Christian Mission Oriented Programs

[beautiful_Mind]

ok, I "really" need some advice and inputs here.
I'm in the phase of ranking 3 programs on top of my FP ROL:

1- IMGAE (In His Image) Tulsa OK
2-Christ Hospital-U Cincinnati(Underserved/international health track)
3-South Nassau Communities

now, my long term goal is to do medical missions with christian organization in asia and africa.
My wife's family live in Long Island(few miles away from So Nass. C.)

part of me wants to put cincinnati one on top, but then if i did so, i will sacrifice the great mission-oriented program of tulsa. the teaching, attendings, educations, Peds are excellent in Cincy compared to Oklahoma, but the OBGYN is great in OK much more than Cincy and Long Island

I guess i am struggling becuase i have to sacrifice something:
~ the closeness with family if i didnt put LI first
~ the great academics and teaching and peds in Cincy (they have their peds rotats. in one of the best ped hospt. in the country, if i didnt put Christ first
~ the wonderful opportunities to travel once a year at least to asia or africa or the country of my choice if i didnt put Tulsa first..

I need some sincere advice..

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[Geronimo]

I'm just starting Med School but I'm older than your typical med student. None-the-less, my advice as a Christian of almost 20 years is to put family first. Luke 9:25 says what have you gained if you gain the world but lose your very self (even your family)? Keep your priorities straight. Family comes before training or work (even if you are working for God). Still, you are the one that will have to make the call. If I were in your shoes, I know where I would choose. Best of luck to you!

 

[Cristagali]

Family First, no matter what religion you are. Good luck!

 

[Peeshee]

Hello,
it sounds like you have a great admirable goal in mind.
I read through what you wrote about the programs and just wanted to ask - doesnt Cincinnati have opportunity for you to travel to underserved/3rd world countries during your residency? I m pretty sure they do, as I have looked into the family med. program-underserved/int'l health tract at UC. If this is true, then, you would not be missing out on that by going to UC, and if Peds is an interest for you, Cincinnati is great for that.
About being close to family, weekend flights are not that expensive. How often do you think you would see them even if you did live in the same area?
Hope your decision becomes clear to you.

 

[mfrederi]

If you go to Tulsa, you can not be near your family, obviously. However, if you go to S. Nassau there is no reason that you can not experience God and grow spiritually to same degree as in Tulsa. However, if you feel God has called you to Tulsa, I think you must go. Afterall, we know that as missionaries (both at home and abroad) the work of Christ may take us out of our comfort zone, however we also know that in that uneasiness of being where we don't feel comfortable, we will seek the Father's prescence more than ever before. And, as He is true He will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding. If I were you, I would pray about it (I am sure you have already done alot of that though) and if I did not feel a peace about any certain spot, rank Image first. I say this because I know how they do their selection process, and they pray over each applicant's file to find the students that are called to their program. Knowing that, I think I would feel comfortable with the fact that if I ranked Image first and matched there I would assume that God spoke to the selection committee about me. I hope that makes sense, sorry if it doesn't, I have a cold and am reading a chapter in Robbin's for the second time so I am a little foggy.

 

[lesstewert]

All right. This reply is going to have two parts first an honest bit of advice (to the best of my ablitity), second some more advice a little rant about where I have been and you might be going.

1. Go to the program with the best training. You don't sound so hip on OK's training. Residency is short and there is a lot to learn. Cinci. sounds excellent and if you are affiliated with their peds program it is one of the best in the nation and you will simply get experience that the other two can't offer. The best training will be essential because you may be going somewhere that you are the only game around.

2. If you are really serious about this missionary stuff (and it is a very selfless thing to do) make sure your family wife kids etc know the score completely not just the idealized brochure version. Let's just say that I am quite familiar with the buisness first hand and it isn't an entirely benign experience. Like when the fam returned to find all their stuff stolen after the first night on the Island. Or the woman that I know who was gang raped at gun point where the aids prevelence is about 40%. Of course her first test came back pos. Later the test turned out to be in error (now that is something to thank God for). Or how about the girl I know who was robbed by some guys with machetes, don't know why they didn't rape her I guess they were a decent bunch of guys. None the less she still has nightmares and claims that she can smell them sometimes when she wakes up. I wish you the best of luck. Remember it is one thing to be selfless with yourself it is another to be selfless with others i.e. your family. I am not saying you would be just make sure that everyone knows the score.

By the way I bet the guys at "In His Image" don't believe in evolution. I wonder how they explain antibiotic resistance maybe God just thought we needed VRE.

 

[ryann04]

So a bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics means we came from a "soup" of chemicals billions of years ago. Last I checked it was still a bacteria. Good example of microevolution but in order for me to take a giant "leap of faith" that we evolved,give me an example of macroevolution

 

[dry dre]

give me an example of macroevolution

The frontal lobe that created the above sentence.

 

[ryann04]

The frontal lobe that created the above sentence.

That explains how we came from a rock millions of years ago? Just maybe, we were designed that way.

 

[lesstewert]

My issue is with the language that creationist use. They attack evolution, a sound theory with an abundance of proof, just because some people have extrapolated the theory of evolution to explain the origin of life on earth. It is the equivalent of saying, "I don't believe in black holes, scientists use gravity to explain the origin of black holes, therefore I will jump off a bridge because gravity doesn't exist." Well maybe that is overly dramatic, but otherwise it gets my point across. One can believe in the principles of evolution w/o demanding that the theory can explain the origin of life on earth. I mean phycists take quantum mechanics and use it to explain electron motion while using Newtonian mechanics to make up silly baseball trajectory problems for the mcat.

Anyway to the OP I appologize for hijacking your thread w/ my comments on the narrow use of language by creationists, and I apologize for my post the other day in general. With that being said I still think you should go to the residency program that will train you best. You don't need religous support in your residency, you can get that from your church, you need excellent training in diagnosis and treatment/procedures etc. My vote stands with Cinci. May be even plus a OB fellowship if you desire. Plus if you plan to start a family you might want your kids to reach about 4-7 yrs of age before you head out abroad. FP residency plus a fellowship sets you back about 4 yrs perfect. (Now if I could only plan my own life.) Definitely don't want to be totings a 2 mo old child to Africa or the islands.

Also out of curiosity did you consider going to any rural unopposed programs these seem like they would be perfect for your needs.

 

[beautiful_Mind]

Thanks very much guys for your awesome responses.
So far, I am ranking Cincy on top , followed by OK, then So.Nassau third.

here are the updates,
1- Cincy guys like me sooo much, i got 2 hand-written cards from the chair, and a very lengthy email with tons of personalized comments from the PD who beleives in my potential very much., plus emails from residents, associate directors, and they also paid for my second visit airfare!!(they didnt do that with anyone else!!!!!)

2-the guys in OK, after i emailed them with my intention of ranking them very highly, they sent 2 brief emails, letting me know they are in the phase of praying and fasting before they rank us (that I respect and trust they are very honest.)

3-the folks in Long Island, after I asked the PD for specifics about how I may be ranked, replied by a 2 personal phone calls from the PD, telling me I am on the very top of their list since everyone in the committee liked me and wanted me to be with them.

I finally sat and decided to invent a numerical/score evals for all of the 3 programs, TWICE Cincy came first, OK second, LI third.

I am planning on putting Cincy first for the reason that logically and with INNER Peace, I feel it is the right thing to do, also, I feel cincy has the best of the 2 worlds(not too far from family in LI,yet my wife disagree with this bit of logic, PLUS, it has great emphasis on international/underserved health.


Unless something miraculous happens, I am not gonna change anything,


any more inputs will be well received, thanks guys.

 

[beautiful_Mind]

any last minute advice before the deadline tomorrow??

thanks guys

 

[PACtoDOC]

any last minute advice before the deadline tomorrow??

thanks guys

Only good luck!! And God Bless!!

 

[Geronimo]

Only good luck!! And God Bless!!

Ditto!