of our humanity could we offer than to help the underserved within our community, our neighbors, those we share our lives with, and those who have served us as we have grown?
Earning my Ph.D. in Sociology will enable me to bring my newest goals, ambitions, indeed my dreams, to fruition. Post-graduation, I envision contributing and participating in the extended research community, work that will help bring a voice to those who are unable to speak for themselves, are simply not heard or blatantly ignored. By working with or within a non-profit, NGO or similar agency, I will have access to the resources that will bring relevance to my research as well as the vehicle by which to implement change. Moreover, I want to help ensure the future of the field of Sociology by teaching tomorrow’s researchers, bringing real-world practical examples and the benefit of decades of experience in the field to life for burgeoning students.
Having a solid academic foundation in biology, physiology, nursing, and graduate health policy, coupled with direct-patient healthcare experiences will bring invaluable insights to the field of Sociology. The multifaceted issues we are facing in today’s healthcare crisis, combined with consistent influx of diverse patients into the US healthcare system require such a foundation and maturity of understanding. This is what I bring, and I am eager to engage with an accomplished student body and benchmark-setting faculty, faculty who are themselves involved in active research, precisely where I aim to make my own mark.
In truth, I bring my humility as well, and embrace the fact that I need to refine my current grasp of research skills. Having recently completed graduate work with UCXX, I am completely confident in the ability of the faculty that I will get the superior guidance possible to be an effective researcher, as well as access to the finest resources available.
Earning my Ph.D. will also give me a unique role in my community, one of role model, and trusted role, a role I would take with the greatest seriousness. To this end, I have already been an active participant and volunteer, helping the poor and homeless in my area through food banks, distribution, and soup kitchens. I am frequently reminded of what I saw years ago, when I went on a 6-month tour, visiting China, India, Sri Lanka, and Japan. While my worldview of cultures was forever changed, the issues of crushing poverty remain, sadly, global and I know that I will never forget what I have seen. Recognizing the issues though is only the beginning. Dedicating ourselves to eradicating the issues is key.
UXXX has been my sole choice for academic development since 2006, and I have been impressed repeatedly by the professors, staff, and friendly, welcoming student body. Having taken many Sociology courses, not only as a part of the health policy program, but as electives and auditing others, I am confident that these are professors that I want to learn from and am confident of my fit into the aims of the curriculum. In truth, I do not believe any other school could match the breadth, autonomy, or relevance of the curriculum.
I look forward to my continued academic relationship with UXXX with great eagerness.
Thank you for your time and kind consideration.
PHD Sociology Personal Statement of Purpose
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