It has been almost five years since Match Day 2008, when I first learned I’d been selected for GW’s surgery residency program. I cannot believe how fast time flies, how much I have learned, and how much I still need to learn. I still look back at that day as one of the best, yet most bittersweet, days of my life. My Mom was able to be there, but, unfortunately, my Dad had passed away about a year prior to seeing me match into a surgical-residency program. The administration at GW, allowed me to stay at home and assist in taking care of him, while I finished my coursework and clinical requirements. His experience as a patient was one of the reasons I went into surgery, as the surgeons involved in his care were determined, caring, and passionate, and they pursued avenues of treatment that were “outside of the box/standard way of thinking.”
At the time, many of my friends told me that I had it “easy” by staying at George Washington. I did not have to worry about moving, had an apartment across the street from the hospital, and personnel had known me there for four years already. I had agonized over the decision as I had traveled up and down the East coast, down to the Big-D (Dallas, Texas), and out west to California, as well as a few places in-between. Some of the places had larger ties with research facilities and less emphasis on clinical practice, while other programs were smaller and would have enabled me to be a “big fish” in a little pond. After all of the interviews, however, one thing I realized was that no matter where I went, I could not “match” anyplace where I could find a mentor like Paul Lin, M.D., vice chair of the Department of Surgery; someone who believed whole-heartedly in me without reservation and who still is not afraid to continue to challenge me. The clinical aspect of the program is exceptional, bar-none. And, it is a family environment where support comes out of the woodwork within the department, as well as across departments.
The challenge for me has been to continue to push myself, to break from a prescribed mold, and to continue to re-invent myself. The “match process” was just the first of many “matches” that continue into residency, fellowship, young attending-hood, and full professorship. I would offer the advice once offered to me, take advantage of this time to continue to believe in yourself, hone your skills, face your limitations and insecurities head-on, and realize that you are going to have to make decisions with the information that you have at the time. And to quote Yoda, “Remember, try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”
