Fogarty Course in Washington D.C. (July 5-22)

The fellows have all gathered at the NIH for an ‘intense’ orientation before we head off to our respective sites. There are 27 US fellows (mostly medical students and several PhD students) and 27 very accomplished foreign fellows (mostly physicians). The course so far has included some big name speakers, which is exciting, but lacks a focus and is not necessarily structured as a preparatory course. It seems that the lecturers are directing their talks so that everyone can understand a little bit, which unfortunately leaves everyone feeling like they’ve only learned that little bit. However, it is a fantastic time to meet other people interested in international health and to find out how they’ve become involved. I’ve even met two other people who want to work internationally in surgery, which is thrilling as I didn’t think such people existed!

D.C. itself is vibrant with all the Mall museums, restaurants (I highly recommend fufu at the Ghana restaurant at Adam’s Morgan), clubs, and of course shopping (Filene’s Basement!). We even went kayaking on the Potomac River on Sunday- check out the picture of Gina and me cruising ahead and leaving everyone behind!

Good luck to all the fellows at their respective sites! Hopefully we will all come back having learned a little about clinical trials, science, a new culture, and a lot about ourselves. I don’t usually use quotes, but these are kind of fun:

A person is a success if they get up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. ~Bob Dylan

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there. ~Will Rogers

To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking. ~Goethe