I'm on cloud 9 right this moment. Sorry it's been a while since I wrote, but I got back from Chad on the day my classes started, had a friend come visit, then my mom, and between studying and trying to get my life organized, time got away from me.
But I just got home after being out of the house for 15hrs, and had such a fantastic day that I had to come and share. Let me explain: today was my 1st ever medical congress, and it happened to be a Neurosurgery Congress.
I am a lowly 2nd year medical student, and even though I've done and experienced a lot more than your average 2nd year, none of it was in my country and my university doesn't know anything about it. I get no brownie points for going to Africa and assisting in surgery, or doing internships in hospitals in Germany. Therefore, I am really, just a lowly 2nd year med student. Who happens to be fluent in French.
The guest of honor and main speaker for this congress, was a heavy weight French neurosurgeon. I had obviously googled him prior to the congress. This morning when I got there, imagine what isn't my surprise, when the 1st person I see, standing alone close to the door of the auditorium, is The Man Himself! So I smiled and said "Bonjour" to which he replied "Vous parlez Français?" To which I replied in French and we somehow immediately fell into conversation. It was just 30 seconds, but it was enough.
A little later, we had a coffee break. This is a small congress, so most people already knew each other and I was the only med student, lost in the crowd, nursing my cup of coffee. The Neurosurgeon guy comes, all by himself, talk to me. We end up talking for about 10 minutes, I tell him a little about myself, ask for advice, and walk away with his card and **an invitation** to come do a rotation with him, once I get into the clinical years! YES!!!!!!!! I am over the moon!!!!
As if all of that wasn't enough, I later met a team of Neurosurgeon/Neuroradiologist/Radiotherapist from Brazil (and I also speak Portuguese!) and one of them said casually that if I wanted to come do a rotation, I'd be more than welcome. I didn't let that pass and immediately got their contact info and even went so far as to suggest a possible date (winter break, I have 3 weeks off!).
You'd think the day's riches had been exhausted, but they weren't. The French Neurosurgeon *comes back* to talk to me, and we start talking about travel, philosophy, and of course, Neurosurgery. The guy is simply awesome. Not only is he a great surgeon, but his holistic philosophy of care and his emphasis in Quality of Life above Overall Survival is something I had always thought about.
Just to sum it all up:
- I befriended a world renowned Neurosurgeon and got an invitation to do a clinical rotation with him in France.
- I befriended an entire Neuro-onc team and also got an invitation to do a rotation with them in Brazil.
- I learned A TON about the latest treatment options and diagnostic imaging for brain tumors + made a list of things I don't know/didn't understand so I can read up and catch up.
Today was a really, really good day. The only thing I didn't do was make any local friends in Neurosurgery, which is kind of a downer because they're the ones who can let me into surgeries here and now. But hey, there's still tomorrow!! :)
