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Journeys User4November 22, 2024March 5, 2025Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural Experience, My Story, Post J-1 ExperienceAlumni, Headache Medicine, Kentucky, Neurology, Pakistan, Returning Author, Texas

Growth is Best When Shared

By Dr. Muhammad Ismail Khalid Yousaf

“Serve well and learn more—they’ve given you a place in their country, and it takes a big heart to do that,” my paternal grandmother, Jamila Begum, told me during our family’s ritual prayers before I left for the airport to begin my training in the United States. This 7,500-mile journey from Pakistan to Kentucky came with its own uncertainties and challenges, but the belief that “there is a blessing when you migrate to study abroad” was deeply rooted in my cultural and religious values. I was determined to carry forward these virtues with pride and dignity, as my parents had sacrificed everything to ensure I received the best training, and my wife’s support to get me to the United States to train was monumental. Thanks to the BridgeUSA J-1 Exchange Visitor Program, I was fortunate to match and start my training at the University of Louisville (“UofL”) School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology.

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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 User4May 25, 2022March 5, 2025My Story, Words of WisdomCOVID-19, Kentucky, Pakistan, PGY3, Returning Author

Fear, Prayer, and the Unknown: First-time Parenthood in a Pandemic

By Dr. Muhammad Ismail Khalid Yousaf

“Did you see any COVID-19 patients today?” my wife nervously asked as I entered our home. I was clad in an N-95 mask for the first time. “Not yet” I replied.

My mask and her concerns were well-warranted; we were about to be first-time parents, and she was in her last trimester. Our relatives and friends would routinely ask, “When is your gift from God coming?” and we always cautiously replied, “Anytime now, just pray—you know how times are….”

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Journeys User4November 17, 2021November 11, 2021Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural Experience, My StoryCOVID-19, Illinois, Internal Medicine, Pakistan, PGY3

Human Connections That Travel Oceans

By Dr. Umer Farooq

The COVID-19 patient did not speak English, so we communicated using a translator phone. He taught me a few words and sentences so that I could ask simple questions to other patients who shared his native language. “I can’t breathe” were the last words that I could understand before he was intubated. I wondered if he ever imagined that his last words would be spoken to someone who did not speak his language. Did he imagine that he would be taken care of in his final days by someone born thousands of miles away?

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Journeys User4March 10, 2021February 25, 2021Cross-cultural Experience, My StoryCOVID-19, North Dakota, Pakistan, PGY4, Psychiatry

You’ll Never Walk Alone

By Dr. Ahmad Khan

Living the “American Dream” was a phrase I heard a lot while growing up because many of my relatives were settled in the USA. During medical school, I had made up my mind to pursue psychiatry as a preferred specialty. After making a thorough comparison of psychiatry training in Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the USA, I decided to aim for training in the United States.

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