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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 User4July 28, 2020July 22, 2020Clinical Training Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomInternal Medicine, Massachusetts, PGY3, Turkey

Make a Positive Impact and You Will Receive Much More

By Dr. Ayse Canturk

Since I started in high school, I have been away from my home to study. At 13 years old, it was hard. Now I realize hard moments prepare you for great achievements along the way. The question is how to pass hard moments: for some of us, it is difficult to see the end prize in the beginning, because the road is multifactorial. However, the purpose of the journey is learning patience and endurance, not the destination itself. All I ever wanted was to do good, affect good, make a positive impact. We all should start walking with purpose, with good intentions. The destination may be different than initially thought, but it might be even better than our dreams.

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Journeys User4October 21, 2019July 15, 2020Clinical Training Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomPakistan, Pennsylvania, PGY3, Surgery

Diary of a Sindhi Surgeon

By Dr. Vishal Kumar

“Surgery in the USA, huh? Do you know what are you doing with your life?” That was a quote from one of my friends.

Surgery is the most precious thing that happened to me. It was my dream to be a surgeon, but things got complicated when training in the USA came into play. I, like most of my friends during my medical school, thought surgery residency in the USA was an impossible task to accomplish, given the visa, high test scores, and research required to be competitive with US medical graduates. I dreamt of being a surgeon, day and night since childhood. So to me it was like a vision that only I was able to see, the passion only I was able to feel, the road only I had to walk, so that when I eventually make it come true it will become a hope for the people around me.

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Journeys User4September 9, 2019July 15, 2020Cross-cultural Experience, My Story, Words of WisdomInternal Medicine, Nigeria, PGY3, Psychiatry, Texas

We Dare to Call You Home, El Paso

By Dr. Terngu Ibilah

The arduous winding journey for international medical graduates seeking to continue medical education in the United States is one only for the brave at heart. From the grueling USMLE exams to the apprehension of Visa interviews at the US embassies, with a melange of sweetness whenever that FedEx envelope arrives with your ECFMG certification, culminating on Match Day where you finally get to know if you have been accepted into a program— is a summary of years of hard work, dedication and huge financial commitment. For those who make the mistake of thinking the process of getting in is the hardest, they soon learn that staying in is probably harder, confronted with an entirely new system of medical practice, far away from loved ones and the comfort of a familiar environment. What has kept many international graduates going is finding your purpose, understanding why you put in so much of your life to get to this point.

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Journeys User4May 20, 2019July 15, 2020Clinical Training Experience, Cross-cultural ExperienceHonduras, Internal Medicine, PGY3, Texas

All Hail West Texas!

By Dr. Orlando Garner

In 2002, the Mountain Goats, an American folk band led by John Darnielle, released an album titled All Hail West Texas. The first thing that struck me about the early years of the Mountain Goat’s records were how sparse they were, if this was stylistic choice or a means to an end, I do not know. It is well known that those early records produced by John Darnielle were recorded on a Panasonic RX-FT500 cassette tape recorder. The very last album he recorded in this way was about my current home, West Texas. In a lot of ways, the album resembles its namesake with its subdued melodies juxtaposed in a very plain, drawn out canvas the same way the West Texas sky colors, with its unique reddish hue and dispersed cotton candy clouds, the endless roads seasoned with scattered oil pumps throughout. This place is not for everyone, the same way the record is not. But when you see the beauty of infinity with an unraveling clear starlit sky and a sprawling desert that suddenly turns into mountains, it’s easy to understand why Darnielle sang about wanting these highways to be a Mobius strip that he could ride forever.

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