A Hopeful Start.

You are having an amazing day. You only have a week left to graduate with your Natural Sciences degree from Ahuntsic College in hand. You have dedicated so many hours of studying to get straight A's throughout your whole college career. All of those sacrifices have been worth it because with your 4.0 GPA, you learned that you got accepted to McGill's Medical School. You are filled with joy and pride. You deserve this. However, they keep recommending (more like pressuring) you to become a teacher. Since you can literally enter any program with your perfect grades, you have a choice to make.

Choice 1 : You follow your dream to become a doctor and go to medical school.

Choice 2 : You listen to your parents and you apply to university to become a math teacher.

You listen to your parents and you apply to university to become a math teacher.

You applied to University of Montreal to teach Mathematics. You love math, and you don't despise kids. It couldn't be that bad right? Of course, you get accepted in the program. This might not be what you wanted to do but you are still determined to graduate with the best possible grades. Your parents are happy with your decision. They let you know that they will pay for your tuition fees if you stay at home. Good, that is one less burden to worry about. You then start your Masters in Education. The four years flew by. You now have your diploma and you already have a job lined up for you. You go on and start your job as a math teacher at Sophie-Barat high school. You're making a decent income. You get to have your whole summer vacation. You are now living a pretty safe, regular and uneventful life. More often than not, you imagine how your life would've been if you had the balls to pursue medicine. You will never know, and deep down you regret this.

Choice 1 : This was not your dream and you have several burn outs at 35 years old. The End. Start Again?

You follow your dream to become a doctor and go to medical school.

You choose to go against your family’s wishes, and you go to medical school. You have your game plan set and you are ready to win. It is plain and simple. Wake up, study, do extra-curricular activities, work out and repeat. No one is going to come and deter you away from your path. Becoming a surgeon is your dream and you are the only one that can make it happen. You believe in yourself. This is going to be hard, but you will never give up. You decide to move into the school’s dorms in order to get rid of every distraction. Now there’s only one last problem to take care of… You currently have a part-time job as a medical archivist at a hospital. You know that medical school is extremely time-consuming. Do you quit your job and take student loans, or keep your job and keep grinding hard for the 4 upcoming years?

Choice 1 : Apply for student loans and focus 100% on school.

Choice 2 : Keep your job at the hospital and hustle till you drop.

Apply for student loans and focus 100% on school.

It feels good to not have to worry about work. Especially since your classes took are intensive. It is hard, but you love it. You learn so much about the human body. You are learning about biology, pharmacology, microbiology, cardiology, neurology, immunology, endocrinology, anesthesiology, basically every field of study. Since you don't work anymore, you decide to sign up for an extra-curricular activity. It will look good on your job application in the future.

Choice 1 : Become a volunteer in the medical school's free clinic.

Choice 2 : Become a research assistant for your cardiology teacher.

Keep your job at the hospital and hustle till you drop.

You are good at time-management, but this is hardcore. You have to work 30 hours per week to pay all of your bills. Moreover, you have 7 classes, and volunteer work. On top of that, you are trying to keep going to the gym to keep a healthy lifestyle. For the first year you manage to hang in there. You do your best, and you don't give up. However, working so much is taking a toll of your grades. Let us not even mention self-care and your social life. Those two don't exist. On a Saturday evening after work, a friend invites you to the strip club for his birthday. It will be your first night out in months. You could go have fun and wild night or have a relaxing evening watching movies.

Choice 1 : Party Night.

Choice 2 : Movie Night.

Party Night.

You decide to go to your friend’s birthday party. It is your first night out in a long time. This is truly a whole different world. You never go to those kinds of places. Even if you are totally out of your comfort zone, you are having a good time. You celebrate your friend’s birthday, you drink, you dance, and of course you make it rain on the girls. Good times. When the party is getting to its end, one of the dancers comes towards you. She tells you that you have an amazing body and that the club is hiring new strippers. You laugh it out and tell her that you already have a job and that you are a medical student. She informs you that she is currently in nursing school. Furthermore, she lets you know that being an exotic dancer allows her to make enough money working only a few nights per month to cover her bills, her tuition and that she has more time to dedicate to her studying. She gives you her number. You are seriously considering this new gig.

Choice 1 : You give her a call a few days later to become a stripper.

Choice 2 : You delete her phone number.

Movie Night.

You relax for the night and watch a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy. It is one of your favorite shows. Then, you review a few of your biology notes and you call it a night. It feels good to take a break once in a while. Being always on the run will end up hindering your productivity.

Choice 1 : Study hard and work hard.

You give her a call a few days later to become a stripper.

So, you decide to give it a shot. Yep. You are going to become a stripper. You call the girl, Sara, and she teaches you the ins-and-outs of stripping. You ask her a lot of questions. Do you have to pass a job interview? Are you going to have on-the-job-training? Are there any office politics that you have to be weary about? So many questions! You’re scared but you trust her. She promises that everything is going to be alright, and that you will do a good job a learning the ropes. Then, you ask your manager to reduce your hours. He accepts and you go buy your first stripper outfit for your first shift at the club tonight. You’re nervous.

Choice 1 : Black outfit and 4-inch heels.

Choice 2 : Pink outfit and 6-inch heels.

You delete her phone number.

You delete her phone number. Even though you had a good time, you have no desire to get involved with these kinds of activities. You will keep working at the hospital, and keep studying. Then, when you graduate, all of your sacrifices will be rewarded. You just have to hang in there!

Choice 1 : Study hard and work hard.

Study hard and work hard.

Time flies by. You managed to set aside all of the distractions, and you kept your head over the water by juggling work and school. You're finishing the last semester of your fourth year of medical school. You didn't finish with straight A's like you expected. However, that's an outcome that you accepted when you chose to keep your job. Unfortunately, because your grades aren't stellar, you can't be matched into the residency of your choice. Your dream is to become a reconstructive plastic surgeon. Alas, it is one of the hardest programs to get into. Plastic surgery residency has the highest rejection rates. You feel like it is unfair. You didn't have any support from your family. You think to yourself that the outcome would be different if you had support. Nonetheless, a good thing that came from keeping your job at the hospital is that you had a foot-in-the-door in your field. You were able to network and get yourself into a family medicine residency. You passed the exam and the two interviews. You will now start a new chapter of your life. You are a family medicine intern at the Jewish General Hospital.

Choice 1 : You Are A Family Medicine Intern.

Pink outfit and 6-inch tall heels.

You bought the pink outfit and 6-inch tall heels. You feel uncomfortable in these heels. You fall on you face several times. You don’t make any money. You are starting to feel like the whole purpose of this act and environment are to overwhelm you. As a matter of fact, you mostly embarrass yourself. Making a fool of yourself would be a better choice of words. Ultimately, you question your judgment for trying this job. You leave at midnight and you promise yourself to never do such a thing ever again.

Choice 1 : Let's go back to your regular life. You figure that you'll just stay in your lane. Which is medicine.

Black outfit and 4-inch tall heels.

You bought the black outfit and 4-inch tall heels. You feel confident enough to do your leg work on these shoes all night. Sara is also working with you tonight. She teaches you the basics of dancing and flirting with clients. After practicing with her, you decide to dance by yourself. You are having an amazing time and you stay professional the whole night. You had a bias concerning this job and now you’re more open-minded. You pull out your flirtation skills and do the leg work during the whole shift. When the club closes, Sara has the kindness to drop you off home. After arriving home, you count your money. You made $1450. That’s basically your bi-weekly paycheck. You feel good about your decision. You can now focus fully on school. You think to yourself that this little test drive at this new job was 100% worth it.

Choice 1 : Trust the process.

Trust the process.

"Stay focused on the real goal". You always remind yourself of that statement. You don’t want to end up getting sucked up in the night-life too much. Needless to say, now you only work one day a week in the hospital and 4-5 days as an exotic dancer per month. You are now a few months in the game. Thankfully, it was a smart decision. You now have so much more time to study. Your grades went back up to a 4.0 GPA. You are now on your fourth year of medical school. After working so incredibly hard to improve your grades and your knowledge, you have been accepted into a plastic surgery residency. Being a reconstructive plastic surgeon is your lifelong dream. It is also one of the most competitive residencies to get matched into. The graduation ceremony is approaching and you wonder whether to invite your parents of not.

Choice 1 : You send an invitation to your parents.

Choice 2 : You don't send an invitation to your parents.

You send an invitation to your parents.

A sense of fulfillment pervades you. On the day of the graduation ceremony, your parents came to see you. They apologize for not believing in you. They knew that this was going to be a difficult journey. Also, they didn’t want you to struggle, and they feel bad about not being there for you You forgive them, of course, but you don’t miss the opportunity to rub your success on their faces a little. You are glad tho have straightened things up within your family. You hang out a little more with your folks after the ceremony and you part ways. You now have a few weeks of vacation in front of you. Then after a well-deserved rest, you start your plastic surgery internship at the Jewish General Hospital.

Choice 1 : You Are A Plastic Surgery Intern.

You don't send an invitation to your parents.

Your parents don’t attend your graduation. They looked down on your dream and underestimated your competences. You are now a doctor, ready to begin your residency, and you can’t even share your joy with your family. Of course, your closest friends came to cheer for you, but it is different. A thought crosses your mind: you promise to never have kids if you can’t be 100% supportive of their dream. You have a few weeks of vacation before starting your plastic surgery internship at the Jewish General Hospital.

Choice 1 : You Are A Plastic Surgery Intern.

Become a volunteer in the medical school's free clinic.

You are volunteering at the free clinic. This in an invaluable opportunity to put what you learn in class into practice. Additionally, being able to interact with real patients confirms to you that being a doctor is what you want to do for the rest of your life. Up until now, you had the chance to draw blood, remove stitches, administrate medication, and drain quite a few abscesses. You feel useful when helping others. You volunteer at the clinic two days a week, you are crushing all of your exams, everything is going as planned.

Choice 1 : White Coat Ceremony.

Become a research assistant for your cardiology teacher.

You contact your cardiology professor, Dr. Sloan, for the opportunity to become his research assistant. In class, he expressed the need for someone to work with him on his research. His goal is to find a minimally invasive aortic valve replacement procedure. A valve replacement is needed when germs, especially bacteria, enter the bloodstream and attack the heart valves, causing growths and holes in the valves and scarring. This can lead to leaky valves. The germs that cause endocarditis can enter the blood during dental procedures, surgery, IV drug use, or with severe infections.You and a classmate, Mike, were chosen to participate in the project. You are so excited and thrilled about this opportunity. Even though your goal is to be a plastic surgeon, cardiology is also one of your passions. In fact, to be a good plastic surgeon, you must be knowledgeable about almost every branch of medicine. After class, Dr. Sloan invites you to dinner to explain the research process to you. Later during the day, you find out that Mike wasn't invited even if he is part of the team. Now, that's quite unexpected.

Choice 1 : Accept the teacher's dinner invitation.

Choice 2 : Suggest to the teacher that it's better to meet all three together and refuse his invitation.

Accept the teacher's dinner invitation.

Even though it is in fact, unusual. You accept the invitation. You don't want to offend your teacher. When You arrive at the restaurant, you expect the teacher to talk medicine. Instead, he asks you personal questions. You feel uncomfortable. After the meal, he insists on dropping you off home. You refuse, but he discards your answer and takes you hand to drag you towards his car. You sit down and give him directions. During the entire ride, he tries to touch your thigh and you always push him back. You regret accepting this invitation. You should've trusted your gut feeling. When he asks to come inside your place. You Snap. You make yourself clear about the fact that this is sexual harassment and that you will not be afraid to expose him. This kind of misconduct is maddening and unacceptable. You add that you will remove yourself from the research project. Instead, you volunteer at the clinic.

Choice 1 : Become a volunteer in the medical school's free clinic.

Suggest to the teacher that it's better to meet all three together and refuse his invitation.

It would be too utterly awkward to go to dinner with one of your teachers. Moreover, you wonder why he wouldn't invite your friend Mike, seeing that both of you are his assistants. In short, Dr Sloan accepts to meet another time all three of you together. A few days later, you all gather in his office. He gives individual tasks to the both of you. He also gives you research articles and press releases to read. He needs his assistants to be up to date with the latest techniques and procedure before he allows you to hold any kind of surgical tool. The semesters go by quickly and you become closer to your friend Mike. You both study together, and work on the cardiology research together. Having the support of someone is good for your morale. Time flies and you are now at the end of your medical school journey. The white coat ceremony approaches.

Choice 1 : White Coat Ceremony.

White Coat Ceremony.

The White Coat Ceremony is a rite of passage for medical students, and was created by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993. During the ceremony, a white coat is placed on each student's shoulders and often the Hippocratic Oath is recited, signifying their entrance into the medical profession. Mike, all of our classmates and I are extremely proud of ourselves. Tears of joy are being shed. People are hugging each others. It is truly a magical moment. After 4 years of hard work, of studying and of sacrifice, we are finally doctors. All of us will now go on our separate ways, but we will never forget each other. Mike is going on an internship to become a military trauma surgeon. And you will start your internship at the Jewish General Hospital as a plastic surgery resident. What an emotional day!

Choice 1 : You Are A Plastic Surgery Intern.

You Are A Plastic Surgery Intern.

Plastic surgery is hardcore. It is gruesome, gory, and violent. However, it is also, delicate, sensitive, and healing. Reconstructive plastic surgery gives people a second chance. You help to reconstruct the breasts of women who have fought aggressive breast cancer. You help to rebuild the faces of soldiers who sacrificed themselves in the name of peace and freedom. You operate on little babies born with congenial deformities. Surgery is an art. Your first year as an intern was extremely hard. You often cried when a patient cried. You also cried with the families of the patients that didn't make it through the operations. Time heals, and time builds resistance. After a few years of hard work, and of unwavering dedication to the medicine and to your patients, you become the head of plastic surgery. You remember a quote from a movie. As Forrest Gump once said, "Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get." You think to yourself that you got a pretty darn good piece of chocolate.

Choice 1 : The End.

You Are A Family Medicine Intern.

Family medicine is a personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. As a family physician you are trained to provide optimal medical care by looking at the whole person, rather than focusing on just one organ system. At the beginning of your internship, your heart was still aching at the fact that you couldn't do surgery. After spending more time with your teachers, fellow interns and patients, you started to fall in love with family medicine. You started to build connections and rapport with your patients. You have a stable schedule, which would have never occurred if you were a surgeon. You also find that you have a little more free time. You can now find the time to go out on vacation, dates and do research on the subjects that interest you. You are feeling good about your life. You have a stable career that you grew to love. The storm has passed, the sky is now bluer.You remember a quote from a movie. As Forrest Gump once said, "Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get.". You think to yourself that you got a pretty good piece of chocolate.

Choice 1 : The End.