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Posted on Categories Cross-cultural Experience, My StoryTags , , ,

Improving Patient Care Through Cultural Diversity

By Dr. Kevin Carroll II

I am a proud Bahamian native and a fully Caribbean-trained international medical graduate. I am also a newly matched categorical general surgery resident. Achieving my dream of matching to a general surgery residency was not an easy feat. Prior to joining my current program, I had no U.S. clinical experience. After being recognized for some accomplishments in a surgical department in my home country and acquiring my Membership of The Royal College of Surgeons, I decided to pursue my goal of training in the United States. I worried that my prior achievements would not be enough. I believed in myself, so I took some risks and I networked extremely hard. After spending a preliminary year in general surgery at a program located in Georgia, I accomplished my dream. My story is proof that determination makes it possible; to those who have doubts, don’t give up! My journey to this point has been difficult and I am so grateful to the Exchange Visitor Program for making this opportunity a possibility.

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Posted on Categories Clinical Training Experience, My StoryTags , , ,

My Miraculous Return to Residency

By Dr. Kushinga Bvute

We were young, happy, in love, and planning for the future. My husband thought that it would be prudent to explore the possibility of furthering our careers abroad to ensure a secure future for our family. He was a banker but also very passionate about farming. I was fresh from university and not yet established, so we decided that I would be the first to pursue opportunities abroad.

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Posted on Categories My Story, Words of WisdomTags , , , 1 Comment on Finding My “Work Family” in Residency

Finding My “Work Family” in Residency

By Dr. Khushboo Gala

When all my friends were graduating university and acquiring their first jobs, I was still midway through medical school, struggling through books and clinical rotations. I would listen to their stories of office friends and “work families” in awe – and wonder, when will I have this?

Fast forward through completing medical school, giving my steps, applying for residency, interview season… All those years erased the aforementioned questions from my mind. I was so focused on exams and landing a residency position in a foreign country, that I completely forgot about my yearning to be a working woman. On Match Day, though, having a job became a reality. In just a few months, I would be working for the first time in my life, in a distant place, in a hospital where I knew no one and no one knew me. Suddenly, residency went from being my dream to my fear.

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