The dream of a career in medicine is a noble and hard work for 14 years after high school.we enter pre medical studies and compete to achieve the desired GPA,face the first real competition of the MCAT,apply to Med school and face another tough competition,many here and abroad who fail admission in homeland starts to look for schools abroad and most elect to go to English speaking schools due to being most popular and will help when seeking attractive places for future training.Every school has its advantages and disadvantages and all depands on personal priorities and future goals.
Then we go medical schools and study hard and give up our personal interest even if the school academic standards are not as strict yet we have the most,toughest challenge in our career that is the USMLE part 1 that we must pass,after we get our basic sciences knowledge tested we move on to see face-face for the first time with patients contact,I remember my first day in clinicals in a huge teaching hospital ,I was feeling cool and occupied with my new look wearing lab coat and walking in a five diamonds stars hospital,such feeling weans off in few days and when you work shoulder to shoulder with third year US students we are expected to know same materials,so we hit the books hard,we pass the clinicals and complete the
medical education yet to start the training,real indepandent patient care starts and all try to impress the boss so its time to be workoholics and the work we do in training will reflect on future jobs options.We apply to medical licenses and put under the microscope,police finger prints,official transcripts,explain every months we took off and account for any time gaps,appear sometimes for interview,and after that we apply to take the board certification exams and hospital privileges,yet another background check including interest in family and personal status,and after all of this and 14 years of hard work [4 premed/4med/3-4 residency/3 fellowship]
we start to be on our own totally,our hair much greyer,our eyes needs glasses,and our personal lives now belong to our patients and be available for them at anytime,and if we are fortunate enough,our wives still around.
If you have not started practicing yet,I think you will not understand my words,when you are tired and sleeping at 3am and get called for anticipated critical patient and they need you,you go and see that patient
and after you save lives and the families so greatful,its a priceless feeling
and imagine if you have such feeling hundreds of times a year!!!when you hear about miracles on TV once in a while,you get impressed,the miracles might become your daily routine in medicine.
some of us born to be happy and others brought to earth to be happy by making others better and happier.
And finally after all of the above sacrifies and achievements we sometime as foreign grads face hard times and road blocks,we after all of the hard work should say to those :'you just do not understand,just try it".

personal thoughts and views