O Canada!
yes, i miss terre de nos aïeux. a lot. but i really wouldn’t trade being down here for anything in the world. in fact, when i think back to my UBC application, i’m genuinely pleased things worked out the way they did. it’s true i was less-than-impressed both times my application was rejected. and i was frustrated. and annoyed. and worried. and scared.
and i took it personally for a long time. until i got here and realized i could still succeed beyond my wildest dreams. it’s true that Canadian medical schools don’t have enough seats to hold all of the Canadians that will make wonderful marvelous doctors someday. thankfully, the option of getting an amazing education overseas is able to open the doors we thought were firmly closed.
a friend passed along the following blog entry because it reminded them of me. it is written by a just-finished-2nd year Canadian medical student visiting Australia. and he says a lot of things that i believe and couldn’t do a much better job of portraying:
In fact, in many ways I look up to the Canadian students studying here. Before I applied for medical school, I always told people my backup plan was, “If I don’t get into medical school in Canada after my third time applying, I’ll start applying overseas…Australia, Ireland, the Caribbean.” But, to be honest, the thought of having to leave Canada to study scared me, and I wonder if I would have had the determination to apply yet again, let alone apply overseas.
The Canadians studying here, on the other hand, have given up proximity to their families, their friends, and everything familiar to them, to pursue their passion for helping people through medicine – many more sacrifices than we Canadian medical students are making.
read the rest of “What about those Canadians?” at Vitum Medicinus
we do sacrifice a lot. and if medicine is what you desperately want to do, then every small power outage, water shortage, missed family gathering, doggy lick, best friend’s birthday party, and all other discomforts in between, are worth it.
so totally worth it.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.And at the end of the road, that determination, that willingness to sacrifice, and that unbeatable passion for helping people – if that’s what these students have in them, and if they put all that into how they serve their patients, well, you can’t deny that’s the type of doctor every patient prefers on the other end of the stethoscope.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Couldn’t agree more. :)
Are you going to miss itty bitty?
I’ll leave the library in 1.5 hours.
see you soon.
xo
June 11th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
That is a great tangent to what we are going through. People truely have no idea. That is what makes all of us that much more special. The people back home don’t realize how truly tough it is to be here and go through this. I wish they could live our life for a day, they would thank their lucky stars and yet I wouldn’t trade it for the world because it is for sure going to make me twice the doctor I would have been if everything was given to me!!
June 11th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Really like the post today. As an IMG now in residency with my share of U.S. graduates, I think you will find that the motivation you needed in order to succeed in an offshore school will follow you into residency. That motivation can help set you apart from some U.S. grads that enter clerkships and residency with a sense of entitlement.
Regarding your axillary lymph node. Itty bitty kitty… solitary axillary lymphadenopathy….have you become a Pathology/Microbiology case? ie Cat Scratch Fever? Maybe I’m hunting for zebras…but maybe not. If you start feeling malaise (love that word)..maybe you’ll need a bit o abx. At the very least maybe you can impress your micro class.
Keep up the great attitude!
June 11th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
i would love to have a physician who was passionate enough to go wherever they could to get the education that would allow them to do what they love … because at the end of the day, i want to be cared for by passionate people who live fully in this life of ours.
you always make me smile … hugs beautiful you!
June 12th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I like a doctor who doesn’t make me sit in the waiting room for an hour before my appointment.
If I had higher standards, I would also appreciate a doctor with complete dedication to the profession.
July 6th, 2008 at 3:14 am
i want to become a fine and dedicated surgeon and heard that surgery is quite advanced in usa and canada but because my relatives are in canada i have opted for canada but now i have learnt that residency is quite difficult to get in canada So it will be highly appreciated if u could please help me