Road to Roseburg Family Medicine Residency Program Paved with Hardship, Hope, Healing

I often think about the Hippocratic oath I recited years ago. I knew I really had no choice but listen to the calling of my heart. Since my family and I came to the U.S. as asylum seekers due to extreme circumstances, my heart never stopped calling me to find my purpose of being here.

Hardships are really blessings in disguise. They are humbling, enlightening, and wonderful opportunities for growth and change. As the famous poet Rumi said, “The wound is where the light enters.” The traumatic events my family and I went through really opened my heart. I now see better, understand better, and empathize better. I now know that love really is everything and is the best healer.

Love for oneself, one another, our planet and all creatures. Love that encompasses everything and everyone with no exceptions and no conditions. With love, we find joy amidst pain and peace amidst mayhem. With love, we can face any difficulty and come out of it stronger. With love, we can heal.

Through this journey I realized that healing does not happen one way. It is a two-way process. We heal personally as we heal others. We receive as we give. We learn as we teach. There is no hierarchy really between healer and healed (or doctor and patient). We are all equals — we are all in this together, brothers and sisters, holding each other’s hands in this journey we call life. Like the cells of the body, we may have different forms, different roles, different names, but we all serve one purpose and have one goal. We are actually one.

I now know my purpose of being here: to give my hands to my patients as I’m holding theirs. To extend love and care and express gratitude to the people who sheltered me and my family and gave us a safe haven and a new home.