Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello and welcome to
another episode of the Med
School Minutes podcast, where wediscuss what it takes to attend
and successfully complete amedical program.
This show is brought to you bySt James School of Medicine.
Here is your host, kaushik Guha.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thank you so much for
joining us for another episode
of Med School Minutes, where wetalk about everything MD related
, with a focus on internationalstudents, specifically students
from the Caribbean.
Today we have a wonderful guest, dr Yaya Basong.
Dr Yaya Basong has been atrailblazer all her career and
she was one of the firststudents to move to Texas when
(00:41):
we started our partnership withthe South Texas Health System,
and she has been an extremelygenerous supporter of St James
in every step that we've takenand with this match cycle, we're
very proud to say that Dr YayaBasang has actually matched and
we are going to talk a littlebit about her journey and how
(01:02):
she's used some of the toolsthat the school has given her.
So, without further ado, let'swelcome Dr Yaya Basang.
Well, dr Basang, thank you somuch for joining us today.
You know we always start ourpodcast with a little bit of a
background, so why don't youtell us a little bit about
yourself?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So thank you for
having me on this podcast today
and, like you rightfully calledme, I am proud to say I am Dr
Bissong.
Today, I am the first physicianin my family.
Believe it or not, I am last ofseven children.
We are four girls and threeboys, and I have to give a shout
(01:46):
out to my siblings.
They all got together to putmoney together and send me to St
James School of Medicine, so asI created a payment plan, it
all came out of my siblings'pocket, so I had to make sure I
finished this journey for them,because they invested a lot in
my life.
I lost my mom in 2014.
(02:08):
That was a tough time for me.
I thought I would be a mess.
After that Again, like I said,I'm the last of seven children,
so I was the spoiled one, but Igot to gather the courage and
apply to St James School ofMedicine With the support of my
family.
I feel like that is what got methrough the entire journey, and
(02:31):
when I started in September of2016, it was amazing.
I made some great friendshipsthat have lasted up until this
day.
I was part of the students thatexperienced Hurricane Irma.
That was a big thing for me,and we transitioned to St
Vincent for one semester whilethey were fixing the campus in
(02:55):
Anguilla.
But we couldn't wait to go backto Anguilla because I think the
island is just so beautiful.
We couldn't stay in St Vincent,I'm sorry, but Anguilla was
home for us already.
But you know, I went throughagain the COVID-19 pandemic.
That was another one.
I am someone who's gone throughheartbreak during preparing for
(03:15):
my exams, you know, and I'vehad a lot of failures along the
journey, but I kept my heart inthe right place, which was
looking at the big picture, andmy dream was always to make sure
that I kept the promise to mylate mom and I made sure that I
did not waste my family'sinvestment by ever thinking I
(03:38):
could give up on this journey.
So, no matter how long it tookme, I am sitting here in front
of you because of my resilienceand the support I got from my
family, and that's just like abrief background of who I am.
I'm currently single.
I don't have kids, so I lookforward to hopefully having a
family one day, maybe as big asmine, but I'm grateful for the
(04:02):
life I have.
Yeah, was mine, but I'mgrateful for the life I have.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yeah Well, dr Bessong
, I do want to point out that
you basically completed yourjourney despite a hurricane,
despite a global pandemic.
So I think you shouldabsolutely, if those global
events have not been able tostop you, I genuinely don't
(04:27):
think anything can stop youmoving forward.
So congratulations on completingthe journey, but again, you've
completed one chapter and thenext chapter, as you rightly
pointed out, it's about thefamily, Absolutely yes, I would
think, the journey of gratitudefor your family, who seem to
have been so supportive, andhopefully next time they give
you a call for any of their kidsor anything's going wrong, yuni
(04:49):
, you better be the first personthere.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Trust me, they have
started calling already.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That's awesome, but
to quickly rewind, you keep
saying that it's a long journey.
Honestly, you haven't reallytaken that much time.
You completed your MDrelatively soon.
So the average student in ourprogram finishes in about four
and a half, five years, I thinkyou've taken to finish.
(05:20):
I don't think you took anyadditional time to actually
finish the MD.
I believe you had some, youknow, a couple of roadblocks
when it comes to residencyapplications, right?
So, and you know, as the sayinggoes, you only fail when you've
(05:40):
given up.
So I don't think that there'sbeen any failures in your career
so far.
You basically, you know, pickedup the pieces, learned from it
and got better and better.
How many interviews did youhave in the last Mad Site?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
I had a total of
eight interviews and I would
just be honest and transparent Idid apply to more than one
specialty.
Okay, I applied to internalmedicine and family medicine
because, as an IMG and havinggone through counseling and, you
(06:16):
know, listening to other IMGs,it is difficult for us to match
into any specialty.
Difficult for us to match intoany specialty.
So I had to make sure that,with the available resources and
financial resources that I had,I took the risk and I applied
to two specialties Internalmedicine I applied to more
internal medicine programs thanfamily medicine, but I got two
(06:39):
interviews in internal medicineand six in family medicine in
internal medicine and six infamily medicine.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So, as you have
mentioned, you've kind of
applied to two separatespecialties.
But the main thing is that whenwe advise our students, so when
you started, so you were thefirst student in Texas before.
Let me clarify that you were atrailblazer, so to speak.
You were the person who laidthe foundation for the SGA that
(07:11):
operates in Texas as well as theother regions, because we've
never had SGs before and I knowevery time I met you there was a
whole laundry list ofsuggestions that you would have.
I would try to run away from allof those list of suggestions
that you would have.
Yes, I would try to run awayfrom all of those, but I mean
(07:31):
the point I'm trying to make isa lot of the suggestions that
you've made have truly made theprogram better and the student
experience better.
So, alongside that, we've alsointroduced a Resi Ready program
that we do, which is about tostart next week I believe For
students, where we tell them,give them tips, tips and tricks,
(07:53):
and we always tell our studentsto apply for at least two, like
it's at a point where we arenot going to certify students or
not certify, but submit MSPEsunless they actually have two
specialties.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Okay, Okay, I like
that because you know, to tell
you the truth, my best friendruns an IMG roadmap course where
she mentors a lot of IMGs.
Now, when I spoke to Dr DinaMohammed, like you know, you
know how she's amazing, she's agreat mentor.
(08:30):
She also encouraged me to sayyou know, every IMG used to
think that internal medicine wasthe easier path.
You know, I don't know wherethat message came from, but
every IMG that I spoke to alwaysthought internal medicine was
easy.
And then, when we look at thestatistics, we started to find
out that it wasn't easy.
(08:51):
It became more competitive andthen at the end of the match
cycle, er and general surgerywere taking in more prelim.
You know students in the soap.
You know period that didn'tmatch more prelim.
You know students in the SOAP.
You know period that didn'tmatch.
And then family medicine had alot of open positions.
So the trick became what isyour big picture?
(09:11):
You have to know your bigpicture.
Maybe you want to go intofellowship, or maybe you want to
do just outpatient clinic,right?
Or maybe you just want to be ahospitalist.
But what is your big picturewhen you look at the difference
between family medicine andinternal medicine, what are you
seeing as a difference?
Because we tend to use thenames of the specialties without
(09:34):
really digging into whatthey're offering, right?
If I am into family medicine,which was my number one
specialty, I know that I'll beseeing from zero years old to a
hundred year old, but maybe aninternist is only going to see
adult patients, right?
But if you want to specialize,it doesn't just come down to
(09:55):
applying to one specialtybecause you want to go into
fellowship.
It comes down to the programsyou choose, because there are
programs that would immediatelyhave fellowship programs there
that you can transition into,and then there are programs that
would immediately havefellowship programs there that
you can transition into, andthen there are programs that the
training does not make iteasier for you to get into
fellowship.
So I always tell people, aftergoing through the process and
(10:17):
the journey of the match cycle,you have to look at the big
picture.
Where do you want to end up?
And you should know this beforegoing into the application
cycle.
I also met a student who wantedto apply to three specialties
or four and I told him that's abit much.
It sounds like you areindecisive, but again, if you
(10:37):
listen to the program directors,they will tell you they want
someone who's passionate aboutthe specialty they applied to.
Yes, and for me, when I wentinto this process, I knew for
sure I wanted family medicine,but at the same time I knew that
when I look at my big picture,whether I get into family
medicine or internal, I knowthat I will get to where my big
(11:01):
picture is right, right, right,um.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
So you know a couple
of things about that is that you
know, as you said, fourspecialties might be too much.
Or you know and you know thereis a saying that if you try to
sit between two chairs, youmight fall in between.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
So, but again, as a
school we really encourage that
because we also see a lot of umunrealistic expectations For
example somebody wants to begoing to surgery, but they have
multiple attempts or they havelower scores, and at that point
we're always like well, you know, maybe you should really think
(11:42):
long and hard about the bigpicture, as you pointed out, and
essentially a dose of reality,because, um, I don't know, In
your perspective, what do youthink is more important?
Is time more important orgetting into your particular
speciality more important?
What was your?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
perspective.
I don't think time is asimportant as getting into the
right specialty, not just asIMGs.
I keep saying IMGs because Ihave seen in the match process
there is a difference between aninternational medical graduate
(12:24):
and a US graduate.
However, it comes down to yourspecialty of choice and your
realistic expectation going intothat specialty.
There is also a point I triedto.
The reason why we started thewelcome committee here is to be
honest with the students thatbasic science is not clinical
(12:46):
science.
One thing I know benefited meis how amazing my clinical
scores were.
If you look at my MSBE, it's abunch of A's and a few B's.
Okay, because I cannot say I amgoing into pediatrics but all I
(13:06):
did is a core rotation inpediatrics.
I didn't do any family medicineto see more kids.
I didn't do any extra ER to seemore kids.
I didn't do any extra ER to seemore babies and kids.
I didn't go back to doinginfectious disease, which I know
is one of the things thataffects children, right.
So when programs are looking atyour application, they want to
(13:28):
see what you did as a futurepediatrician, excuse me, to
strengthen the direction of yourapplication and then again, the
realistic nature of looking atyour grades.
Like you said, if you havemultiple attempts you're not
automatically disqualified.
But that weakens you as asurgery applicant versus a
(13:52):
family medicine applicant and Ithink students are more willing
to take the risk than work ontheir realistic expectations.
Be real with who you are.
We all don't choose to fail ourexams.
We all do not choose to haveattempts.
But once that happens to you,you have to find the strength to
(14:13):
say I will maximize my chances,using my weaknesses in my
application as my strengths.
I am not going to apply to aprogram I know I'm not going to
match into because they do lookat your attempts.
A surgery resident is, and Iknow someone who took as long as
me and matched in a surgeryprogram in Vegas but she didn't
(14:33):
have an attempt.
So even though she took alonger time to finish you know
their MD journey she had greatscores and she had other
supporting materials that helpedher match into general surgery.
So I think for me it's matchinginto the right program that
fits your profile over the timeyeah.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So, dr basal, I again
, respectfully, I would like to
correct you.
I don't think you've taken along time.
Mind you, you've had ahurricane and a three-year
pandemic right uh between what,uh, when you started versus when
you ended.
I know a lot of us graduateswho US graduates who had to add
about one to two years to theirgraduation just because of the
(15:20):
pandemic, like a lot of thestudents couldn't even do
rotations, at least we, andthanks to South Texas and Dr
Yusuf Majid, they kept thingsopen for our students.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
That was remarkable,
and he said that we have
American students too, but theuniversities have chose to close
because they'd rather you know,for whatever reason they don't
want to do that, Whereas DrMajid and Dr Dina Muhammad, they
said that you know, this is fora medical practitioner, this is
once in a lifetime opportunity,and they were like we want to
(15:55):
see the students come in andjump in the fray and experience
this.
What were the pandemic yearslike for you, Because you pretty
much lived through the wholething.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
I did First and
foremost because of the pandemic
.
I had a really bad breakup inmy personal life, in my
relationship.
That was number one.
Right when the pandemic broke,the distance created friction in
my relationship and that endedAgain.
When the pandemic happened, Iwas still trying to pass my MBME
(16:31):
for step one.
I was still trying to pass myMBME for step one and, believe
you me, taking that final MBME,I purchased a new computer.
I had to be on the screen,being watched on the screen as I
take that MBME.
It is nerve wracking becauseone of the things I will tell
(16:54):
you right off the bat is I am agreat teacher.
I had a message from someone onInstagram telling me I used to
tutor her in St Vincent.
OK but I am a bad exam taker.
I do not like being under acontrolled environment.
It freaks me out.
There's a camera over your head.
There's a camera to your left.
I get a bit nervous.
So that's one of the thingsthat you know bothered me.
(17:16):
But again, because of thatparticular exam, I did pass that
MBME and I succeeded to getready for my step one.
Another thing that the pandemicdid to me was my sister-in-law
got really hit by the pandemic.
She was one of the people thatwas an essential worker, so she
stepped out of the house and shecaught COVID and then brought
(17:41):
that home and I ended up withCOVID and even though I wasn't
as bad as she was emotionally,it's very depressing because I
was stuck in my room for weeks.
I was studying on my bed withmy iPad and then my
sister-in-law was in thehospital for about 10 days and
(18:01):
then she came home and she wasoxygen dependent for three
months.
Okay, it was that bad and as aresult of that experience, I
took a course on Harvard OnlineSchool of Medicine on mechanical
ventilation for COVID-19patients and guess what?
I put that certificate in myERAS application and every
(18:25):
program asked me why I took thattraining.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Wow, and when I told
them it was because of my
sister-in-law's experience.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
They were all
fascinated because I told them I
wanted to know mysister-in-law's experience.
They were all fascinatedBecause I told them I wanted to
know under what criteria apatient would be so oxygen
dependent and end up onmechanical ventilation.
And I learned about the ventsettings and all these things.
And every time they asked me,why did you take that course,
why was it so important to you?
And I said, remember, it was apandemic the US was not prepared
(18:55):
for and it changed a lot ofpeople's lives for good, yes Wow
.
So that was my experience, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
That is a really
amazing story.
So tell me this you matchedinto Arnold Health, right,
correct?
Why did you choose thatparticular program?
Why did you choose to rank it?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Arnold Health.
Let me tell you from the verybeginning this is a strategy I
put out there right away when Iwas applying.
The first place I looked at topick out the programs was the
SJSM match list.
You guys have that on thewebsite and I wanted to find
(19:39):
programs that my peers havematched into.
It just makes sense right.
Then I was listening to thepodcast with Dr Roland Zane and
when I was preparing for thismatch cycle I put in a lot of
time.
If I open my ERAS applicationand show you I have 20 top
(20:02):
personal statements personalizedto my top 20 programs, none of
those personal statements havethe same detail.
I went into each program and Ifound something unique in that
program to include in mypersonal statement.
So when I watched that podcastI took out my pen and paper.
Everything Dr Baxter said heexpects from an applicant, I
(20:25):
wrote it down.
Everything Dr Roland Zhang saidabout how to present yourself
in the realest way possible, Iput it down and I studied it.
So I went back to my applicationand I made sure every
experience, every detail that Iincluded about myself aligned
(20:47):
with what the program directorwas looking for and I didn't
have to fake it.
I have a lot of experiences butI teased apart the ones that
aligned with that program.
And then again, as an alumni, Ijust initiated communication
with Dr Roland Zhang.
I found his SJSM email.
It took him about five weeks torespond because he doesn't
(21:08):
check that email as much as hisyou know his current email but
he responded and then he saidwould you like to have a
conversation over the phone?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
And guess what.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Once he offered that,
I took that and for 30 minutes
on the call he coached me onwhat the interview process is
like, without telling me whatkind of questions are going to
be asked.
But he wanted me to know aboutElmira, New York, which I've
never been to.
He wanted me to know about hisexperience as a resident and he
wanted me to just be myself.
(21:40):
Then the key thing he said,which I wrote down again I have
a notebook to show you this.
He said when you get to thatinterview, act like you're
talking to a friend you haven'tseen for a long time.
That did it for me.
So he built my confidence andwhen I went into that interview
everybody I spoke to was myfriend.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
We just got along.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
I don't know how it
happened, but we just got along.
And then after the interview Imessaged the program coordinator
and I asked her for the emailaddress of everybody that had
interviewed me.
There were four people total,and you know what she said.
She said you're actually thefirst student to ask us
immediately after the interviewfor the program directors and
the residents emails to saythank you to them.
(22:26):
The moment I did that, arnoldHealth was one of my first three
interviews.
Every other interview I wentinto with the same energy, but I
already knew I was going tomatch Wow.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
That's amazing.
So it almost seems like youknow the podcast really guided
you in that direction.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
It did, it did.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And I'm so grateful
to you for using it the way the
original intention was.
The intention was to provideinformation to our students, to
provide insights into how toapply, and you know, to be
honest, you're one of the fewstudents who've actually used it
in that way.
(23:12):
We have a podcast by one of ouralumnus called dr tarabi she
only applied to 28 programs andI think she got 26 interviews
and and she basically lists outhow she did it and this she had
a clear strategy and she matchedinto OB.
(23:32):
It's not even like the morequote unquote easy ones
Absolutely OB is tough, ob istough.
And she lists all of that out.
And I keep telling students whoare, like you know, applying
for several years, have you paidattention to the podcast?
And they're like no.
And then when they come to usand we're looking at their
(23:53):
applications, we're like, yeah,your personal statement, you
know it's very vanilla, it's notbad, but it doesn't stand out.
And it seems like they'regetting some sort of advice, but
it's not good advice.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
It's not good advice.
Absolutely it's not good advice.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And that's why we
strongly encourage all of our
students to stay in touch withus, because a lot of students
are like well, you know, I mean,I've graduated.
But the way we look at it atleast the way I look at it I've
had conversations with a handfulof students who've been in a
difficult situation and they'retrying to get out of it and we
keep telling them.
Why don't you tell us?
(24:32):
Like you know, thanks to uhsouth texas health system, we've
had so many post-matchopportunities yes a lot of these
students didn't even see thoseemails.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
They didn't, they
didn't I religiously look at my
emails from st james school ofmedicine.
And another thing I want to addduring the interview process.
And another thing I want to addduring the interview process I
used the offer that was given tothe school about practicing my
interview skills.
I don't remember the guy whointerviewed me.
I have his name written downbut I don't remember his name.
(25:05):
But I had been practicing formy interviews before my
scheduled interview with theperson from St James.
But when I got on the camerawith him and he asked me a few
questions, he said Yaya, youhave what it takes to make it
through this interview process.
There's something inside thatyou keep holding back and I want
(25:26):
you to bring it out.
The moment he said that, thenext question he asked me and I
responded, he said boom, that'swhat I was looking for.
So I tell you I didn't have topay anybody to coach me for
interviews because the schooloffered us free interview
sessions.
I signed up for one of it andit worked in my favor because he
really built my confidence.
I took it as if I was taking areal interview and that was the
(25:49):
only person I ever sat in frontof the camera with dressed up,
looking professional and not notnot joking about it and he gave
me good tips and it workedthat's awesome.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So again, that's the
idea.
This year we're doing it alittle different, because last
year we got a lot of complaintsfrom students who were like well
, I matched and I got interviews, but the slots filled up, so we
have limited staff here.
So what we're doing is we'redoing a general round, uh,
pretty early, and then afterseptember onwards, only students
who have interview calls we'regoing to work with them.
(26:25):
Yeah, because it it makes sense.
It's not like we're trying todiscriminate, but also, if
you've got a interview, we wantyou to knock it out of the park.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
And so do you have.
You know I know you mentionedthat at point you were at you
had, throughout your journey,certain points when you had low
points Correct and you said thatyou had, you know, times that
helped you or things that youdid to keep your mental peace
(26:55):
and things that you keep to keepyour emotional strength.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that?
Speaker 3 (27:00):
sure.
So one of the things, um I, I,I would start by saying is
please, as a student, as afuture resident, it is important
to take advantage of yoursupport system.
Okay, because when I tried theMBME for step one the first time
we all tried the first time onthe island right, and then I
(27:23):
didn't get a passing score.
I left the island.
I came home, took the Kaplancourse again from home, had a
second try at it didn't get ascore.
My best friend again I willtell you she's now into
emergency medicine she told meto come stay with her in
Kentucky, away from family, sothat I won't be distracted.
(27:46):
I took that opportunity andguess what?
Every morning or every weekend,my best friend would meal prep
for the two of us so I don'thave to cook, and she would put
it in the refrigerator and allshe wanted was for me to study.
That helped me a lot because,again, my next attempt, I did
not pass the MBME, but I did alot better.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
Now, what made me
leave Kentucky was I lost one of
my closest aunts, which was mymom's sister, and she passed
away of cancer, and it wasreally tough on us.
So I had to go back to Marylandto get ready for her funeral
and during that time again Isuspended my studying, went
(28:28):
through the whole funeralprocess until she was buried.
But it was my support system.
My brother and my sister-in-law, whom I lived with in Maryland,
were always there for me.
Every morning I woke up at 5 amand I would go downstairs and I
would start studying again.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
I didn't get a
passing score.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Now I took the
opportunity to get on the
computer and look at places likeReddit, which I hardly ever
visit, because Reddit can bediscouraging sometimes.
Everybody has a perfectexperience or 270,.
You know it can be discouraging, but I went on Reddit to look
(29:09):
for a tutor because I wantedsomeone to help me.
And I found a great guy onReddit.
He was in Canada and because ofthe time difference now I got
to wake up at 5 am to be able toget on Zoom with him to go
through material.
And because I sought that help,I came to find out one of the
(29:29):
things that, apart from justbeing a bad exam taker because I
freak out in these controlledenvironments one of those things
that helped me was discoveringthat I used too many resources.
I am the resource guru of stepone.
I had every book, I had everyquestion bag and I did not
(29:50):
finish any of them.
That worked against me.
But I discovered that secretvery late on in the game.
When I say late on, I meanafter multiple attempts at my
MBME.
So one of the things Derek toldme was cut down your resources,
Focus on Pathoma.
Look at you know the beginningof all of this.
(30:14):
Start from the nitty gritty andthen use simple things like
sketchy micro and then focus onyou world.
But because he saw that therewas a trend in my scores, he
didn't even want me to continuethe you world because my scores
on you world were not changing.
He just said pick a section, anorgan system that you're doing
(30:37):
really badly in and figure itout, then go to the next organ
system.
And so I used Derek's strategy,and while the pandemic came in
and slowed things down and wecouldn't go to Prometrics to
write the exam, it was after Igot the tutoring that I passed
my MBME.
The final round, yes.
And from there, even though Ididn't get a high step one score
(31:01):
, my confidence and strategy ofreducing my resources and
focusing on the basics made metake step one the first time and
pass, you know.
So that was how I managed toget through that time of my lows
by taking advantage of mysupport system from my best
friend, from my family, and Ialso incorporated meditation.
(31:23):
Like I said, my Christianbackground is a strong one, and
so praying always made me get upevery other day and try again.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Right, right, right,
but that's awesome because, you
know, it seems like the pandemichas exasperated a lot of
anxiety issues with a lot ofpeople not just students across
the board, and I think, for onereason or the other, we need to
be able to cope with thepressures, or it seems like the
(31:54):
pressures and the stresses thatwe were used to all of a sudden
have become more acute.
And I think this little bit ofwisdom that you've imparted when
it comes to your support systemfriends, family, meditating,
praying I think these are allvery important factors and I
(32:14):
think I hope, as you took ourpodcast and internalize it, I
hope some of our students dothis and internalize it as well.
But as we come close to ourtime, I, dr Bissong, I
definitely want to point outthat number one you keep saying
(32:35):
that you've had a lot offailures.
In my opinion, there are nofailures.
You didn saying that you've hada lot of failures.
In my opinion, there are nofailures.
You didn't give up, so therearen't any failures.
You've succeeded and you willcontinue to succeed.
As I mentioned, a Category 5hurricane and a global pandemic
couldn't stop you and dissuadeyou from this journey.
Nothing else will.
So there is almost nothingthat's going to stand in your
(32:56):
path anymore.
And finally, you keep sayingthat you've taken a lot of time.
You haven't, because when youlook at the odds of what
happened while you were in medschool, you had insurmountable
obstacles, but you put that inyour rear view mirror and you're
(33:17):
moving ahead.
So, for all intents andpurposes and for by all measures
, I think you are an extremelysuccessful physician and the
path is just beginning for you,and we can't wait to see how
this unfolds because again,you're joining a rank of what
800 plus physicians that havebeen practicing in the United
(33:40):
States and Canada, and I alsowant to point out that you've
really thanked Dr Yusuf Majidand Dr Dina Muhammad.
Dr Dina Muhammad is our alumnusand then, I believe, dr Roland
Zhang reached out to you.
So these are all alumnus, andthank you so much for using the
(34:01):
st james ecosystem to youradvantage.
This is what we clearly tell ourstudents that you know, we are
a small school and we not maynot have, uh, amazing resources
like, uh, the multi-billiondollar schools that people are
paying four or five hundredthousand dollars to attend to,
but we do have a very close-knitecosystem and we want students
(34:26):
to reach out to us.
We have an alumni base where,which is over, with over 250
active students who want to helpother students and believe,
believe it or not, I can counton one hand how many students
have reached out to us to askfor support and help.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
They don't.
They don't ask for support andthat is why, even just working
at Dr Yaj's clinic here you knowDr Yaj loves St James School of
Medicine.
When I did internal medicinewith him I was his student
leader, so of course I developeda closer relationship with him.
But I worked hard because he'sjust a genius, he will put you
(35:04):
to work Now because I had thisone year to spare.
While preparing for theapplication cycle.
I told him hire me and you knowwhat it is thanks to the fact
that I stayed in reaching out.
I always reminded him.
You told me when I'm done, if Ineed help, there's always an
(35:24):
open door.
I reached out and I want tosend that message out today.
We started the welcomecommittee for students because
we wanted them to have an easytransition.
Everybody that drove to myhouse to learn how to do the log
books, to figure out how to dotheir notes, how to present.
I have a list of students.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Right up until today,
and even though I work as a
care coordinator at this clinic,I am still doing the onboarding
process for the St James Schoolof Medicine students.
I assist in doing every one ofthem and I've been helping Dr
Dina with that part of it rightup until the last day when I
leave here in early June,because when I do the onboarding
(36:06):
process I make sure to givethem a little bit of my story.
I make sure to tell them howserious this process is, but I
also make sure to tell them howserious this process is.
But I also make sure to remindthem you are not alone.
Please reach out to the schoolyou complain about your emails
are not getting responded to.
Yes, there's a bunch of emails,but how come?
Yaya Bisson's emails werealways responded to?
(36:28):
It's because when I send it andI don't get a response, I will
send it again, because probablymy email dropped below 100
emails and they haven't gottento it.
But when I resend it, it goesand drops other emails too.
Right, it's a process, but thatalso tests your patience.
It is part of being a physician.
(36:48):
You have to be patient.
You cannot have everything yourway at the first instance,
right.
So if you're patient and youuse the resources, you give us
quizzes on the student portal.
How many people take thosequizzes and use it as their
extra prep resource for theirshelf exams?
(37:09):
That is all part of how StJames helps us and I've written
a review about the school.
I have been part of committeesfor the school.
I brag about the school andpeople used to not believe it
until I matched into residencyand I told them I didn't have to
transfer out of St James Schoolof Medicine.
If I have to do it over again,I'm going back to the Anguilla
(37:32):
campus and I will do it again.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Well, I mean,
Anguilla is amazing.
We're building a big campus.
I don't know if you know this.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Yes, I know this.
I follow everything St James,so I know this.
I saw the inauguration ceremony.
The first ground is there andit's going to be amazing,
awesome.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
So, dr Basong, our
only ask from you is that when
other St James students comeknocking at your door for help,
which I assure you they will weare really trying to get
students out of their cocoonsand out of their shells to reach
out to our alumnus please helpthem out and give them the
helping hand that you got andyou wish you could have gotten
(38:13):
as well.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
So that is our only
ask of you, but again, thank you
so much, and thank you forbelieving in the school and
thank you for using theresources that we really try to
provide, because, if nothingelse, this podcast really puts a
groundwork as to how to use theresources that we really hope
students use, and you've used itthe exact way that we want
(38:37):
students to use Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Thank you so much for
the opportunity.
Thank you for giving my voice achance, and I have to give you
my word.
I will do as you say.
And if I do not.
Dr Roland Zhang is not going toforgive me because I have to
pay it forward, right?
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Yes, absolutely,
absolutely.
But I will also point out thatif things didn't work out, I can
almost guarantee that Dr DinaMuhammad would have ensured you
would have matched in SouthTexas.
Oh, I had a place in.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
South Texas.
I just think God had me havemore interviews before the
program was willing to acceptstudents and so God made me fall
in love somewhere else.
But I know that even if Ireturn to South Texas, dr Majid
and Dr Dina Mohammed will makesure I have a job in South Texas
(39:28):
.
So I have no doubt.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
And.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
I know that I will be
mentoring a lot of students
with all my strategies and forthem to stick with these two
people right to get the rightwisdom to applying to their
program, and I think it will bean amazing program.
I look forward to having youknow great news come out of
their program and I'm rootingfor it too right, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Well, thank you so
much.
Uh, dr basong appreciate it.
It was great talking to youafter a very long time, yes,
you've been a pioneer for ourschool, trailblazing into South
Texas health system, creatingstudent governments and whatnot,
and I'm sure you're going to dothe same in your career.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
Absolutely,
absolutely.
Please do not forget me.
With all the open houses andthe webinars, call me anytime
you need that extra support.
I will be there as long as Ihave the time and even if I'm
not there, please do give out myemail so that students can ask
me questions, because I havenon-SJSM students messaging me
as early as today asking mequestions.
(40:30):
Right, I have someone fromIndia telling me she saw me on
Instagram, so if they can beusing me, then I encourage and
give students to please use mefor that purpose.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Absolutely, we will
totally do that.
We're working on a mentoringprogram, so we'll probably reach
out to you for some advice.
Okay, perfect, so we definitelywill reach out to you.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Awesome, I'll be here
.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
Thank you so much, dr
Basang.
Your insights are obviouslyvaluable.
Obviously, we always talk aboutthe emotional support system,
but the way you painted it, itfelt very real and, again, the
biggest thing that we reallywant to thank you for is using
all the tools that St Jamesprovides to the maximum benefit.
(41:18):
I truly hope that studentswatch this episode and
understand what they're supposedto do with the podcast, what
they're supposed to do with allthe support services that we
provide.
Again, thank you once again,thank you for your belief and
trust in St James and we wishyou all the best.
Remember, if you liked thecontent on this channel, on this
(41:40):
podcast, please give us a likeand give us a follow it goes a
long way for us and downloadmore podcasts like this on any
of your favorite platforms likeSpotify, google Podcasts, etc.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Thank you so much for
tuning into our show.
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