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):
Welcome and thank you
for joining us for another
episode of Med School Minutes,where we talk about everything
MD related, with a focus oninternational students,
specifically Caribbean students.
Today we have a very specialguest.
His name is Dr Sanket Chowdhury.
He's an alumni from St JamesSchool of Medicine and he is
waiting for the match resultscoming up this year.
(00:43):
He just graduated and he'sactually helping us or working
at St James as a studentcounselor.
We're gonna talk to him abouthis experiences, his background
and what the student counselorposition actually entails.
So, without further ado, let'swelcome Dr Sanket Chaudhary.
Thank you for joining us,sanket.
(01:04):
Thank you for having me and Iknow we're going to talk about
you a little bit.
What we really want to focus onis kind of your journey.
So why don't you just walk usthrough your background and why
you chose St James and let's gofrom there?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Okay, well, I'm from
Canada, born in India, okay, and
we moved to UK when I was inlike grade four.
Okay so, london, uk, and didsome schooling there for three
or four years and then we movedto Toronto.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
And I was there until
grade 10, no grade nine okay
and then we moved to albertawhere I did from grade 10 to
grade 12 and uh did myuniversity, the university of
alberta, which is in edmontonokay um, some sciences, okay.
After that I just ended upworking okay.
(02:04):
For a few years I did somecourses here and there, but I
was working as a sales salesmanokay, yeah, all right yeah and
and any other jobs, or was itjust?
No, I also wrote on my parentsrestaurant.
Okay, as a chef.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Chef manager and as
far as being a chef, I can
relate to that a lot.
I think everybody can.
Well, I call myself chef, but Imean, but you were prepping
meals.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I was yeah, Right,
right.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
How's your plating
skills?
Speaker 3 (02:40):
I mean better than my
dad's.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
But what kind of
restaurant was it?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
It was an Asian, like
it was called Walkbox.
A lot of Asian food from likeThailand, china, india too.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
What do you think you
made the best from the menu?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I think I was pretty
good with pad thai.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Pad thai.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
All right, but for me
, pad thai is like you add the
sauce and then you toss itaround and then I feel like
almost everything else goes ontop of the noodles as opposed to
in it.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yeah, the peanuts, is
that Pretty much.
Yeah, and all our sauces weresince that Pretty much.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And all our sauces
were, since it's a franchise.
Okay, so we didn't make ourhomemade sauce, it was through,
we got them.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Okay, yeah, okay.
And is there any dish thatyou're absolutely sick of?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Sick of no, I
wouldn't say I miss all of them.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Oh, really, that's
awesome.
You need to definitely try.
So next time you guys are intoronto, definitely make a stop
at what is it?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
walk box.
But it's not.
It's.
Uh.
No, it was in alberta oh, okayyeah, in calgary oh sorry in
calgary.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
If you guys are ever
in calgary, stop at walkbox yeah
and uh the new chef is justtell them them that Sunkit did
it better.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, we sold the
restaurant, by the way.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Oh well, in that case
you should say that you know,
Sunkit did it better.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
And then tell me a
little bit more about your sales
experience.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
So it was a furniture
store.
Okay, so I was a sales manager.
So I initially started offbeing a salesman and then became
a sales manager within like ayear.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
It was.
It was good.
I actually liked it.
But my my my dad said I getlike I was not using my full
potential, Like I should bedoing something better.
That's why I started lookinginto.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So correct me if I'm
wrong.
Yeah, you've done really wellas a sales manager and you were,
oh yeah, a couple of awards,yeah we won.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
We won.
It was a national like, so wehad a.
Every year we have competition,so our competition was who
sells the most warranties.
So my store came the highestwhen it comes to warranty
percentage, cause I it was astore in Airdrie right, which is
a small town north of calgary,okay, so obviously we cannot do
(05:08):
volumes like some toronto storescan, right, but it's about the
percentage, right, like thewarrant.
That's the competition that weshould.
We still have.
So, yeah, we were the highest.
So I won a word I was numberone in the country.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Okay.
So tell me this how do youreconcile that with medicine?
Because the way I look at it,doctors typically are very
collegial, they're veryempathetic, they're very good
team players, whereas when youthink about sales, you typically
think about cutthroat lone wolf, dog-eat-dog.
How do you reconcile that?
(05:43):
How did that work out for you?
Or were you really cutthroateat dog and you didn't care
about anybody else until you hityour numbers, or uh, what's the
story behind that?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
so I think, um, like
in canada, like everyone, all
the people that I worked withwere extremely nice.
Um, but also there were somepeople that were cutthroat.
They always like skip a line.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Were you one of those
people?
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Okay.
I think the reason I did goodwas because I would listen to
the customer.
Okay, right, and I think thatrelates with the patient too.
If you listen to the patient,like half of their things are
solved Okay With the customer.
(06:31):
You listen to what they'reactually looking for, okay, you
empathize and sympathize whatyou know with the customer and
they'll tell you exactly whatthey want.
Okay, and then you could liketry to help them out, like,
let's say, if they're here for asofa, you know, tell them like
okay, you know, maybe, what kindof coffee table were you
looking at?
Why don't we get a whole dealtogether right amongst the line?
But that kind of translates tomedicine.
Okay, because you're listening,right, right, instead of like,
um, just ignoring what they'rehere for okay, ignoring what
(06:54):
they want, okay, and thenputting your own agenda on them
onto that do you?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
know what I mean no,
that makes a lot of sense.
So, essentially, like you,you're a good listener and
because of that it almost soundslike it was second nature to
win.
Because win the salescompetition, because you
literally gave customers whatthey were um wanting, like in
(07:20):
the sense that, oh, if I getthis furniture, you guys are
there for me throughout I meanthat's a.
That's a really interesting wayof uh looking at it.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
And then, while you
were a sales manager, did you
decide that you know, I've hadenough of this, I'm out, I'm
gonna um, no, I think it was mydad and my uncle okay they
because I did pretty pretty wellin like high school and whatnot
, so they were like I feel likeyou're wasting your potential.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Oh, you know how
brown parents are.
They either want you to be anengineer or a doctor.
So initially they not startedlooking into engineering.
But my dad's like well, whatreally wanted me to do?
Medicine?
Okay, so I was preparing forMCAT.
Okay, and, believe it or not,it was my dad that ended up
applying to St John's.
Oh, okay, because it was one ofthe schools that didn't require
.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
MCAT Right, right,
right.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
He's like why are you
wasting time writing MCAT?
Right, that was his reasoning,obviously right, and we could
start this right away.
Okay, so that's why.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, if you did
write the MCAT, a lot of
scholarships, yeah, your tuitionwould have dropped dramatically
.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Well, my, my good
thing, you're done.
Yeah, I'm done now.
So, but that was that was hisreason, because my plan was like
applying like a year afterright, I have my mcat done and
applying to like canadianschools first and then.
Okay, that was initial plan.
Okay, uh so.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So if I were to, and
then you got into St James, and
then what happened?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
You know what,
initially I was a little
hesitant because I come from themathematic type of background,
not really into biologicalscience or physiology, so I was
a little afraid, okay, but Ireally liked it, I enjoyed it
really.
Into right, you know biologicalscience, of physiology.
So I was I was a little afraidokay, but I really liked it, I
enjoyed it.
I enjoyed medicine Anatomy likethe first Anatomy class I took.
(09:13):
It was amazing, I mean.
Also I think the cadaver wascrazy.
You know I thought would attendit was dr hug, okay, so he made
it really fun.
I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
And coming to St
Vincent, it felt like, almost
felt like, you know, like thevillage that we're from, like in
India, okay, yeah, soeveryone's extremely kind, okay,
like, and they'll treat youlike family.
Okay, like the place I lived in, st Vincent, I think it's
called the Burrows.
Okay, and then they will inviteus every Saturday and Sunday,
(09:48):
like for a meal upstairs.
Oh wow, so they were so kind.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Who, as in they, as
in your landlord, was it?
Yeah, landlord.
Okay, okay, okay, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
They treat us like
family.
So that was yeah, I didn't misshome much.
That's awesome, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That's awesome.
And when you went to St Vincent, was there like?
Were you shocked?
Were you pleasantly surprised?
Were you like, oh my God, wherethe hell did I end up?
Was it beautiful?
What were your?
So, when I landed, it wasnighttime, all right.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
So I was a little
scared because like I don't know
where we're going, because likeit was so dark and I couldn't
see.
You know how, like in Zim, it'slike all the lights are turned
off at night.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Right, it's a
mountain community, exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
And so at night you
don't see it's dark, right.
So I, where is the text thatyou are taking me?
Right, right, right.
But then it was pretty easy.
It was not.
All the anxiety was gone thenext day because I met my
classmates and whatnot and wehung out, we went to downtown.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Went to the beach.
It was nice, and so I don'tknow if you know this, but we
are merging our campuses fromAnguilla to St Vincent, and
there's a lot of apprehensionabout moving from Anguilla to St
Vincent.
Yeah, what would your advice tothese students be?
Speaker 3 (11:17):
St Vincent oh, it's a
better island.
I think it's one of the better.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Why did you say that
A lot?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
more people.
You don't feel like you'rethere by yourself.
Um, I think good food as well,okay, well, I haven't been to
angola, so but from what I thinkit's pretty good if.
If you're not vegetarian, okayif you're vegetarian, okay and
and what about um uh cost?
Saint saint vincent, saintvincent I.
(11:42):
Some of the stuff is expensive.
I would say Okay, for examplelike instant coffee.
It's almost the same price as,or even a little bit more
expensive, even.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Well, that's because
it's coming from there, right?
Speaker 3 (11:55):
Exactly.
But the local food is prettycheap because you get a whole
meal for like 10 EC Right, whichis what five.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So I've noticed that
too, because in St Vincent, if
you're getting Oscar Mayer,that's expensive, like you're
paying like 10, 11 US dollarsfor like a pack of hot dogs.
However, if you're getting theTrinidadian brand or the
Barbadian brand, that's a lotcheaper than anything in the
(12:23):
United States and I'm goinggonna be honest, the taste is
really not that different.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I'd say I actually
say that I'd go out on a limb
and say that the local brandsover there are tastier.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
They're pretty good.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
yes, yes, so, and
have you ever had a situation
that you really wanted somethingand you just couldn't get it?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
in St Vincent, yeah,
I mean a little really looking
for a whiteboard, okay, and Icould, it was a very hard thing
to find in St Vincent really.
But and then so we went to like10 different stores, right and
lucky, we ran across this ladyin downtown.
I was like, oh, there's thisone store that sells it.
Okay, and it was the last one,okay there.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So we were able to
find it, so it seems like it is
available.
It's just no, exactly.
Okay, you don't know where tolook and the stores in st
Vincent are essentially like themulti-purpose stores right like
one store does everything frommedicine to whiteboards yeah,
yeah, okay, just like in Indiais the same, exactly.
Most developing countries arelike that um and when?
(13:28):
Which year did you leave, saintvincent?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
uh, during pandemic,
so 2020 april.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Okay, so this was
right during the pandemic, so
you've been out of saint vincentfor four years that's right,
but um, what abouttransportation on the island?
Is that?
Speaker 3 (13:46):
uh, I think.
So we ended up renting okay,and renting is I mean I would
say it's on like expensive side,it's okay renting what a car?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
car.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Renting a car it's
like on average, it's like 500
to 600 that's interestingbecause most of our students
actually just don't rent.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
They just walk or use
yeah, or yellow.
Yellow is the.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know the bus
driver name, okay, yeah, so most
students end up using himbecause he drops us off, picks
up, picks up, okay.
It's like a three-timeshuttling service at night, okay
, so we usually left at 10.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
If you want to take
him, we'll leave at 10 and we'll
drop us off oh, wow, so this isnot a brand, but this is the
name of the bus driver.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Yeah, okay, I mean,
everyone calls me, I don't know
his real name.
Okay, wow, so this is not abrand, but this is the name of
the bus driver.
Yeah, okay, that's pretty cool.
I mean, everyone calls me Idon't know his real name, but
everyone calls him yellow.
I think his name is different.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Because you were
saying.
I was like, oh, it must besomething like yellow cabs in
New York.
It's a yellow bus.
Oh, okay, so he just goes byyellow.
That's interesting, yeah.
And what about safety did?
Speaker 3 (14:47):
you ever feel that
saint vincent was unsafe?
Never, okay, never.
Obviously there are certainareas that you gotta avoid,
right, but, and those areas arethe ones that you know they
offer like very cheap housing.
So that's how, like students,you can get attracted to that
area, right um, but those Iwould have worked.
I remember one of my friend gotrobbed three times right and he
still lived in the same area,right um, but those I would have
worked.
I remember one of my friendsgot robbed three times right and
he still lived in the same area, right well, I mean, uh, just
(15:11):
like any big city.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well, saint vincent
has what a hundred thousand
population yeah, something likethat um, that's the size of a
second tier city in the unitedstates um, and in those kinds of
, I would say maybe, yeah, everycity has its issues, yeah and
yeah.
I mean, if you even chicago likeyou know, with the elections
(15:35):
people make it sound like thisis, you know, there's, uh,
afghanistan, yeah, iraq, andthen there's chicago, yeah and
um, I've been here for 20 yearsand I've not much as heard a
gunshot.
But at the same time, if you goto the areas that are
particularly affected, forexample, rent is very, very
(15:58):
cheap in the south side ofChicago, and that's the reason
it's cheap is because they don'treally have a lot of
people, but the good news isthat st James has its own dorms
now, yeah.
So security, I mean I don'tthink st Vincent ever.
(16:19):
I've been there, obviouslyseveral times and I've never
thought that security was anissue.
I walked out late, um, I'vewalked in the streets.
Obviously there are culturaldifferences, though.
I mean, what would you say?
The cultural differences arefrom people in canada who are
supposedly really nice, yeah, uh, versus usa, versus saint
vincent okay, so I should saysaint vincent.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
by far I feel I felt
much safer in St Vincent than
Chicago.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Okay, really, where
do you live in Chicago?
Oak Park?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Oak Park's a really
nice neighborhood it is, but I
live like on Austin, so likeborder of Oak Park, Okay, but
that's still.
Yeah, I mean, it's not badright, but at night if I want to
walk right, I wouldn't feel assafe.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I hear you.
I think that generally that'smaybe not a good idea in a city
as big as Chicago.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
To walk late at night
, unless you're with a couple of
other friends, yeah, a coupleof other friends, exactly.
Whereas in St Winston there'sfarmers there, right so they
carry a machete.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
It does not mean that
they're going to come after you
, right so don't be scared bythat like they're usually one of
the nicest people, just becausethey're carrying machete means
nothing, right, uh, but youcould walk at night.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I used to, uh, I mean
, I didn't go often, but
sometimes in the morning I'll goto the gym, like 4 am, okay, uh
, there's only one gym on theisland.
I don't know if they built more, they've been quite a few right
now.
Oh, really, okay.
So the fitness lab is where Iused to, okay, uh, go.
Uh, it was a walking distance.
Like when I said walkingdistance for like 10 minute walk
, okay, but I used to see peoplelike the farmers carrying like
(17:53):
machete or whatnot going to work.
It's completely safe.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
They're very normal
people right, yeah, and um,
would you say, people arefriendlier in saint vincent
versus usa, in canada, or howwould you make these three
friendlier in St Vincent versusUSA and Canada, or how would you
rank these three countries?
Speaker 3 (18:07):
In Canada, you
probably won't see anyone at
night time.
You're more likely to see amoose.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
What about in the US?
What about people in general?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yeah, I mean, I think
they're very welcoming, they're
extremely welcome in St Vincentand a lot of people notice that
.
Okay, also, there's a bad crowdeverywhere, right, a majority
of them are extremely kind.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Okay, okay, yeah, all
right.
And when you finished StVincent, you came to the United
States.
Where did you do all yourrotations?
Speaker 3 (18:40):
So West Suburban.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
And then I did have
one or two at Community First.
So all in Chicago, all inChicago, okay, okay okay, yeah,
that's awesome All in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
And uh, did you have
any readjustment issues when you
came from St Vincent to sayChicago?
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yeah, I didn't like
it much Really Initially.
Initially I didn't like it muchOkay Because, really initially,
initially I didn't like it okaybecause, uh, well, see, I was,
I was by myself at that, right,right, yeah, um, so it was a
little bit getting used to.
Okay, there's no cleaningladies like that.
What was on the island?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
yeah, yeah, I know
that isn't everything in the us.
You have to do it yourself yeah, so okay yeah and uh.
What about from a foodstandpoint?
Did you have any adjustmentissues in Chicago?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Chicago.
You know, like US in general,your food is very salty, really,
and sugary.
Compared to Canadian, yeah,okay.
Or compared to, like I don'tknow, maybe St Vincent, okay,
like it feels, I mean, I don'tknow this anymore, right, I love
it now, right.
But when I initially I'm like,wow, this is very salty, okay,
why does the fry have sugar?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Okay, I see.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Right, that's very
interesting.
You don't notice these things,bro.
Okay, that's the first thing Inotice about food.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Interesting,
interesting and well, I mean I
want step back again to StVincent and just talk about what
your initial reaction was likefrom the topography would like.
When you first came out on thenext day you started meeting
friends and stuff, but orclassmates.
Um, when it comes to thetopography of the island and the
(20:17):
general beauty of the island,you said you went to beaches.
Can you elaborate that a littlebit more?
Speaker 3 (20:21):
yeah, so you know how
you mentioned like this like
mountainous kind of region,right, so I was not uh like
ready for like how steep theclimb was, right or so you know,
because, like with the heart,even the cars sometimes have
like hard time going up and it'scrazy steep, so there's no
problem going down.
Yeah, but when you're comingback, I wanted to walk back up
(20:42):
to my apartment.
Was very hard, um, and thebeaches are a little bit
different.
I think they call it black sand.
Black sand beaches yeah, right,because of active volcano, yeah,
which did explode, I think, in2020 yeah yeah, yeah, it was
very live, it was very scary, Iwas not okay I'm kidding, I mean
(21:05):
you know, what really struck meabout the volcanic eruption was
that when the volcano erupted,people were out on the street
dancing.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Some people collected
ash and selling it on eBay as
fertilizer.
And to me that is just soadmirable.
And to me that is just soadmirable because people over
there are, they take life headon, like literally, they take
(21:37):
life by the horns.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
And, no matter what
the situation and I think that
that's something that not justUSA, but Canada, usa and a lot
of the Western world has a lotto learn from instead of having
anxiety and, you know, stressingout about a difficult situation
, they're making the most of it.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Also, of course, the
volcano happened in the far
north region of the yeah, so Ithink only in certain areas of
downtown was affected.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Well, they had ash
flow, not flow, but ash coming
on the cars and stuff.
It's like snow Exactly, andthat's why people were like
Christmas came early and theywere making all these?
Jokes and memes and you know,whereas us over here in Chicago,
we were really concerned andworried and whereas folks on the
island and our staff, they werelike, yeah, it's not a big deal
(22:26):
, you know, we'll get through it.
When the volcano erupted, therewere videos and honestly I'm
not going to lie it's one of themost beautiful things that I
saw.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
And not just that
when a volcano erupts.
This is something I didn't knowbecause of the electrical
charges in the ash that hoversaround the summit.
Yeah, it triggers lightning andessentially like a lightning
show, if you will.
Wow, and I remember watchingthis live.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
From our faculty and
staff on the island and they
were just like it was a show forthem and I was like you know
what and that's a big lessonthat I took away for myself was,
when the volcano erupted,Something that potentially, and
(23:18):
if something like that happenedin, say, USA, I have a feeling
the reaction would have beenvery, very different.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Panic, anxiety.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yes, Whereas there
people took it in their stride,
they made the most out of asituation that could have been
very unfortunate, but it didn'tturn out to be like that.
Yeah, everybody enjoyed it.
And then because of thevolcanic ash, I think typically
again, I heard that this is verytypical of most volcanic
(23:47):
eruptions is that when theeruption subsides, there's
usually very torrential rainfallafterwards, because it induces
the electric charge and whatnot,induces a lot of storm, clouds
and things.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
So we had torrential
rainfall, and so the whole thing
lasted, I would say, aboutthree to four days.
And then, with the torrentialrains, all the ash was washed
away and it was like a brand newbeginning, and not just that
like because of all the ash fall, which is incredibly high in,
like because of all the asphalt,which is incredibly high in,
you know, various chemicals thatare conducive for growing, of
(24:22):
fertilizers, the island is evengreener now.
Really, yes, it is.
I mean, it already wasincredibly green.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
And then it's already
green now.
So I know you mentioned thatinstant coffee and stuff like
that was very expensive backthen, but I know the government
has made an active effort to uhdevelop its agrarian industries,
including coffee and cocoa.
Wow so, and, and mind you,these things actually grow wild
there, yeah, so now they'refocusing with a little more
(24:55):
technology and having their owndevelopment.
And one interesting thing Idon't know if you know this is
that St Vincent, I think, if I'mnot mistaken, is the first
Caribbean island to legalizemarijuana.
Yeah, I don't know if it's abig part of their culture.
Yeah, yeah, and from myunderstanding is that the, the,
(25:30):
they've legalized it and I don'tknow if is it readily available
on the island.
I mean, I was offered once butI don't.
From my experience they're onlyjust like in the United States,
they're set dispensaries.
I think on the whole islandthere are just two places that
actually sell marijuana, butit's regulated and I think
that's pretty cool and again,it's a part of the culture, so
(25:55):
it's not necessarily abused likeI would go out on a limb and
say there is a lot of abuse ofmarijuana that happens in the
united states yeah uh, even isit being legalized, it's you
know, but there it's a part ofthe culture, it's very
ritualistic.
I mean think, uh, the rastafariand their culture is part of
their uh region.
(26:15):
But uh, did you hike to thevolcano ever?
Speaker 3 (26:19):
no, that's something
I did not do.
Okay, why not?
See, I'm not a big hiker, youknow it was like a six hour,
seven hour hike.
Yeah, I mean, I should have.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
You know, not looking
back, I, I should have done it
okay, but I thought it was gonnatake like a whole day going up
there it does take a little bit,but nowadays our students
actually organize hiking groupsand they go up together and they
come down together and it is anational reserve, if I'm not
mistaken, the hiking trail.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
It's beautiful, I've
been told.
It's like amazing.
Okay, but Dr Santosh at thetime was teaching us, like you
know, all these mosquitoes thatyou get bitten by.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Well, I mean, it is a
tropical country and those are
risks there's no question aboutit, but I also think that there
are ways to mitigate those risks.
Yeah, of course, and what aboutany of the other you said you
mentioned you spent time on thebeaches.
What beaches did you spend timeon?
Speaker 3 (27:11):
So there was.
I lived in Willa Lodge.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
So it's near the
stadium A little.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
yeah, that's where
it's towards fitness lab side,
um.
So in the back there's there'slike a private type, not private
but there's a beach right there.
Okay, I want to say I spenttime.
I was only initially, when Istarted medical school, right.
It was like first week rightafter that probably went like
three or four times okay.
Like first week right afterthat probably went like three or
(27:41):
four times okay.
Uh, never, I guess I never, youknow, never got into it okay I
know a lot of students who spentall day on the weekends.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Sometimes they'll
rent out a boat okay, yeah, and
go so, and, and uh, saintvincent is an archipelago, right
?
Speaker 3 (27:54):
what?
What is that?
What does that mean?
Speaker 2 (27:56):
archipelago is a
group of islands okay, it's not
an in just one island, like, forexample, angola.
Angola is one island, I see, um, and saint vincent is an
archipelago which is like, uh,the philippines or indonesia.
Oh, I see, okay, a group ofislands.
Yeah, have you visited any ofthe other islands?
Speaker 3 (28:13):
no, I'm in barbados
always because no, no within
saint vincent no, no, the smallislands like nearby.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
No, no, no no, you
didn't.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
I wish I did.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Okay, all these
things I wish I did now okay,
well well, the good thing isthat means you were studying
hard and obviously yeah, thefruits of your labor have
obviously paid off.
Yeah, uh, so, so it sounds likeyou never really had a chance to
explore the other island, whichis a good thing, because I keep
saying medical students shouldnot have free time enough, yeah,
to go visit the other islands.
But the other islands are whitesand beaches, yeah, and beckway
(28:46):
is the closest to the mainland,and then you also have uh,
canaan and union island, whichare resort islands, yeah, yeah,
in fact, in Canaan, you have theMandarin Oriental there, really
, yes, and I think it's thefirst Mandarin Oriental in the
Caribbean, and now they'rebuilding some more, which is
(29:08):
obviously a big deal.
And then you also have these,and they're all white sand
beaches.
So just the mainland has, uh,black sand beaches.
Have you ever ventured to theatlantic side of the island?
Nope, so much, which is great.
Yeah, you're giving all theright answers.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
You studied hard yeah
, I did, and then my days off,
like I just felt, like watchingtv, for example right once you
have you finished your exam, orjust chilling Right, right right
right.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
So what are the
chilling a day of chilling in St
Vincent other than watching TV,okay so chilling also includes
like $3 high runes that you get.
Okay, 3 EC, high runes 3 EC.
So that's what a dollar.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, I think at one point itwas like cheaper than water.
And you get like three for 90 CRight.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
So why would you buy
water in St Vincent?
Because, if I'm not mistaken,st Vincent has the best water
quality of all the KarakomIslands.
In fact, you can drink straightout of the tap.
I know the government is veryproud of that achievement, yeah,
which, I would dare say, evenAmerica cannot boast of, that
fact.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
No, we never bought
water, okay.
I dare say, even America cannotboast of that fact.
No, we never bought water, okay.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I'm just comparing it
.
Oh, bottled water.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Bottled water was
more expensive, but yeah, no, I
never had to buy any water fromanywhere.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
That's awesome.
Yeah, that's awesome, and didyou visit any of?
I'm guessing you didn't havetime.
But, like, st Vincent also hasa lot of historical landmarks
where they have a fort.
Did you visit the fort?
No, I didn't.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
The fort's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
I visited the jail.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Did the police catch
you for something?
No, no, no, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
No, because we were
there in downtown and I think we
were trying to get licenseright For a car license, like
temporary license, and then wesaw the jail I get license right
for a car license, like atemporary license and then we
saw the gentleman.
I said, wow, this is prettycool.
He's like, oh, do you want tosee it?
Like?
The police said yeah, I'm like,yeah, that would be pretty nice
.
And he actually showed us.
They're extremely nice becausethey know we're students, right,
right, right, very kind to us.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Also, don't take
advantage of that right like do
something illegal.
But they told us today you guyswant to come see you.
Oh, wow, that's pretty cool.
That was awesome.
Yeah, that's, that's aninteresting story.
No, I mean, even my experiencein st vincent has been great.
People love, they, welcomeforeigners.
What I really like about stvincent it is it is not
commercialized yet.
It'll get there, I'm sure, butas of now it is not.
Oh great.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
You forgot to hit
record no, I was checking that
though that's what I waschecking.
Okay, you said as of nowCommercial?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, okay.
So yeah, it is getting there.
I do think this is a veryexciting time for Vincentians
and St Vincent in general.
Lots of construction happening.
I know the the sandal resortjust opened up.
Um connectivity of the islandhas skyrocketed.
Yeah, uh, the number ofconnections from mainland usa.
(32:07):
I remember when we startedthere was one flight from miami
to simpson one day a week.
I think that's changed.
You can fly out practically anyday of the week.
You have flights from New York,you have flights from Miami,
you have flights from Toronto.
Now, toronto, yeah, that'severy week.
By the way, twice a week, Ithink I forgot well, during busy
season it goes up to four timesa week, wow.
(32:29):
And then during slow season,which is the hurricane season
now and I think the coolestthing about St Vincent it is not
in the traditional path of thehurricane, it's not in the
hurricane belt.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Yeah, so which?
Speaker 2 (32:41):
a lot of other
islands are.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
But, again.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I mean, as I said,
the folks in the Caribbean are
just so incredibly resilient,yeah, so anyway, I mean, after
St Vincent, you obviously cameto Chicago and you finished
everything up in Chicago.
But now I want to ask youyou're very unique in the sense
that you've lived in what?
(33:04):
Four different countries, ifyou consider India, uk, canada,
usa and St Vincent it's five.
What's your learning from this?
Like what's your takeaway fromliving in, because I can tell
you there aren't that manypeople who've had the privilege
(33:27):
of living in all these differentcountries.
So what's your takeaway fromthis?
Speaker 3 (33:33):
I think, like every
country has its own charm, like
the culture and everything right.
I think like every country hasits own charm, like the culture
and everything Right.
Um, but one thing I shouldmention is that from grade, from
kindergarten, from kindergartento grade 12, I switched more
than like 12 schools, okay,cause my, my dad was an engineer
, he's like where he got a job,like he was to move, so all that
(33:55):
like I feel like it kind oflike helps me communicating, you
know, getting to know otherpeople, like I mingle people a
lot easier, right, but in termsof people I ruined everyone's.
I haven't had any badexperiences and then in any
other countries, so like do youthink it's living in all these
(34:19):
places?
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Did you ever have any
personal issues Like, oh, I
can't make friends, or you know,I don't like this place that
much.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Honestly, I have
never had that kind of issue.
Okay, the only time I felt likethat was when I was starting my
rotation in Chicago.
I was by myself, I had to doeverything by myself.
I see.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
That was only for
like a month.
Okay, what about college?
Were you living at home whenyou did?
Speaker 3 (34:41):
undergrad.
So we were in Edmonton, right,that's where my University of
Alberta is located, and when Igot to university, my parents
decided to move to Calgary.
Okay, so everyone.
So I lived in dorms.
Okay, it's called Lister, likeso Lister dorms okay, okay, it's
called lister.
Like uh, so lister dorms arelike okay, you know different
towers?
Uh, we're actually very famouswhen it comes to dodgeball.
(35:03):
We broke a record in dodgeballparticipants I'm sure that's
very relevant for ever yeah, allour listeners.
Yeah, and I was there doing thatrecord ranking did you play?
Yeah, yeah.
So search us up on ListerDodgeball League, I'll be there.
Okay, really yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
So is there like I
watched the movie Dodgeball?
Yeah, Is it anything like themovie?
Speaker 3 (35:25):
No, it's more
competitive.
Really, it is crazy, really,people bleed.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
With Dodgeball, with
Dodgeball.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Oh, I can see that.
That's how hard they get hit inthe face.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Yeah, I can see that.
And is there like a varsitykind of scenario with dodgeball?
Do they play like at?
Are there internationalcompetitions at all?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
No, so we had like
four towers, right Right, our
four towers.
We had like 15 to 20 floors ineach tower, so it was your floor
.
Oh, okay, those were the teams,right, right, right, and then
your tower too.
So we have all started, whichis the towers only.
Okay, it was like you know,like I was in seven shaver, like
seven shaver versus like threemckenzie, for example that was a
(36:07):
tower name.
Okay, okay, okay, and and youguys won, yeah, we were the best
team, of course, I see, look usup, I see.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Look us up.
That's funny.
And so, now that you're done,you're obviously looking for
residency.
You just graduated and you'refinishing up residence or
applying for residency.
What are your thoughts aboutresidency?
I know you said you mentionedyou're.
Are you a Canadian national?
Now, I've always been.
(36:37):
Canadian OK so do you thinkit's easier?
Do you think it's harder?
Did you take any special?
Speaker 3 (36:47):
steps while applying
for residency.
I only think, no, not somethingthat other than what USIMGs or
non-USIMGs would have to doright.
Ecfmg certification Okay, whichrequires OET, and step one,
step two, which is same foreveryone.
Okay, I see, but if I want togo back to Canada, that's a
different story than I got towrite Canadian exams.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
Well, I mean so you
know.
I mean we've had a podcast withanother gentleman called Dr
Escudero, who finished with usand then got residency in the
United States post-residency, Ithink.
he worked a couple of years inthe United States and moved back
to Canada to start his ownpractice and he said that once
(37:26):
you finish everything in theUnited States you don't have to
do I mean other than likestandard paperwork.
You don't have to do anything.
So apparently Canada has a verybig reciprocity with the United
States so anybody licensed inthe United states can go back
yeah, so that's actually, youknow, like good thing you
mentioned, because, uh, theborders are opening up okay.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
So, after residency,
uh, also depending on what type
of residence you did, okay, ifit's family medicine or internal
medicine is a little bit moreopen, okay, right, I mean, I
don't know much about like anylike higher specialties that are
going back right, um, butalberta is open now right, noah,
scotia is open.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
On.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Tier is open oh, okay
, so after is there some, like
you said, some paperwork, and soare you interested in going
back to canada, I mean, but 10potentially okay after residency
.
You know, we'll think about itLike it's, because, like
everyone's back home, right,okay, right.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
But Canadian
physicians just don't make that
much money?
Speaker 3 (38:24):
No, they don't.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
They don't make
anywhere near.
Yeah, and which is sosurprising to me is because
Canada's a big country.
What?
30 million-odd?
Yeah, closer to 40 millionpeople.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Okay, look at that
million odd.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Yeah, probably closer
to 40 million million people.
Yeah, look at that.
So, uh, 40 million, but that'sstill like 10 percent of what us
.
That's about 10 percent of us'suh size, and they're obviously
sprawled over a landmass that'sactually bigger than the united
states, yeah, so, consideringall of that, I'm just really
shocked that canada does notreally have more residency slots
(39:00):
and the number, and so, if I'mnot mistaken and you can correct
me if I'm wrong there seems tobe an absolute dire need for
physicians in canada yeah, incanada there's there's a huge
need for physicians.
Speaker 3 (39:11):
Okay, not just that,
more so than the united states
even.
Yeah, because physicians,because physicians that are in
Canada are moving out, they'recoming to the US.
Is it just because of the pay?
Paycheck is a big thing, right.
And for residency spots, I feellike I don't know.
The last one I saw, I thinkthis was two years ago, when I
(39:34):
was looking at the spotsremaining there were some spots
that were left open.
They were never filled.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
Oh, oh yeah, but how
come?
But why do people say that it'sso competitive in Canada?
Speaker 3 (39:43):
then it is
competitive for non-Canadians.
I mean, if you get your examsdone right, If you get your
exams and everything and you'reCanadian, I think you have a
fairly good shot at gettingresidency in Canada.
But then you're probably notgoing to canada or toronto,
vancouver or any of these bigcities.
I think we have some few uh uhpeople from our school that
(40:03):
imagine in toronto.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Well, yeah, every
year we do get a couple of
students who match into, but I'mjust saying generally speaking.
If they wanted to go back, isit something?
Is it?
Do you think it's?
I would think, like in theunited states, big cities don't
have a dearth of physicians.
Everybody wants to be inchicago, la, uh, new york,
boston, all these big cities.
But when you go to the ruralareas, even usa has a dearth of
(40:27):
physicians.
Is it something similar likethat in canada as well?
Or is it just like dearth ofphysicians across the board?
Speaker 3 (40:34):
I mean they're more,
you know like, focused in like
or clustered in areas such asToronto, calgary, but it's hard
to find them If you go to ruralareas.
Speaker 2 (40:46):
It's probably one or
two doctors max, all right.
So, considering all this, Iknow you said that you'd see,
but what factors would influenceyou to probably go back to
Canada?
Would it just be family?
Speaker 3 (41:03):
Yeah, family is one.
And then I feel like safety too.
Okay, if I end up having afamily, right, right, right,
obviously, if I'm doing wellfinancially, then you will.
Yeah, it's not if I'm doing youwill.
But I'm saying like up to apoint that I want, yeah, um, I
might, because it would be agood option.
(41:24):
I feel like it's safe in termsof, okay, just safety in the
world, like in general have youthought about the potential tax
implications?
Speaker 2 (41:34):
canada's, you know, I
would say yeah, we get tax law
easily.
Well, I mean, you know it'squite that's debatable, but
easily.
For a straight salary you'reprobably paying five to ten
percent more than yeah which isa lot in the.
US we pay a lot.
But considering all of that,would you still want to make,
(41:58):
because I've actually never seenCanadian students from our
roster at least, move back toCanada Because they're like you
know I'm doing great, I'm okayhere, I don't want to go back,
is, I know it's very premature,but maybe a couple of years down
the road, other than safetyfactor, do you see yourself
(42:19):
actually going back andpracticing?
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Probably not.
There's a high chance I'll endup staying in the US.
A very high chance.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
For the match?
Are you actually applying forthe Canadian?
Speaker 3 (42:28):
match no, I'm not
applying, okay, all right and
for the United States.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
any tips and tricks
for any of our viewers who are
Canadian during the match season, because obviously you've
navigated this prettysuccessfully.
You've got quite a fewinterviews already and I think
everything started over lastweek.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
So I have no doubt in
my mind that this is going to
be a slam dunk for you this year.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:53):
But for any of our
Canadian students who apply, is
there any advice that you mighthave for them?
Speaker 3 (43:02):
A few advice, like
you know, when you're applying.
Make sure you have yourapplication in before they open.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
Right.
So let's say this year theyopen on 25th, you have your
application completely done,okay, before 24th, okay,
incomplete applications, forwhat I've been told they just
get pushed to the side, right?
Secondly, from what I've heard,always see, you know, like
these are all you know from herehe said she says right that
(43:36):
they go through USMD studentsfirst.
Okay, in their first batch,usually USMD and US IMG.
Okay, because they're American,you know they're.
They will not be so required.
So Canadians usually end upgetting interviews on the second
half of October okay, from whatI've heard, right, right.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
So I would say that,
and that might be true for
programs that are relatively newand that are you know that that
probably have a certain numberof visa or visa limits that they
(44:14):
have, yeah, however, forprograms that typically take, uh
, foreigners yeah and theprogram director knows that yeah
and I've seen this happen, likeI've been in several rooms when
they're deciding who they'regoing to hire for residency when
they see that what theytypically do is they don't
(44:35):
really look at where you're from.
They're like is this a goodcandidate?
That?
Speaker 3 (44:38):
might be a potential
fit.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
I do think that
you're right, especially for
smaller programs that havelimits on the number.
But if you're going to a largeprogram typically university
programs like, for example, uncand stuff I've actually seen it
the other way around also, wherethey've selected a candidate,
they found out that that personwas canadian, and this
(45:01):
particular institution has neverdone visas, um, and we've
talked through the universityhow to do these visas and stuff
like that and they did itbecause they liked the candidate
that much.
Oh Really.
Speaker 3 (45:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
So I mean I would go
out on a limb and say that maybe
there really isn't.
You know, if you do yourresearch properly now, if a
program clearly says that we'renot going to do a visa, yeah, of
course it's harder to changetheir mind?
Yeah, of course, but if you knowthat the program takes IMGs and
(45:35):
there's several resources outthere In fact we have a chat GPT
custom GPT that does that Ifyou go to chat GPT and search up
St SJSM, you'll see it and thatactually tells you, for all the
presidency programs listed,even, what percentage of
students or their last class wasCanadian or IMGs, imgs, yeah.
(45:59):
So I mean, now that you're inthat process, do you think the
fact that you were Canadian, doyou think you had a chip on your
shoulder when you were doingthe applications, had a chip on
your shoulder when you weredoing the applications?
Speaker 3 (46:18):
Hmm, no, I think,
because you know, canada and US
is like so, so similar, right,like and so communication, I
feel a lot of pro and actuallylook at us very similarly.
Also, if it wasn't a visa, visaissue, right, so I don't think
they look as as that different.
(46:40):
I don't think I'm like adisadvantage or I'm gonna be at
an advantage, right, um,compared to like, let's say,
like a student that's from indiayeah, that's gone through our
school of course.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
yeah, right, oh, 100.
I definitely think that that'sthe case.
Yeah, um, but it's not like youwrote your personal statement
in a different way because youwere Canadian, exactly, did you?
No, no, no, oh, okay, okay,okay.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
No, they recommend
you.
If it's a personal statement,try to be, because the last
podcast that we did with DrKruger and Dr Pinus, they're
like, be personal.
It's a personal statement.
It's a name for a reason, right, they want to know about you,
not about like your scores andwhatnot.
Right, you already say that inyour MSPE and your resume.
(47:27):
So I think that it's a littlebit easier for Canadian students
to write, okay, compared tolike, let's say, an Indian IMG
or from a different country thatdoesn't speak English, right?
So I think in that sense it's alittle bit advantage.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
But and as far as
generally your overall
experience, would you, formedicine in particular, would
you do it all over again, or areyou like you know one's enough?
I'll probably explore theengineering route next.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
No, I would do it
again, and again, and again.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
Really yeah, that's
awesome.
Speaker 3 (48:04):
And if I got younger
and younger?
Speaker 2 (48:08):
That's also true.
That's also true.
I do want to talk about thisbecause this has been a hot
button issue with step one andstep two.
Yeah, you've obviously donereally well, you've cleared on
your first attempt.
Do you think that there is anychanges from when you took the
(48:33):
NBME to when you took step one?
Then you took the NBME for steptwo and then step two.
Do you think, stylistically orfrom the examination pattern,
anything changed for you?
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Not drastically,
because when I was about to
write step, they did change itin terms of, like the content.
I think they were removing likethe pharmacological question to
something a little bitdifferent.
Right, they were adding morecommunications skill type
questions on their more.
(49:07):
That was in October 20, 21 okayokay, and then they switched to
pass or fail.
So I wrote it right before itswitched to pass or fail, like
in two days before, okay, butthere wasn't that big of a
change where you would noticefrom your MBMEs.
Okay, the concepts that arebeing tested are still the same.
(49:27):
Okay, they don't change.
Okay, but the way with the waythey ask is a little bit
different, I see well, I meandefine a little bit.
Speaker 2 (49:35):
What do you mean by?
Speaker 3 (49:36):
so I would say it's
if step one or step two are more
similar to what they use me onyour summary website.
They provide free 120 mm-hmm sofree 120 questions okay it's
from the website and your steplooks very similar to those that
(50:00):
format Okay and the length anddifficulty of those questions
are very similar.
Okay, sometimes on MBME you getsome questions that are like
way off, okay, okay, right, likeI mean not that commonly, but
the concept that has been tested.
It goes across the whole board.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
Okay, but do you
think, based off of that, now
that you know so much about theexams, would you have prepared
or studied differently in anyway?
Speaker 3 (50:33):
Yeah, I think so.
I think because when we werestudying studying like we might
have used way too many resourcesokay, right, that's a I'll I'll
suggest.
You know, like, stick to whatour new upcoming students what I
would say is stick to one placewhere you're writing all your
notes okay that's extremelyimportant because, like, let's
(50:55):
say, you want to reviewmicrobiology, right, right,
you're not searching throughlike 10 different books to look
at microbiology when you've doneall the hard work already.
Go to that book, go to thenotes that you've already taken
and learn from it or add on tothat.
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (51:11):
That would have
helped.
Speaker 2 (51:13):
That's interesting.
That's interesting and,generally speaking, you know now
that you're done witheverything and you've already
put in your application and thisis your first year going
through the residency match.
You're currently a USMLEcounselor for St James.
That's right.
Can you tell us what that is so?
Speaker 3 (51:34):
we help students that
are in that phase, in a limbo
phase between md5 to comp andstep one okay, and a lot of them
have issues with, like you know, some of them will, like low,
have like knowledge issues,right, it's just to guide them.
You know what to study, how tostudy, right.
(51:54):
Others might have issues withthe question itself.
They might have the knowledgebut they don't know how to apply
it okay so we try to helpstudents like that and even
though it's a counselingposition, I end up teaching them
, tutoring them about certainconcepts, and our goal is for
them to pass comp right and thenpass step.
Speaker 2 (52:15):
So so far we have
been successful okay I mean it's
been good and and consideringyour usmle counselor position
versus your chef job, versusyour sales job, uh, how would
you?
Speaker 3 (52:32):
which was the best?
Is that right?
Yeah, all right, I don't wantto use the super little term
because they're so, so diverse.
Speaker 2 (52:36):
Yeah, the best, is
that what you're saying?
Yeah, all right, I don't wantto use the super little term
because they're so diverse.
Speaker 3 (52:39):
Yeah, the best job.
I would mention that I haven'tmentioned yet that it was
McDonald's.
I loved it so much.
I was in high school.
I worked at McDonald's in highschool oh my God.
Speaker 2 (52:49):
Why did you like it
so much?
Speaker 3 (52:51):
It's all friends
working Okay and we just had fun
.
We had competition on like howfast can you make like
cheeseburger?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Okay, yeah, and who
won?
Speaker 3 (52:58):
there.
Oh see, okay, I was third, Iwas third.
Speaker 2 (53:04):
But it definitely.
I can see a pattern where youseem like a very good competitor
slash test taker.
It almost seems like so when itcomes to competitions, you've
got that.
Speaker 3 (53:13):
I like competition.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Yeah that's good,
that's good, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (53:17):
Well, as far as the
counselors are concerned, what
do you think are the qualitiesthat make a person excel at
counseling or be a very, verygood counselor?
Speaker 3 (53:30):
Listening is a big
thing, right, like same thing
when it goes for sales orpatients.
Think of it like these studentsare struggling, so like
understanding their perspectiveis very important before you can
help them.
Okay, they might be goingthrough something crazy in their
life and so empathizing intheir position, okay, and then
(53:52):
we can figure out how to solveit, how how to deal with it.
Okay, but they feel likethey've been, they're in that
prison that they cannot get outof.
Okay, right, learnedhelplessness.
Even though the door is open,they feel like they cannot get
out.
Right, right, right.
So a lot of students feel thatway.
Okay, so we're trying to breakthat ice.
Speaker 2 (54:11):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (54:12):
How do you break that
ice?
By listening to them and then,obviously, like when we do these
questions right, likeunderstanding where they're
going wrong.
So I do questions with mystudents and then seeing like
where they're actually, you know, struggling with Right, and
then I'll tell them you knowwhat.
You did this to this correct,right, you were good, but you
(54:33):
were not confident in selectingyour choice, like why is that?
But you were not confident inselecting your choice, like how,
why is that?
Okay, and we'll actually talkabout it without like I don't
know sugarcoat things.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
I tell my students
they're like bad at something,
I'll tell them, but I also tellthem how to improve it okay, so,
without obviously giving awaywho the student is, can you tell
me what your best studentexperience has been or who your
best student has been?
Speaker 3 (54:54):
our best students are
.
I mean, they're the ones that Iwant to schedule like 10 times
a week.
Usually I mean um, but theytake advice very, very seriously
and then they follow throughwith it okay right and I help
them with scheduling.
So and then and they, I seeimprovement okay that's.
(55:15):
That's a big thing.
I got a one email just recentlyfrom, like, a young lady that
like passed her step one.
Okay, very kind email as well,that was.
I really appreciate it, okay.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
It was nice, that's
all I posted on my yeah, it
looks like you're.
You're going down theprofessorial route.
I like education.
Speaker 3 (55:35):
Yeah, I told Dr Guo.
Like you know, I don't mindteaching like physiology now and
then.
Speaker 2 (55:39):
So he thought he
hooked me up with Dr Balgolf.
Speaker 3 (55:41):
Okay, I did some one
physio lecture, that's awesome,
that's awesome and um.
Speaker 2 (55:48):
so, at this juncture,
um, you're obviously.
What specialty are you applyingfor again?
Speaker 3 (55:56):
Internal medicine.
Speaker 2 (55:56):
Internal medicine?
Where do you see yourself, say,10 years down the road?
Speaker 3 (56:05):
10 years down the
road.
So internal medicine initially,like I want to do cardiology.
Speaker 2 (56:14):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (56:15):
Hopefully.
I mean I'm not 100% sure yet,right, but first I want to
become aology.
Okay, hopefully, I mean I'm not100% sure yet, right, but first
I want to become a goodinternist.
Speaker 2 (56:21):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (56:22):
Right, a good like a
hospitalist Right, and that's
like academic standpoint right.
But 10 years from now I want tobe a little bit rich, be able
to afford some cleaning lady.
Speaker 2 (56:35):
Well, I mean I think
you will be Just considering
your trajectory and consideringyour history.
I'm pretty sure, I'm confident.
I'm no soothsayer, I'm noclairvoyant, but I can tell you
that it's definitely on thecards and you're going to knock
it out of the park.
But thank you so much, sanket,for giving us the time today
(56:58):
yeah.
I really appreciate it.
And, yeah, make sure thosestudents get all the help that
they need because, again, I'vealways said that St James, or
any school for that matter,their success entirely depends
on how well their students doyeah and I think what you guys
are doing is quite phenomenal.
You guys are very focused onthe students and have helped
(57:19):
innumerable students and I wouldsay, as an administrator, my
biggest gripe is that ourstudents don't take advantage of
some of the tools and resourcesthat we have provided.
That's true, so I think,generally speaking, that's what
I think you should do,especially now that you have a
couple more months left.
Speaker 3 (57:40):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (57:41):
Make a phone call and
be like hey, you know, I mean
keep everybody accountable,essentially.
Speaker 3 (57:47):
Yeah, I think now,
like a lot of people that are in
MD5 are getting recommended tocounseling.
So, like they, I had quite afew students in like past month
that are between well, from MD5.
Yeah Right, they started MD5,they already contacting so Thank
you so much, sanket.
Speaker 2 (58:06):
That was a very, very
interesting conversation.
Obviously, you have so much tocontribute to any residency
program you go to.
Just the fact that you'veactually lived on five different
countries in and of itselfbrings so much of such a wealth
of knowledge and experiences toany program.
I think any program would belucky to have you.
(58:28):
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(58:49):
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Speaker 1 (58:55):
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(59:16):
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