It was 2001, I finally decided to pursue my life long dream of becoming a Doctor.
I had just walked away from an amazing masters program in Physical Therapy……nothing wrong with Physical Therapy but the truth was somewhere deep in my inner core, I knew I wasn’t pursuing my dream of becoming a doctor, and in turn felt a sense of unfulfillment.
I applied to a couple of Canadian and US Medical schools but was not accepted….. as you can imagine, I was devastated! I knew I always wanted to become a doctor. I was encouraged by my parents to not give up on my dreams. I got side-tracked along the way and decided to pursue Physical Therapy because I did not want to spend so many years in school, or so I thought. I soon realized there was no other profession that will satisfy my innermost desire than becoming a Doctor. I always cared about people and I wanted to be in a profession where I can truly make a difference in the lives of my patients as well as have a sense of fulfillment in my career choice. Once I realized how strongly I wanted to become a doctor and I was not going to settle for any other options, I developed a dogged determination that nothing was going to stop me or steer me away from fulfilling my dream.
That said, I made up my mind that not getting accepted into a medical school in Canada or the United States was not about to stop me from for fulfilling your dreams. I heard about Caribbean Medical Schools through a family member so I decided to do some additional research. I must say I had some legitimate fears. My fears included:
1)Attending a foreign medical school in a foreign country alone.
2)Leaving my Fiancee in the quest of fulfilling my dreams.
3)How could I possibly afford it or obtain financial assistance especially since I was coming in as a Canadian student?
4)Wondered if attending a Caribbean Medical School as opposed to a US or Canadian medical school will make me appear less qualified to my patients.
These were all valid fears however, none of them was strong enough to keep from taking the leap of faith…..
In hindsight, I am glad I did not let those fears stop me…..I made lifelong friendships while on the island, got married to my Fiancé the same year I got into Ross, in fact about 10 of my friends from different provinces in Canada and the United States attended my wedding! My uncle who is a US citizen voluntarily offered to cosign my private US Loans…(i am grateful to him to this day!)
Lastly, I realized that if you’re a good, competent, compassionate doctor, patients could care less where you studied. A lot of my patients either read my reviews online or are referred to me by family, friends or other clinicians.
I decided to apply to Ross University School of Medicine for winter of 2002 semester. I remember driving from Canada to Michigan for my interview. I got accepted to Ross University and the rest is history…..I look back and would not have had it any other way. Ross gave me the education I needed to fulfill my dreams. I graduated from Ross University in 2007, got into the residency of my choice, had the honor of serving as Chief resident, graduated as a Family Medicine Physician.
As a Full time, Board Certified Family Physician, I am happy to say my story ended well.