Missionary Orthopod in the Making

I think I mentioned it before but my wife and I were part of a video series produced by the Loma Linda University School of Medicine on what it is like to go through 4 years of medical school there. This video is a snippet of the what the full video series entailed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeSW2Gg1qIY

On Sunday I left my short white coat behind and became a man, lol also known as a Doctor of Medicine. I walked across the stage, received my diploma and just like that became a doctor. After the ceremony many family members and friends asked me, “How does it feel to finally be a doctor?” […]

I recently watched a movie called Something the Lord Made. It starred Mos Def playing the role of Vivien Thomas, a black carpenter who helped the famous Dr. Blalock of Johns Hopkins develop the surgery to correct Tetrology of Fallot. Vivien Thomas went just about his whole life without any official acknowledgement of his role […]

So I was reading a paper written by Dr. Augustus White III, M.D., entitled: Compassionate patient care and personal survival in orthopaedics. A 35-year perspective. Dr. White is not only a prominent name among minority orthopods but in the entire field itself. With that said, I was reading his paper and he had a wonderful quote […]

So it’s been a couple of weeks since match day and the euphoria is still there. I keep racking my brain trying to figure out what I did to match at my #1 program which just happens to be at a top hospital. As I think back, yes I worked very hard, yes I didn’t […]

God is just awesome!!!

Black Monday Messages 1. Congratulations, you have matched! 2. Congratulations, you have matched to an advanced position but not a first year position! 3. Congratulations, you have matched to a one- year position! 4. We are sorry, you did not match to any position. 5. You are NOT matched because you did not submit a […]

The deadline to submit my rank list on the NRMP website just passed about 2 hrs ago, and I am truly relieved that now neither myself or the programs can change our lists. Now we both wait to see if the Match process will give us who we want. Of course it is no secret […]

Its been a crazy couple of weeks, so sorry if I haven’t had the chance to blog in a while…but some really amazing things have happened during that time. About 3 weeks ago I was driving home from the gym when I got a call from some unknown Maryland number. I picked up the phone […]

  So with one click of my mouse, I have certified my rank list on the NRMP website…its now up to God! Man so much has happened since my last blog post…serious testimonies regarding this whole match process. But I’ve learned a lesson the hard way (a story I can’t share on here), that I […]

My little girl was born on January 3, 2011. I got to deliver her!

So below is my overall interview and rejection tally that I have been running. The first category list programs that haven’t emailed anyone yet about interviews so I still have a chance at 32 places…hopefully. The next category lists programs that have either invited other applicants for interviews or rejected them, neither of which I have received […]

So I must admit that my first week at Howard started off really rocky. I think a major reason was that I was borderline depressed because 1) I missed my wife 2) was not looking forward to 2 more weeks of trying to impress people 3) felt like I was wasting my time rotating at […]

So with the end of another week comes more rejections from SUNY-Stoney Brook and University of Chicago. Rejection, no matter how much its expected still hurts, but I refuse to look at the glass as half empty.God has truly blessed me with some great interviews and I will certainly cherish those. Just this week I […]

So this past Friday marked my last day of rotating at Hopkins. I really really really really had a great experience there and I am so sure that it is my top choice. The Lord really blessed with some positive feedback too. The chief resident told me that all of the residents had great things […]

God is truly good. Yesterday marked the day that the Dean’s letter went out and that traditionally orthopaedics interviews are supposed to start flowing in. Well yesterday I got nothing. But this afternoon when I finished a case in the OR I checked my phone at this message was awaiting me: The University at Buffalo, […]

Okay, so I definitely got my Step 2 CK scores back like 2 months ago, but I am just getting around to sharing the testimony about it! God truly is so good and He listens to even our smallest prayers. I knew that I didn’t do too well on a lot of my 3rd year […]

I was talking with one of the PGY-2s on our team and he remarked at how lucky I am. Lucky in that during the last 2 weeks that I will be here, I will really be able to make an impression on Dr. S without the other students crowding me out. And its better that […]

So I am almost at the end of my first 2 weeks here at Hopkins and it has really been amazing. This program is leaps and bounds above anything that I thought it would be. First off the hospital is just massive; I get enough exercise just getting from the Peds ward to the Adult […]

It is becoming increasingly hard for me to not feel inferior to everyone else here at hopkins. Whether it is true or not, I “feel” like the residents here are much smarter than will ever be. Its also intimidating to be rotating with like 8 other students who come from big names schools including Hopkins, […]

Today is just my 3rd day here as a sub-i here at Hopkins and I feel like I’ve been here for a week. I arrived on Monday and basically for the past 2 days I’ve been trying to navigate this behemoth of a hospital. This place is so massive that you really could get lost in it […]

So today was my last day of my away elective at Atlanta Medical Center, and as I look back over this month I can truly say that I enjoyed myself. The guys here are pretty fun to be around, super funny, and very laid back. I like the fact that you not only get the […]

September 30, 2010 Dear Applicant: The Orthopaedic Residency Selection Committee has received and reviewed your application for the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency training program at Atlanta Medical Center. We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for an interview on either Wednesday, December 2, 2010 or Wednesday, December 9, 2010. Please respond to […]

Someone on orthogate posted an organized list of last years interview invitation schedule: http://www.orthogate.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6751. This is a pretty good list because it helps me to be patient and wait for the certain month that I should hopefully expect to hear from a program. If I go off of this list, and if I am lucky to get […]

Wow, God is really good! I was in clinic today, and I felt my phone vibrate. I checked it and there was an email in my inbox from Wayne State offering me an interview!!! Historically, Wayne State is the earliest program to offer interviews; most other interviews are offered by other programs in nov. and […]

It’s hard to fully describe what it is like being a young black male in a quasi-doctor role. At my home program in LLU it means that I am one of the few black people in white coats. This means that I am often mistaken for a radiology tech or a janitor, regardless of what […]

The residents here at AMC are really fun to hang around with. In clinic they have me laughing constantly at their jokes; in our ortho basic science meetings the jokes are non-stop and overall they love to tease each other in good fun. Today, one of the residents kept asking me if I wanted to […]

I am currently sitting in Emory University’s library typing this post and all I can say is wow. Their library is more like a corporate building…I’m not even sure how many floors it has. Anyway, this week I have been on Sports at AMC and so far I have seen the what makes AMC such a well-kept […]