Dreams Coming True – Part 3

To start at the beginning of Michelle’s Dreams Coming True story…

Now we will continue in her journey.

Quotes from Michelle’s letter to her ABW family in January of 2014.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!  I hope you all are keeping warm in Upstate New York this winter.  It’s been a pretty wet Christmas here where I have been spending Christmas with my parents and sisters.

I have received several packages in the mail from you and I was so delighted I could hardly believe it.  You packed my favorite things and necessities that will be a blessing all year long.  Thank you for your kindness and thoughtfulness!!!

See those packages and letters do make a difference.  🙂

This year has been busy.  This past fall I have spent most of my time traveling for interviews all over the country.  Since I will be graduating medical school in May (Yah!), I had to apply to residency programs in September and then go and interview at all the places that invited me to come and interview.  So far I have interviewed in NY, NH, RI, DC, NC, OH and WA.

I always talk about my goals of international medical missions at every interview because it is the core of what I want to do.  It  is surprising how many secular schools are intrigued by that concept!  It has been really neat to hear what different interviewers think about it.  Almost every single one is excited about it and very positive.

Yeah!!!

The remaining challenge about deciding where to go for residency, is that… I don’t actually decide!!  I get to submit a “Rank” order list in order of my preference of programs and the schools rank me as well.  My hope is to rank at University of Washington in Seattle for Family Medicine.  My next choice is Pediatrics at Upstate Medical in Syracuse.

Did you know that there was that much involved in a medical residency?  My husband has a lot of pre-med students come through his classes and even with everything I have heard I did not know the extent of everything and the uncertainty that the students have for so long.

Preparing for Thailand

Purpose – conducting a questionnaire study about traumatic stress disorder and depression among formerly sexually exploited women in Bangkok.

Applying – for Visas

Applying – for approval from Stony Brook’s Ethics Committee to conduct research

It’s amazing how many hoops you have to go through to do things to help people.  I could use a lot of prayer that they would approve the project.

Michelle did get her approval and she did make it to Thailand.  She was there Funerary 8 – April 12, 2014.

On Monday we will hear about her thoughts after her trip.