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Journeys in Medicine: An ECFMG Blog

Tag: Minnesota

Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural Experience, Host InstitutionTags , , , ,

Celebrating IMG Well-being Day: Building Belonging in Residency

By Dr. Belinda Kwartemaa Nti

Being an international medical graduate (IMG) is both an honor and a challenge. We carry the richness of our home countries—our languages, traditions, and training—while simultaneously learning to thrive in a completely new environment. Moving to the United States from Ghana for residency was my very first time traveling abroad. The excitement of beginning this new chapter was accompanied by deep uncertainty concerning the new systems, new expectations, and a healthcare structure vastly different from what I had known that I was about to encounter. Beyond the professional transition, there was the emotional weight of leaving family, friends, and everything familiar. Like many IMGs, I arrived with determination and gratitude, but also with moments of quiet self-doubt and homesickness that are rarely spoken about.

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

What I Learned from My Mother

By Dr. Khalid Hamid Changal

It was November, and I was in the second year of my cardiology fellowship when I received a phone call from my brother in Saudi Arabia. It was an odd time for him to call me. I picked up and listened to his frantic voice: “Khalid, our mother had a cardiac arrest. She is in ER! Intubated! Going to ICU. I will call you back… I have to go…I will call you back!” I was at my apartment in Ohio, thousands of miles away, as my whole life was turning upside down. After about 15-20 long minutes, I spoke with my brother again: “Khalid, she just passed away!” Just like that, she was gone.

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Author Journeys User4Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural Experience, Host InstitutionTags , ,

Supporting International Medical Graduates in Minnesota

Dr. Svatava Merkle
Dr. Ayse Irem Sonmez

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

Healing in a Time of Change

By Dr. Roberto Fu

As I stepped out of my plane in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I had multiple things running through my mind. Relief was the first thing that came to me. The whole process of joining my U.S. training program had been marred with painful uncertainty due to the pandemic, and yet now I was here. The airport was very quiet that day. It was a clear reflection of how COVID-19 was impacting life in the United States. The road to the hotel where I’d stay for the next few days was lined with empty sidewalks and closed stores.

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