Christopher Kim is in his second year of a four-year program combining pediatrics and internal medicine. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he has lived in this country since he was eight.

"I think of myself as American, but the idea of being Korean American will always be with me. Sometimes this cultural heritage helps me relate to a patient.

"I was working with an adolescent girl with a terminal illness. Her mother was Korean and a lot of people had a hard time dealing with the mother. She was a devoutly religious individual and would oftentimes be very resistant to procedures or certain individuals or treatment methods. Sometimes people thought, 'Why is this mother behaving this way?' There were times I thought it through from my American-hospital-physician point of view and I thought her behavior was irrational. At the same time, if I thought it through with my Korean-American background, then I could see where she was coming from. To understand what it is like to be a parent faced with losing a child is impossible, I think, no matter who that parent is. But the fact that this mother was Korean gave me a little extra insight.

"It's for that reason that I especially like working with the very young and the very old. In pediatrics, you're dealing with hearts that are so pure, no ulterior motives. They have a willing spirit and a good spirit and you just want to help them get well, grow up and have fun. What I like about internal medicine is the ability to interact with people who have had multiple life experiences. As you delve into their medical history, you find out how they actualized their illness, what they've gone through. And older folks tend to be at a point in their lives where they're not as bitter about what's going on. They've come to a point of acceptance. They have a certain sweetness about them."