Pre-departure

I heard about the Albert Schweitzer Lambarene Fellows Program my first year of medical school. I had studied abroad in Niger, West Africa, a year prior to coming to medical school, and fell in love with the culture. It also sparked my interest in international health, which I wanted to pursue in some way during medical school. One of my professors, Dr. Stanfield, was taking us to the wards one day, where we visited a French speaking patient. She told us later about her experience working at a hospital in Gabon during medical school, where she put her French skills to work. She gave me the name of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. I did some research on what the program was all about and stored it in the back of my head When third year of medical school came around, I applied, not certain of what would result. That was around September, and I was doing my psychiatry rotation at Boston Medical Center. In November, I started my Medicine rotation. I was invited to interview in December, and a week later, voila! Accepted. This was good news for me, because a month into medicine, I was feeling the “third year burnout”. I’m not sure if it’s really a thing that belongs in quotations, but if it isn’t a term that people use, I’m coining it, and using it.

A few weeks after I found out I was accepted, I was off for a week for winter break. Since I knew I was going to be gone for 3 months, I made an extra effort (not that it was necessary) to be lazy, not study, and not prepare. But it was well worth it! I spent the first weekend with my parents, Mubbin, Tamanna, and Afsana, Hana’s family skiing in New Hampshire. Then spent a couple of days in my hometown of Andover, caught up with friends, and then I was off to Texas, which was a cultural experience in itself! I was there for my friends’ Sarah and Alex’s wedding, and was able to have a mini college reunion. It was beautiful, and a much needed break.

So then came January, which was consumed by finishing my medicine rotation, studying for my shelf exam, and working things out with the administration. And then? One week off, spent preparing for this adventure, and then I was off!