Month: August 2022
Interview with Dr. Carolina Torres Perez-Iglesias
By: Gopika SenthilKumar and Jamesa Fabien This first post of the International Medical Graduate Blog Series highlights Dr. Carolina Torres Perez-Iglesias’ path to surgical residency training in the US. She was born and raised in Lima, Peru, where she also attended medical school. She had a broad interest in general surgery and chose to explore the field further by doing international surgical rotations in places like Germany and the US and by volunteering with groups such as Operation Smile. During her last mission trip after completing medical school, she met Dr. Michael Kelly, a plastic surgeon from Miami. “We started operating together, and we just clicked. He impressed me with his clinical and technical skills, and I knew then I had to seek training in the US.” she says. “At that time, I didn’t know other people doing a surgical residency in the US. I didn’t have a mentor or...
International Medical Graduates in Surgery – Blog Series
By Gopika SenthilKumar and Jamesa Fabien An international medical graduate (IMG) is a physician who received their medical degree from a medical school located outside the United States and Canada that is not accredited by a U.S. accrediting body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, or the American Osteopathic Association. While some IMGs complete the entirety of medical school outside of the U.S and follow a different curriculum, some international medical graduates attend ‘Off Shore’ schools. These medical schools closely follow the curriculum of U.S medical schools; students complete two years of basic science study outside of the U.S (most often in the Caribbean) and complete their clinical training in teaching hospitals or clinics in the US, Canada, or sometimes the UK. In contrast to IMGs, international students from around the country can choose to pursue their undergraduate and medical education in the US. These students may seek visas to...
Destination Wellness- The Intellectual and Spiritual Domains
By Nikita Machado “Physician, heal thyself!” Across history, these words have been attributed to different sources, including Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, the Genesis Rabbah in 300 B.C, and the Greek playwright Aeschylus, in whose play Prometheus Bound the chorus laments “Like an unskilled doctor, fallen ill, you lose heart and cannot discover by which remedies to cure your own disease.” Oh, the irony. As physicians, and more specifically surgeons, we are part of a rare group of people. We care tremendously for the health and well-being of our patients– going out of our way to ensure the best outcomes we can for them. However, self-care often falls by the wayside, and we don’t give our own minds and bodies the fuel and care they need to perform optimally. As current data shows, those who listen to their inner cues and pay attention to their wellness can sustain a...
THE INCREASING NEED FOR SURGICAL EDUCATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE SURGEON LEADERS: AN UPCOMING TWEETCHAT
By Dr. Anastasios Mitsakos Medical education has always been an integral part of our profession as physicians and surgeons. From ancient times, the Hippocratic oath binds us “to teach this art, without fee or indenture; to impart precept, oral and all other instructions, to indentured pupils who have taken the Healer’s oath.” Especially considering the combination of art and science in the field of surgery, education of medical knowledge, as well as surgical technique, leads to the evolution of successful future leaders. Furthermore, the science behind educational practices has caused more and more surgeons to consider surgical education as an up-and-coming significant component in surgical research, with a lot of studies focusing on ways to improve continuous training, mentorship, and coaching for medical students, residents, and faculty. A growing body of literature has focused on the importance of high-quality surgical education in residency training programs. In addition, constructive feedback has...