I'm Proud of my Country

I have been having a taste of being a resident this past week. I thought I'd be horrible at giving orders, supervising interns, etc. It's only been what, weeks, since I was the one that had a upper level to fall back on. Suddenly, I'm that fall-back person.

Luckily, my intern is really nice and receptive. He's from India and actually have finished his orthopedics surgery residency there before coming to the states. He's the wide-eyed intern that most people are when they start. He kept saying how nice all the attendings are here and how much he likes this residency program. He has these horrible stories of residency back in India where residents are too scared to even talk to their attendings.

I'm reminded of Michelle Obama's words in a speech recently, "for the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my country." Her comment makes me go "ummmm," in a bad way. For her to say that is rather ignorant, not to mention unfitting for a presidential candidate's wife. There are people who would leave their home country AND go through grueling residency training all over again just to be in this country. I didn't even have to ask why my intern wants to be an intern again even though he's already a fully licensed doctor in India. I know the answer, a better life. There are so many foreign medical grads that do this every year. It's what my Dad did for me when he left China in the 1980's. Wealth, democracy, equity, human rights. . .no, these things are not perfect in America, but it shouldn't have to take a foreigner to appreciate the privilege of being an American.

So, for Michelle Obama to say that she's never been proud of America until now, well, obviously, she's never been to India, China, or Mexico.