BajaNomad » General Baja Discussion » UPDATE -***FULL CIRCLE - CHIEF RESIDENT OPERATES ON UNCLE ALEX - The Little Girl Who Woluld Become a Brain Surgeon (Chapter 4...
Just to let you know that she is doing fine and is actually starting to cut on people.....
This adventure has come a long, long, way and Emi is even more enthusiastic now than when she started. She wields her scalpel now along with her
knowledge.......
I wonder if she is in her internship. During that time before your last year of residency, you have to assist in surgeries every third day for a
whole year. After all the degree is Medico Cirujano, or Medical Surgical Doctor.
When I discussed it in early August with Emi, she said this year would be "clinics" starting with cardio & pulmonary iirc, then rolling thru other
system's & doing quizzes every few days as the various cases present. I believe the specialists in each area manage each "clinic."
She was sad that the clinic schedule along with studying for US exams means no more teaching anatomy. But it is what it is, and things change over
time and this is the next progression professionally.
Director, Mulege Student Scholarship Program
Oasis Rio Baja #M-3, & Auburn, CA
Yes, usually in the clinics though you don't start doing surgery extensively until you get into your internship. Cardiology and pulmonary classes are
usually given in the last few years of your formal schooling before you graduate. Then you go on to your internship and social service. The
internship is where you start seriously training in surgery. I am glad she is concentrating more on the US exam preparation, it is a doozie and tell
her I said to start with the Kaplan videos. That is essential before any bookwork. All this requires money to live on and unless you are wealthy or
have a good system of support it is virtually impossible to get through medical school in Mexico.
Most of Emilia's patrons receive this update directly to their emails but I know some of you donated anonymously and she can't email her progress and
thanks........so this is for you:
What other near-teen do you know that is excited about studying colon cancer?????????
Emilia will be an excellent doctor thanks to you all.
Peace,
____________________________________
I’m very well; I have been studying a lot and learning so much about so many different medical specialties!
My first parts it’s been surgical clinics, we are given a schedule with different week activities in every service (or most of them) in the hospital,
so in the morning we attend class with an specialist and after that we go to the hospital and shadow a doctor who ask questions about what we learn
earlier in class, if they see you are good they may let you do minimum procedures, like the other day I got to do my first rectal exam in a patient
with colon cancer, they let you watch surgery and quiz you about it, but they also answer all your questions about what they are doing.
Life in hospital is so different, there are so many good doctors, some others aren´t all that great, some residents really try to guide you and teach
you what they know, some are just mean and rude, and getting lost in the hallways has just become part of the everyday life, yet you take all the good
you can and forget about the bad, they also teach you, they teach you what you shouldn’t become in order to be a great doctor.
I have been amazed at how exiting some specialties are, like traumatology and orthopedics is so exciting and so much more than just bones! Or urology
(I’m currently taking this one) you learn so much about kidneys, about urinary tracks, just so much!
Thank you for all your constant help, I have been thinking about you a lot, everyday, I thank you because thanks to you I get to lean all this, to do
all of this, you are amazing, you are and will always be my angel! I pray that god gives you all the best in life because you sure deserve it! Thank
you, you are changing my life, and I can´t thank you enough for that!
Well, is time I go back to my reading! Have a blessed week!
First of all I want to which you happy holidays! May your soul be filled with love and joy from those around you and yourself! I am sorry for the
delay in updating you but I am working in the hospital through Christmas holidays instead of taking a break.
I happily inform you that I have successfully completed my 7th semester of medical school and with eleven surgical clinics my overall grade was… yes!
A+ but I have not gotten my medical clinics grades yet because of the holiday breaks(the school office is closed until January 6th) but for what I
remember it should be A+ as well.
Like I told you before the seventh semester was a bit different from the ones before because of all the clinic hours but in my personal experience it
was so much better! Honestly I loved it. Clinics helped me see most of the medical specialties up close and helped me decide on whether or not it
will be good to specialize in one of them.
From the medical specialties (there were also surgical specialties, yes most of them rocked!) I truly loved endocrinology! “The study of the medical
aspects of hormones, including diseases and conditions associated with hormonal imbalance, damage to the glands that make hormones, or the use of
synthetic or natural hormonal drugs. An endocrinologist is a physician who specializes in the management of hormone conditions.” And it can be messy,
because it is messy and also probably why I like it so much, most of the patients that we met that week had thyroid disease, long story short of
course I got an A+ (happy happy happy).
Then there was nephrology, I liked it, yet it was a love-hate relationship (and I’m laughing so hard as I’m saying this ) but it can be so easy and
then it can be so hard, is like you think you have it all figured out and the you miss the smallest thing and boom! You have one big mess (to break it
down is just like man say arguing with woman is: you think you are winning and then suddenly not only you are losing but it is your entire fault!)
well same thing with my Emmy-kidney relationship, yet (and maybe because I’m a women hum) I bet! And got an A+! not without endless nights and my eyes
almost giving up, but we made it!
I had ER class too, it was amazing and has always been an option for specialty, in fact I think trauma surgery is a great option, but I will decide
that when the time is right.
I hope you are still with me in this journey; I really appreciate all you have done to me over the years. You are like my year-round Santa Claus
guardian angel and my family and I appreciate it because you have made the impossible possible!
Your words of encouragement and Paypal support through egvbuckovecs@hotmail.com has allowed me to focus on school to achieve the highest possible
grades and dedicate every spare moment to hands-on volunteer work that converts the classroom learning into real world actions.
And here I´m in medical school learning how to try and hopefully change the life of others. I cannot make it without you! So thank you again!
Sent Emy some PayPal bucks today. Got an interesting (new) response from paypal; along w/some voluminous, lawyerly regulatory schmaltz, comes this- Rate of Exchange: If this transaction involves a currency conversion, there will be an exchange rate shown above. This exchange rate includes a
2.5% spread above the wholesale exchange rate at which PayPal obtains foreign currency, and the spread is retained by PayPal. If and when the
Recipient chooses to withdraw these funds from the PayPal System, and if the withdrawal involves a currency conversion, the Recipient will convert the
funds at the applicable currency exchange rate at the time of the withdrawal, and the Recipient may incur a withdrawal fee.
So per $100 you want Emy to receive, send ~$105 to cover the exchanges. Should put you in the ball park.
Hope this helps, thanks.
Director, Mulege Student Scholarship Program
Oasis Rio Baja #M-3, & Auburn, CA
Thanks to the generous folks from the Mulege Fishing Tournament
Another necessity obtained by the budding surgeon. Thanks to everybody involved with the Mulege Fishing Tournament for your generosity in providing
this physicians diagnostic kit for la doctora Emilia.
She will put kit and all of the donations from all her generous angels to good use. Hard to believe it has been three and a half years of intense
study and great grades to come to the point where she can wield a scalpel.
If you send the money as a gift, there is no charge on Paypal.
Quote:
Originally posted by EngineerMike
Sent Emy some PayPal bucks today. Got an interesting (new) response from paypal; along w/some voluminous, lawyerly regulatory schmaltz, comes this- Rate of Exchange: If this transaction involves a currency conversion, there will be an exchange rate shown above. This exchange rate includes a
2.5% spread above the wholesale exchange rate at which PayPal obtains foreign currency, and the spread is retained by PayPal. If and when the
Recipient chooses to withdraw these funds from the PayPal System, and if the withdrawal involves a currency conversion, the Recipient will convert the
funds at the applicable currency exchange rate at the time of the withdrawal, and the Recipient may incur a withdrawal fee.
So per $100 you want Emy to receive, send ~$105 to cover the exchanges. Should put you in the ball park.
Hope this helps, thanks.
A long letter (get your coffee and your Kleenex) and update from La Neurosurgeon - She is living her dream thanks to you.
Emi is fantastic and is taking full advantage of the opportunity afforded by many generous nomads. I had confidence in her abilities but sometimes it
takes luck as well and she has had that recently by being in close contact the best neurosurgeon in the world......read the update. Amazing.
You can help fund the next installment of "Lets Make a Neurosurgeon" by hitting paypal at egvbuckovecz@gmail.com
Peace,
Maxx.
I would love to tell you a little about me and where we are in the medical school journey so far, as you know to become a general practitioner “medico
cirujano y partero” is what the title says anyway, it takes 6 years, Medical school in known to be the longest, hardest and most expensive career
there is, therefore it was “crazy” for me, little Mulegina girl, with a little town education (which I in fact deem to be wonderful) an very little or
better yet no family economic support to aspire to it, to become a doctor, to move to a very big city, to one of the top universities of the country
and study there, but then there was YOU! That’s right YOU reading this, Mr. Maxx and you believed in me, and you decided that you could make a change
in this world, that yyou can spare a little and change somebody’s life in the hope of by her changing many others. A little girl whose dream is to
become a neurosurgeon, do you remember that story? Well, we have come so far I just want to share with you our current status and a few exciting
facts…
Our journey began in august of 2010, almost four years ago, I was not immediately able to get into the public program and you helped me raise enough
money to pay for the private one for a year, I tried again and got accepted, but still books, transportation, housing, and all living expenses were
more than I could handle, so you have been making very generous donations to keep this ship floating, well you might remember the fun and the
struggles of medical school, it feels like it just started yesterday, first semester, away from home for the first time, becoming an adult, having
more responsibility than ever, cleaning, cooking, studying, attending school, paying bills, more and more studying, more than I have ever studied in
my life! And a little more, white clothes that ALWAYS get absolutely dirty, I wear white almost every day still, I’m better at it now I like to
think..
The first four years consist in what they call theoretical training, you attend class, take note, have exams and some practice, especially during the
8th semester the “preinternship” where you are almost an intern, except you are not, that is something about medicine, you always feel like you are
almost a doctor and in many ways you are but you also always an student, there is just so much to know and medicine can be so specialize, it takes
forever it seems, still im really enjoying the journey J, so you take those four years of theoretical training and then you become an intern,
internship I´ve heard is the hardest, most difficult, most beautiful and rewarding year for every doctor, you work very hard for a year, and you are
in a place where you are so new and know so little compared to you fellow residents and attending, but at the same time you are expected to learn it
all in the time you spend in every service. Its good and I’m really looking forward to it, is time to become a doctor, to take responsibility, to
start doing your first procedures, but like I said you are also still a student therefor you do not get paid, you pretty much work for the hospital
for free because you cant take full responsibility as a doctor, you are still training.
But, where do you go for it?
Coming to Guadalajara to become a doctor was one of the best things that could have happen to me and its all thanks to you, but why do I say is one of
the best things? Well the University of Guadalajara is known to be one of the places where they train some of the best doctor of the country this is
because we get to practice a lot, we get very amazing clinical training, they offer some of the best hospitals in the country as our training
hospitals.
I had to decide what hospital to go for my internship, and the decision its been made: Hospital Civil Fray Antonio Alcalde. Let me tell you a little
bit about it, this hospital was founded 220 years ago by a Fray his name Antonio, it was built under the promise “ a la humanidad doliente” (to the
hurting humanity), this is now the biggest hospital in Mexico and hosts over a thousand beds, it offers the most certified programs and has amazing
both medical and surgical residency programs, it is one of the 12 centers in the country that offer neurosurgery training (7 in Mexico city, 3 in
Guadalajara and 2 in Monterey are the only certified teaching hospitals for neurosurgery).
It has 250 interns every year and the staff is a total of over five thousand employees, nurses, doctors, physiologist, social workers, and many many
more.
Tomorrow I will be choosing my rotation for the first six months and Im both nervous and exited, mostly just exited, I want one that starts with
neurosurgery, I can’t wait to be there! Plus and here is a very funny thing that happened (didn’t seem funny at the time). I went to Baja to see my
family after a year, I was really looking forward to visiting with them, to giving personal thank you to the fishing tournament committee who last
semester made a very generous donation for me to buy a diagnosis kit and stethoscope that will be very much needed and helpful every day, and all the
Mulege wonderful people who I could find and who have been so amazing during all this years, but after a day of beautiful Mulege I got a call from my
friend who was going to take care of thing for me in Guadalajara as I was away and she told me that the secretary from school had made a mistake and
that I had to go back to Guadalajara immediately or I could end up in a very small and not so good hospital, so after only aa day and a half I had to
very sadly pack all my staff up and say goodbye to Mulege, I knew about the fishing tournament that was going on and I was looking forward to joining
everybody to say thank you but I couldn’t and I apologize for that even though it was out of my control, I flew back to Guadalajara and Monday morning
(very early) I was at the school office fixing the little secretary’s messed up, I was very sad to leave home so suddenly and felt like it was more a
dream about going that actually going, it took a week for it to be fixed and during that week I was keeping myself busy in the school helping update
the manuals we use for the classes I used to teach ( Im naively hoping to keep on teaching this year but my boss knows have naïve that idea is so Im
just going to be a backup instructor and visit and help when I get a little time off). Anyway, that week a friend called me and says this:
Hey Emy, how are you? I answered: well Im pretty upset about the whole hospital thing but Im keeping myself busy in the lab and trying not to
overthink it, she said: well I have something that will cheer you up, I know that you want to be a neurosurgeon, I replied: that is correct, she
continued: and I know that you recently told me about the story of a doctor who is from Mexicali and went to Harvard and is currently the best
neurosurgeon in the world. –Yes I of course I remember that, Dr. Q! – well he will be giving a conference today, here in Guadalajara in the NH hotel
Ill email you all the information, all residents, interns and medical students from the university of Guadalajara are welcome and as if it wasn’t
wonderful yet its free entrance! – OMG! Thank you very much, OMG.
I have known about doctor Quiñones work since 5th semester when I was preparing a lecture about brain cancer for my internal medicine class, somehow
during my research I found a video of him and his work, he is amazing and a huge inspiration, currently works at johns Hopkins and has the most
promising research lab for brain cancer, I just finished reading his book and was about to meet him, actually be face to face with the master of the
field I want to spend the rest of my life practicing, I couldn’t be more happy and excited, really I felt like a teenage girl who is about to meet her
favorite singer, her movie idol, I was jumping, and smiling and singing and I’m sure my neighbors now think Im crazy!
I went there expecting it to be a big conference about brain cancer, where hundreds of knowledge hungry students and residents will battle to get in,
I carried the book with me just in case I could get him to sign it and made my way to the hotel, by the time I made it to the lobby my heart was
beating so fast I couldn’t believe it, my legs were shaking, my hands were sweating, I was about to meet the face of my true love neurosurgery, that
physical representation of our field, it was a very big deal, then through the glass door of the lobby I see a familiar face, the same face that was
in the cover of the book I was caring, it was him, DR. Quiñones, standing there looking at me as I was coming in and he greets me with an Hola!
Bienvenida! I was in shock but I still manage to Say, Hola Dr. Q, it is a pleasure to finally meet you! There were only about for people there and he
introduced me to all of them, I told him that I related a lot to his story and I too was from small town in Baja, from Mulege, he smiled and said: of
course! I know Mulege is a beautiful little town! We were talking for about half an hour as people began to turn up, I told him about my dream of
becoming a neurosurgeon and he told he was sure it was something I will accomplish, he introduced me to the heads of neurosurgery from different
hospitals and after an hour of talking invited all of us to join him for what I still thought was a conference, we went upstairs and sat down, it was
less than 15 of us, most internationally important neurosurgeons, a few residents and well, there was me, a soon to be intern, at that moment I felt
so lucky and so little at the same time, and I knew that “everything happens for a reason even when we are not wise enough to see it” as I say all the
time, it was a clinical case discussion and presentation of the cases that hi and his johns Hopkins team will come and operate next month in my
hospital, I enjoyed the afternoon taking about brain tumors and aneurism and hearing what experts discussions sound like in the first world, after
that we had a johns Hopkins “night with friends” as they call it and they offered us amazing dinner, by then a few more students showed up and I was
surprised, first because we weren’t so many in fact we were under 50 people, and second because the less than 10 students who sis attend had been my
students in the lab semesters before, they all stopped by and said hi and I felt very proud to be known as a academic authority in the university, it
was for sure the most amazing afternoon since I moved here and maybe the most amazing afternoon in my life so far, I was invited to help next month
when he come back to operate and that is why I want to start my internship in neurosurgery.
I hope I haven’t bored you already with all this writing but I just wanted you to know where we are in this dream, where we are in this journey, how
far we have come, you my angels have helped me come all this way, I will always be thankful for your support, your donations have made it possible,
you have trust me and that made a change in me and will hopefully make a change in this world, I will keep on working very hard to finish medical
school training, to enter a residency program and to become a neurosurgeon, you know I can’t do it alone, and if you want to my family and I will be
very much appreciate you help, you can donate via Paypal to: egvbuckovecs@gmail.com, every donation counts and helps this dream come true, I always
keep you in my prayers and I hope to be able to go as far as possible to become the kind of person who can help others, to help find a cure for brain
cancer, to help that person in an accident who has a brain bleed, to help anyone who need a doctor, I promise to stay true to the first promise, to
make your effort, your help worth something, as much as I can.
You will always be in my heart and I’m always thanking god for giving me you as my angels, I hope you are doing well and I looking forward to telling
you how was neurosurgery rotation and my first months as an intern,
After many years in business I learned its like fishing- I concluded the job consists of staying afloat & learning how to keep a business running
a little better every day. Then one day, a big fish will swim along.
And a dream comes true.
Director, Mulege Student Scholarship Program
Oasis Rio Baja #M-3, & Auburn, CA
I saw Emi briefly-- and I mean briefly-- while she was in town. We were on the north river road and her dad was driving her back out of town. She
waved at me and I realized it was Emi and slammed on the brakes, threw the car in park without checking the rear mirror and hopped out. We hugged big
and said our hellos, loves and goodbyes in the same breath... and then she was gone.
Well done, Emilia.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
Dr. Q couldn't be a better example for our budding neurosurgeon
Here is the Wikipedia of his achievements....starting with a book very apropos for our heroine....
Books
In 2011, Quinones published his autobiography, Becoming Dr Q: My journey from migrant farm worker to brain surgeon. He is also the lead editor for the
upcoming edition of Schmidek and Sweet's Operative Neurosurgical Techniques, one of the world's preeminent textbooks of neurosurgery.[11]
Awards and recognitions
1986 B.A. Escuela Normal Urbana Federal Fronteriza, Mexicali, Mexico - Social Sciences and Humanities, Multidisciplinary teaching license[12]
1991 San Joaquin Delta Community College, Stockton, California - Transfer core curriculum to the University of California [12]
1994 B.A. University of California, Berkeley, California - Highest Honors [12] 1999 M.D. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts - Cum Laude
[12]
2000 University of California, San Francisco, California (General Surgery) - Most Valuable Intern Award [12]
2004 University of California, San Francisco, California (Residency - Neurosurgery) - Howard Naffziger Neurological Surgery Award [12]
2006 Howard Hughes Institute - Physician-Scientist Career Award [12]
2006 Association of American Medical Colleges - Herbert Nickens Award[12]
2006 American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation - Career Development Award [12]
2006 American College of Surgeon - Franklin Martin Faculty Research Award [12]
2006 Johns Hopkins University - Passano Physician Scientist Award [12]
2007 Johns Hopkins Hospital - Department of Neurosurgery - Faculty Teaching Award (Richard J. Otenasek) [12]
2007 Robert Wood Johnson Award [12]
2007 Popular Science Magazine - Brilliant 10 Scientists Award[13]
2007 Baltimore Magazine - US Top Docs [14]
2007 Hispanic Business Journal - Top 100 Most influential Hispanic in the U.S.
2008 American Association of Neurological Surgeons - AANS Bittner Award
2008 Merage Foundation - National Leadership in Science and Medicine Award
2008 ANS/CNS - Skull Base Award
2008 Olender Foundation - America's Role Model Award [15]
2009 California Community College - Distinguished Alumni Award
2010 Science & Engineering Festival - Nifty Fifty Scientist [16]
2011 South Vermont College - Honorary Doctor of Human Letters
2011 Baltimore Magazine - Baltimore Top Docs[17]
2012 Lackawanna College, Scranton, Pennsylvania - Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa
2012 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD - Promoted to full Professor of Neurosurgery and Oncology, Neuroscience and Cellular and Molecular
Medicine.
BajaNomad » General Baja Discussion » UPDATE -***FULL CIRCLE - CHIEF RESIDENT OPERATES ON UNCLE ALEX - The Little Girl Who Woluld Become a Brain Surgeon (Chapter 4...
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
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cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
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