Seizing new opportunities to change and to heal

Huang Xiaohong graduated from Peking University in June with a major in environmental science and is now studying clinical medicine at Peking Union Medical College. She is enrolled in a four-year experimental program that accepts college graduates who did not study medicine as undergraduates.

During my junior year of college in 2018, I saw an announcement from Peking Union Medical College about the start of a program that targets nontraditional medical students.

I felt very excited upon seeing the notice and knew it was a rare opportunity to change my major and shift to a career in medicine.

To qualify for the program, applicants must complete a number of premedical courses in the fields of biology, mathematics, physics and the humanities during undergraduate studies.

Admission interviews mainly focus on testing comprehensive skills and character.

My parents and friends did not understand my choice at first. They were largely concerned about me starting from scratch in a new field and the mounting pressure.

But I have always aspired to become a doctor.

Some of my classmates have parents who are physicians and are influenced by their families to some extent. None of my parents or close relatives are doctors.

I simply believe I should take on the responsibility to care for other people and help relieve others' pain.

The COVID-19 epidemic reaffirms my conviction. Doctors and nurses participating in fighting the virus have united and fulfilled their responsibilities.

My only regret is that I did not study medical science earlier so that I could have contributed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

But I am turning my regret into motivation to study harder and lay a solid academic foundation during the four-year program. I hope I can assist patients to the best of my ability when dealing with illness and deadly disease.

During the first class on Sept 1, Wang Chen, president of Peking Union Medical College, underscored that good doctors should not only sharpen their professional skills but also empathy－the ability to stand in a patient's shoes and to understand their feelings.

He invoked the famous saying of US physician Edward Livingston Trudeau: "To cure sometimes. To relieve often. To comfort always."

There are 32 students in this year's class. About half of them studied biology in college and the rest studied various subjects, such as chemistry, computer science, engineering and economics.

Despite diverse backgrounds, I found that we arrived here with the same goal.

That is, to help others while realizing value in our own lives.

Huang Xiaohong spoke with Wang Xiaoyu.