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Journeys User4January 17, 2023January 12, 2023Cross-cultural Experience, My StoryBridgeUSA, India, Missouri, Pathology, PGY5, U.S. Department of State

Tales of Determination and Dedication from Across the Globe

By Dr. Hansini Laharwani

This October, I was selected to be one of less than 10 ECFMG-sponsored J-1 physicians to attend a three-day leadership development seminar held in Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The seminar I attended was one of a series of eight planned in 2022 and 2023 that make up the BridgeUSA Leadership Development Program. According to its website, the program will host up to 200 total BridgeUSA participants and intends to “promote mutual understanding and lasting partnerships between emerging leaders from foreign countries and the United States,” give its attendees a chance to “collaborate and share ideas, approaches, and strategies to develop solutions to local and global challenges,” and create “a global network of like-minded professionals committed to creating positive change in their workplaces and communities.”

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Journeys User4December 15, 2022December 14, 2022Cross-cultural Experience, From EVSP, My StoryBridgeUSA, Ecuador, Egypt, New York, Nigeria, U.S. Department of State

BridgeUSA Volunteers Give Their All at 2022 New York City Marathon

By Amanda Bintz
Outreach and Engagement Coordinator, ECFMG

“Keep the cups stacked three levels high, and fill them a third of the way,” the volunteer coordinator told us as she handed us bright green ponchos branded with the TCS New York City Marathon logo and featuring the Statue of Liberty.

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Journeys User4August 2, 2022August 5, 2022Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural Experience, Host InstitutionCOVID-19, Minnesota

Supporting International Medical Graduates in Minnesota

By Dr. Svatava Merkle, Dr. Ayse Irem Sonmez, Dr. Tolulope Odebunmi, and Dr. Mats Steffi Jennifer Masilamani

We are a group of four International Medical Graduates (IMGs) training at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine: Dr. Svatava Merkle, a PGY-3 from the Czech Republic specializing in pediatrics; Dr. Ayse Irem Sonmez, a PGY-3 from Turkey specializing in psychiatry; Dr. Toulope Odebunmi, a PGY-4 from Nigeria also specializing in psychiatry; and Dr. Mats Steffi Jennifer Masilamani, a PGY-4 from India specializing in pediatric cardiology.

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Journeys User4July 7, 2022June 30, 2022Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural ExperienceCOVID-19, Illinois, Internal Medicine, Pakistan, PGY3

The Dilemma of End-of-Life Discussions

By Dr. Om Parkash

Since the beginning of the 21^st century, palliative care has emerged as a prominent aspect of medicine. Palliative care focuses mostly on improving the quality of life in severely ill patients, but it also involves comfort-based care for terminally ill patients. Despite increased awareness of palliative care among health care providers, decisions made in respect to end-of-life treatment are often difficult because they can be subjective.

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Journeys User4June 8, 2022Cross-cultural Experience, Words of WisdomInternal Medicine, Kansas, Lebanon, PGY1, Returning Author

Translation in Transition: The Story of an IMG

By Dr. Ahmad Mahdi

Dear fellow international medical graduates (IMGs):

We, like our U.S.-graduate counterparts, are hardworking and highly resilient in our pursuit of residency. We are all excited yet daunted by the prospect of transitioning from medical school to internship, as this new phase brings increased responsibility and autonomy. We all rush to meet deadlines and gather stack upon stack of required paperwork to jump off the page and qualify for selection. However, IMGs often face unique obstacles that we must overcome in preparation for and as we matriculate in our residencies in the United States. For example, as a Lebanese applicant, I was faced with regular electricity outages, civil rights movements interrupting my normal workflow, and severe financial limitations due to the fastest rate of hyperinflation in modern history in my country. I had to embrace instability and uncertainty and always aim to thrive from within the chaos. I am certain that many of my fellow IMGs faced similar challenges in their efforts to begin residency in the United States. Especially in this time of the pandemic, we all dealt with some level of economic and political instability in our homelands, not to mention the multiple waves of quarantine, uncertainty, and fear. If you are going through this process now, I send you a message of strength: you will persevere.

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