Dear Ms. Karen and everyone at Lifestart Foundation,
My name is Phan Thi Ngoc My, and I am the fortunate recipient of a scholarship from Lifestart Foundation. I have recently graduated with a degree in General Medicine from Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Through this letter, I would like to share my academic journey over the second semester of this school year, as well as my plans for the immediate future.
The second semester is a major challenge for a final-year medical student. My study program included Internal Medicine and Surgery, followed by theory and clinical graduation exams. For a 6th-year medical student, clinical practice is no longer just about identifying symptoms; it requires the doctor to focus on reasoning through various diagnoses and proposing specific treatment procedures which meet the latest guidelines.
Finally came the graduation exam, which was undoubtedly the most important one of my entire six years of medical school. The greatest challenge I faced during this semester was the immense mental pressure I was under and the need to manage my time effectively. To prepare for the exam, I followed a disciplined self-study routine. Every day after finishing my ward rounds, I made the most of my time by recording the clinical cases I had encountered, then when I returned home, compared them with the relevant medical textbooks. In addition, my classmates and I regularly discussed the patients we had examined in our respective wards. Through these discussions, we were exposed to a broader range of diseases and clinical presentations, which helped strengthen our clinical reasoning skills and deepen our diagnostic thinking.
My favorite subject this past semester was Internal Medicine. I believe that to excel in other specialties, one must build a solid foundation in this subject to reason effectively, connect various symptoms and thus reach an accurate diagnosis. Instead of viewing isolated organs in the body, Internal Medicine allows me to take a holistic view of the patient’s entire body. This discipline has sharpened my clinical reasoning, which I can readily apply across other medical specialties.
I have made it through a stressful period of studying for my graduation exams, successfully completing both clinical and theory assessments. I achieved a fruitful result this past semester with a GPA of 3.35/4.0, allowing me to officially graduate with a final GPA of 3.55/4.0, earning a Distinction degree. Looking back on this long six-year journey with hundreds of exams and countless overnight hospital shifts, I truly felt satisfied with this outcome.
The past six years have been an immensely meaningful journey for me. Throughout this time, besides academic studies, I have actively participated in various extracurricular activities such as patient-support programs, volunteer medical checkups alongside university doctors and other community initiatives such as the “Piggy Bank for Kids” project and “Warm Tet for Students.” These experiences have given me a deeper sense of social contribution, allowing me to directly assist patients, take part in fundraising and bring joy to disadvantaged paediatric patients.
After graduation, I started preparing for the Medical Residency Exam and completing my application for the Otolaryngology (Ear-Nose-Throat) residency program at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The reason I chose this specialty is because I am interested in both Internal Medicine and Surgery. An otolaryngologist not only diagnoses and treats diseases with medication but also directly performs surgery to treat patients. I will have the opportunity to treat patients of all ages, from newborns with congenital abnormalities to older adults with hearing problems or tumours. This is a specialty that can open up many directions for me in the future, allowing me to support my parents in raising my younger siblings and provide my family with a better life in the future.
At present, I have passed the Otolaryngology residency exam and ranked first. I feel very happy, proud and extremely grateful to the people who have placed their full trust in me. The time I spent preparing for the exam was extremely difficult and stressful for me. Every day, I spent 15–17 hours studying. During the first period, I spent time reading through everything I needed to know in the six exam subjects. After that, I did practice tests to clarify the extent of my knowledge, see which topics I needed to work on and then went back and studied those parts more carefully. Because the amount of knowledge covered in the six exam subjects was very large, I often had to read the materials over and over again in order to remember all of it.
As the exam day approached, I felt quite worried and under a lot of pressure. I was afraid that I would disappoint everyone and that the expectations my family, Ms. Karen and the Foundation team placed in me during this time would be in vain. Therefore, I kept reminding myself that I had to try my very best to be successful in the exam and overcome that fear. And finally, I did it. A great joy came to me and my family. After finding out the result, I felt relieved because I had not let down the trust and kindness that everyone had placed me.
Currently, my short-term goal is to pursue advanced specialized studies and hone my medical English to raise my qualifications and support my future career. I also plan to study for the IELTS exam to broaden job opportunities, boost my confidence in communication and enable me to read English medical articles and research papers fluently.
Before receiving the Lifestart Foundation scholarship, my family faced immense hardship. My father suffers from a severe herniated disc and is unable to do heavy physical work, leaving my mother as the sole breadwinner for my family. She takes on any job she can find, from construction work and shucking clams to working in a restaurant, just to support my sister and I through school. The cost of medical school tuition and living expenses placed a tremendous financial burden on my family and I often worried that I might not be able to complete my degree.
At one of the most difficult times in my life, during my fifth year of medical school, I received the wonderful news that I had been awarded the Lifestart Foundation scholarship. I was filled with joy, relief and heartfelt gratitude. The scholarship came at exactly the right time, easing my family’s financial burden and giving me the confidence to continue pursuing my dream of becoming a doctor.
The Lifestart Foundation scholarship has truly changed my life and my family’s life. Over the past two years, the Foundation’s consistent financial support has relieved a great deal of the burden on my parents. They no longer have to lie awake at night worrying about my tuition fees, and I have been able to focus fully on my studies without having to work part-time to cover my living expenses. The financial support allowed me to pay my tuition fees and rent on time. It also gave my parents the opportunity to save money to repay debts and better provide for my younger sister in the future.
Beyond the financial assistance, I have also received wonderful emotional support from the Lifestart Foundation team. Every month, my mentor Ms Uyen took the time to meet online with me, checking not only how I was going with my studies but also my family’s health and living conditions. I am deeply grateful for your kindness and genuine care. Your encouragement has made me feel supported and given me even greater motivation to keep working hard and pursuing my goals.
Without the support of the Lifestart Foundation scholarship, I believe my life would have been much more difficult. I might have had to delay my studies because of the financial burden or even give up my dream of becoming a doctor before completing my degree.
From the bottom of my heart, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Ms. Karen and everyone at the Lifestart Foundation. The Lifestart Foundation scholarship has given me far more than financial support. It has strengthened my belief in the kindness and generosity of others. Today, I am graduating from medical school and beginning my career as a doctor. I promise to carry the spirit of compassion and service that Lifestart Foundation has shown me into my own work, always caring for my patients with dedication and doing my best to contribute to society. I sincerely hope that the Lifestart Foundation will continue to grow and help many more hardworking students from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their dreams, just as you have helped me.
Once again, I wish Ms. Karen and everyone at the Lifestart Foundation good health, happiness and continued success.
Thank you once again for everything you have done for me.
Yours sincerely,
Phan Thi Ngoc My