Ross 1

Topic Proposal

As a topic of study this year, I would like to study the wonderful field of orthopedic

surgery. I have always had a strong desire to serve my fellow man and the medical field is the

perfect way for me to give back to our society. Through my studies and mentorship this year, I

would like to focus on the day to day duties of an orthopedic surgeon and delve past the surface

of image of just surgeries. I want to experience the work done in the office of first diagnosing a

patient, performing the surgery, and then tending to the post operation recovery. I believe that

experiencing all aspects of an orthopedic surgeon’s career will give me a better understanding of

what I intend to embark upon in my own future.

When I was seven years of age, I unknowingly embarked upon a long descent into

physical deterioration. It started with a small piece of my knee cap being chipped off, then with a

diagnosis of subluxing knee caps, the tearing of my ankle ligaments, the shattering of my left

knee, the tearing of my MCL, the severing of all of my left patellar cartilage, the diagnosis of

over extended tendons, a benign bone tumor development, the growth of a bone spur in response

to my multiple surgeries, and the crushing realization that by the age of fourteen I had reached

the first stage of needing total knee replacement. I spent countless hours sitting in an orthopedist

office and many more in physical therapy. Dr. Douthit, the man who has been constantly fixing

my knee for eight years, is who inspired me to want to possibly become an orthopedic surgeon. I

understand the excruciating pain and the frustratingly slow process of recovery associated with

surgery and want to help those who must go through the same process that I have had to

experience.
 Ross 2

I am extremely excited about this opportunity. The intricacies of orthopedics cannot be

learned solely in a classroom environment and actually being to observe an event such as a real

surgery would benefit me exponentially. I am an extremely hard worker who believes in the

power of perseverance. I can work for hours at a time, a skill valuable to surgeons who must be

able to work for extended periods of time. I am an avid learner with a natural curiosity for all

things medical. I can spend hours watching medical documentaries or reading about medical

anomalies. I love to soak in every aspect of life and I view everything as having the potential to

teach me something. I enjoy researching and finding the “why” to everything around me. I pride

myself on always trying to improve myself intellectually as I will always have room to grow as a

person. I love to be able to fix things and see the inner workings of everything around me.