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Journeys User4October 20, 2020August 4, 2021Clinical Training Experience, My StoryCOVID-19, Critical Care Medicine, New York, PGY7, Trinidad and Tobago

Critical Care Training in NYC, as COVID-19 Doctor and Patient

By Dr. Omesh Toolsie

Clinical training in America’s most populous city is known for being vigorous. If you’ve done any residency or fellowship training in New York City, you know that there is little downtime—chances are you’re busy year-round! The patient population here is perhaps the most diverse in the world and that fact is reflected in the rich clinical exposure; training in NYC is a qualification in itself. My wife and I, both physicians, moved from Trinidad and Tobago in June 2014 to pursue residency training in internal medicine at the BronxCare Health System. After completing residency, I completed a fellowship in pulmonary diseases at the same institution before moving to Montefiore Medical Center for training in critical care medicine. After almost six years in NYC, I found myself feeling comfortable managing very sick patients in almost any clinical context, but I was soon to be put out of my comfort zone.

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Journeys User4October 7, 2020October 6, 2020Clinical Training Experience, My StoryAnesthesiology, Costa Rica, COVID-19, Critical Care Medicine, Massachusetts, PGY5

Hope and Resilience, My Experience in a COVID-19 ICU

By Dr. Ronny Munoz-Acuna

I was born and raised in Costa Rica, a small country in Central America with close to 5 million inhabitants. I was always passionate about science, and after debating for a long time, I decided to pursue training in medicine. I did my medical school in San José, Costa Rica, at the Universidad de Costa Rica. I also completed a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Critical Care in my home country.

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Journeys User4September 22, 2020My Story, Words of WisdomCOVID-19, India, Maryland, Pediatrics, PGY2, Well-being

Is Self-Care on Your To-Do List?

author headshot By Dr. Shreya Doshi

“You are a bright, grown-up girl now, almost 15-years old. You must take ownership of yourself and your body and look after your physical, mental, and emotional health. Eating healthy food, making healthier choices, exercising even if just for 30 minutes, and reaching out to the therapist again will go a long, long way.” This is the kind of advice I was giving my teenage patient last week during continuity clinic, and the kind of advice I am sure you give out too, no matter what specialty you are in. However, sometimes it feels hypocritical. As a resident physician, I wonder how many times a week do you give advice to your patients that perhaps also applies to you?

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Journeys User4September 9, 2020September 3, 2020Clinical Training Experience, My StoryCOVID-19, Egypt, Internal Medicine, Massachusetts, PGY3

Medical Residency at a Dedicated COVID-19 Care Center

By Dr. Magdi Zordok

On March 17, 2020, our institution was designated as the nation’s first dedicated care center for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Our patient population would now be only individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 and required hospitalization, either from our emergency department, or from other hospitals within our network. My experience with COVID was, at that point, scarce and limited to discussions with my senior colleagues and the case reports from China and Italy.

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Journeys User4August 25, 2020September 8, 2021Cross-cultural Experience, My StoryCOVID-19, Family Medicine, Ohio, PGY4, Preventative Medicine, Saudi Arabia

Engineering Medicine Inside Out

By Dr. Wail Yar

I grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, thousands of miles away in the Middle East. I went to high school with a dream that I would become a petroleum engineer. I never thought that I would be a physician; I was scared from seeing blood, and I was afraid to touch a patient. When I graduated from high school, I applied to the best scholarship program in the country, and I got accepted to study petroleum engineering abroad. At the same time, I applied to King Abdulaziz University College of Medicine in Saudi Arabia, because it is one of the best schools in the country. I applied, not because I was forced to do so by my family, but I did it to prove that I could be a doctor, although at that time I didn’t want to be one.

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