Meet Toshi on the Halloween

Oh man! It's been like two and a half year since last time I met Toshi in Taipei. It's always nice to see old friends, especially in foreign countries. (I met this Japanese friend 3 years back when I was in the OSU for medical electives)

Now he is a medicine intern in the Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He told me that he has good colleagues, picky patients and tons of workload. Compared to what he did in Japan as a resident, however, what he is doing is much more reasonable and the whole training system is much more humane. For example, he can take 2 weeks of his annual vacation (total 4 weeks per year) flying back to Japan for marriage and then to the Maldives for honeymoon. Any vacation during the junior years of residency in either Japan or Taiwan is just unimaginable, man!

He can understand my feeling right now since he had been through all this last year. "Everything was uncertain." "Sometimes I'm just wondering why do I have to strive so hard for a mediocre program when I can easily get into top ones in my home country." His empathy is pretty reassuring and his tips for interview are coming just right in time.

He wants to get a fellowship in cardiology after residency. I'm hoping everything is going smooth in his residency and he is hoping the same in my match. We both keep our fingers crossed!

Gan-ba-de, Toshi.