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Journeys in Medicine: An ECFMG Blog

Category: Words of Wisdom

Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomTags , , ,

A Brighter Chapter After Beirut’s Darkest Day

By Dr. Alaa Rihan

My name is Alaa Rihan. Before 2020, I was simply Dr. Rihan, living a fulfilling life in Beirut. I graduated from the School of Medicine at Beirut Arab University in 2011, then joined the American University of Beirut, where I completed four years of family medicine training in 2015. Those 11 years had been the longest chapter of my life, but I was finally ready to embrace the joys of family life and a growing career in family medicine. Blessed with a daughter and a son, my husband and I built a peaceful life amid the beauty of Lebanon.

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Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomTags , , ,

Redefining the Path Forward

By Dr. Walaa Hasan

“Mom, you will pass—I believe in you.”

Those words from my seven-year-old son, Selim, still echo. Diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of three, Selim has faced life with resilience and strength that inspire me daily. If he could adapt and thrive despite his challenges, I knew I could, too.

My journey from Egypt to the United States has been one of starting over—not as a setback, but as an opportunity to grow, redefine myself, and chase my dreams. In 2019, my family and I relocated to the United States to create a better future. While my husband, also a physician, began his residency, I focused on rebuilding my medical career in a new country. Balancing rigorous preparation for residency with motherhood, I found strength in my family’s unwavering support and the lessons I learned along the way.

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Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomTags , , , ,

A Land of Opportunities

By Dr. Paramvijay Singh Dhalla

I was born and raised in Punjab, India. My father, a veterinary doctor, always dreamt that his son would be a compassionate and humane physician, one who would serve society to the best of his abilities. This dream of his stayed with me, and I made it my purpose. First, I went to medical school in India. Then, in 2021, I fortunately matched into a family medicine residency at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. This year, I moved from Nebraska to New York to begin my fellowship in geriatric medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

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Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomTags , , , ,

How to Succeed in Your “Rookie” Year

By Dr. Sushania Pryce

In U.S. sports, the “rookie” is the newest member of the team. In basketball, the rookie often doesn’t get to begin the game with the “starting five”—the group of skillful players who start the game—but they are always eager to play. When I left my home country to begin my journey as a resident in the United States, my initial thought was that I would be just like the rookie. To some extent the analogy is true, but in the case of being a medical intern, you are both a rookie and part of the starting five: even though you’re new to the team, you have to play every game.

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Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Cross-cultural Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomTags , , , , ,

March Madness

By Dr. Emilio Jose Fabian Corona

“March Madness” is upon us, but I must clarify that it is probably not the one you are thinking about, especially if you are a sports enthusiast. I am alluding of course to the Match season, that time of the year when thousands of medical students from across the country and around the world wait patiently for that long-anticipated email in mid-March: the correspondence that will dictate if your dreams of becoming a trainee at your desired program and institution are to be fulfilled.

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