(Side note: In Sweden, you don't cross your fingers. You "hold your thumbs.")
As an American who chose to study medicine abroad, I face a lot of hurdles if I want to practice medicine in the US. I need to get a residency spot in the US, and I will be competing with Americans who went to school in the US. One of the things I can do to greatly increase my chances is to get a letter of recommendation from an attending in the US. In order to get that, I need to do an elective in the US.
I submitted my application for "studying abroad" today. So ironic that I'd potentially be studying abroad...at home...! I ranked my choices based on where I think I'd be most likely to get a residency spot, which unfortunately means that I didn't apply anywhere that's even remotely close to where my family is. But that's ok, because as I keep reminding myself, this is about long-term goals.
So now I wait....hoping with all my might that I get a spot. I should find out next month. It's hard to hear my classmates talking about how fun it would be to go to the US, when I'm like, my whole future is riding on this, people! Not getting a spot won't make it impossible to get a residency spot, but it will make it a lot harder. I know I made the right decision when I accepted a spot in med school here, but some days it's really difficult to accept that it might mean I will be stuck here for the rest of my life.
But for now, I'll just keep crossing my fingers, and holding my thumbs!
As an American who chose to study medicine abroad, I face a lot of hurdles if I want to practice medicine in the US. I need to get a residency spot in the US, and I will be competing with Americans who went to school in the US. One of the things I can do to greatly increase my chances is to get a letter of recommendation from an attending in the US. In order to get that, I need to do an elective in the US.
I submitted my application for "studying abroad" today. So ironic that I'd potentially be studying abroad...at home...! I ranked my choices based on where I think I'd be most likely to get a residency spot, which unfortunately means that I didn't apply anywhere that's even remotely close to where my family is. But that's ok, because as I keep reminding myself, this is about long-term goals.
So now I wait....hoping with all my might that I get a spot. I should find out next month. It's hard to hear my classmates talking about how fun it would be to go to the US, when I'm like, my whole future is riding on this, people! Not getting a spot won't make it impossible to get a residency spot, but it will make it a lot harder. I know I made the right decision when I accepted a spot in med school here, but some days it's really difficult to accept that it might mean I will be stuck here for the rest of my life.
But for now, I'll just keep crossing my fingers, and holding my thumbs!
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