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This is mu first blog ever. I want to expose some issues that I have noticed in Healthcare. My posts will not be edited, it will be completely honest and come from my heart. I will provide my resume on this website. I am Cristina, a 44 proud mother of a 5 year old daughter, a nurse of about 3 years and an aspiring surgeon who is ECFMG certified and did not fail any of my exams, but did not have a chance to get a surgical residency. My love for surgery began early in life and started to form when I was in college when I was a patient attendant and noted a patient with an LVAD that captivated me. I went to perfusion school and also practiced for about 4 years when I realized that I wanted to be the surgeon not the perfusionist. After medical school I was devastated when I did not match to surgery, not even prelim. I did not want to do anything but surgery, because I think that its the field that fits me the best. It is intense, lots of innovations, deep respect for human body and humility, which I possess. When I did not match I was crushed, I realized that it will be almost impossible to get into this field as a ECFMG and female. It took me 8 months to get my perfusionist job. Now, 12 years later I am still helpful that my dream can be achieved. I stopped applying for 7 years. The process requires recent letters of recommendations and it is impossible to interact with busy surgeons and ask for one. I looked this year and its even worse, they have gold and silver criteria and also the cutoff in terms of years since someone graduated from Medical School. I do not even get a chance to get seen, not to mention getting an interview.
There are so many different aspects of medicine that I have learned as a nurse. I examen every patient in the morning and throughout the day, I am the one who reports any changes in the patient’s status to the provider. I am the one who listens to the plan of care, reviews labs, procedures, radiology as well as interact with different specialities and provide updates to family members. I do not understand why there is no path for people like me who handles of kinds of situations and is good under pressure to become a surgeon. It is evident I am very capable.
My hope is that I meet people like minded and together we can create a path for people like me who did not give up on their dream.
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