I am a fourth year medical student at the American University of Beirut. I am
currently in the final stages of attaining my MD. These last months will be crucial to my formation as doctor. It is in these last months that I will get a final exposure to the many fields of medicine. It is also now that we get the chance to sample education at an institution other than the one we will be training at. Duke is a school that does not need introduction. Everybody knows how good Duke is. I would find it invaluable to have the chance of rotating at Duke for 4 or 8 weeks. If I get the chance to visit and be a part of this great institution, education will be my main concern. While I am working with the residents and fellows at Duke, I will be exposed to the lifestyle of a doctor in training. By being part of their team I will learn how to juggle the stressing work hours, the huge study load and maintaining a passion for medicine. The resident is an invaluable educator, for he/she is the closest to my age and way of thinking. They are the only people in medicine who can teach you the small logistics and technicalities of the practice. Working with the faculty at Duke would serve as a great tool to learn from world renowned clinician/scientists. Ive heard positive feedback from people who have previously been to Duke as residents or visiting students. Hopefully, I can get the same learning experience when it comes to observing the attending and discussing the various aspects of medicine. By working under the supervision of the attending, I will be able to learn about diagnosis, management, and patient-doctor relationship. Having that experience away from my home school and especially at Duke would add another layer to my learning experience. I am set for a career in orthopaedic surgery. So I have applied for an elective in orthopaedic surgery starting January 11 till February 7 of 2016 at Duke. This would help enlarge my limited fund of knowledge in orthopaedics. I will be able to act as a sub-intern taking history, performing a physical exam, and hopefully learning some minor procedures and observing in the OR. I will be a visiting student at one of the oldest orthopaedic surgery schools in the world. However; due to the limitations inherent in our schedules and curricula as medical students, we often dont spend enough time in the fields we love. Ive only had 3 weeks of orthopaedic surgery at AUB and never been a part of the cardiology, infectious diseases, or the RAD-ONC team. Through this elective experience I also hope to get exposure to fields other than orthopaedics which also interest me. As such, I will either further stress my dedication to orthopaedics or question it after rotating through different clerkships either in the January 11 till February 7 period or the one right after (February 8 till March 5 2016). Thank you, Micheal Raad American University of Beirut - Faculty of Medicine - Med IV
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