2018-08-22 A return of Hopkins Postdoc

Had a conversation with a doctor friend Who just finished his postdoc training at John Hopkins. He invited me to have a small talk. I was quite interested in why his return and what is the situation to be a resident nowadays in American. Therefore, I went to the meetup.

I could not say I have got what I expected to hear during our conversation.

He described his research very well. Also, I was told about his surgery observing experience in the OR. "The OR there in Hopkins is fancy," he told me. "I pushed a button and type a code then the right gown of my size dropped from the closet... I told the chef resident, who is a good friend of mine, that I want to observe, then he just brought me into the OR without all the paperwork."

It was amazing that he obtained so many wonderful resources that other people could not dream of. I almost felt it is a pity for his return, similar feeling for Daniel's return to Nigeria.

After all, I do understand his choice of returning to the country where doctors are beaten by patients. The effort we have to make is minimum to be a "good" doctor here. Leave along the fact that postdoc experience could benefit him in many ways: not only many people have a good impression on the student return from foreign countries, but also the systematic training of research skills could also be useful. He is now on an express-train to attending position here.

However, I did not envy him, neither do I feel sorry for him. We all are young, and have different goals and pursuits. He is aiming for a better position in this ridiculous system, trying hard to fitting in and to be qualified to many useless bars and rules which is not beneficial to patients. I understand this rules so well that I can foresee his rout and obstacles. He also can. I have little hope that the situation here is gonna be turning around on my living watch.

He chose to stay and fit in. I chose to move and improve.

It is not who is more clever or who have more hope of this country.

It is simply a choice of what kind of environment you would like to have and how hard you want to fight for your dream life. I know what I am aiming at and the obstacles in my way, I wish he also knows.

Anyway, my plan goes well as I expected, however, reviewing each chapter takes longer than I expected. I think it is normal that things always hard at the beginning. Keep working!