Staying Connected While Working Overseas: How Technology has Shrunk the World

In the not so distant past, a job placement overseas meant extensive time away from family and very little real-time communication with those back home. 

I remember traveling the EurRail the summer after my first year of medical school and buying prepaid phone cards to use on the pay phones in the various European cities we visited.  That was 1996. My how things have changed.

Today if you decide to take a medical post in an international location, you can almost continue relationships with friends and family back home unabated.  There’s a trick to it, of course, and you have to adjust to the time-zone differences, but with the internet and all sorts of new communication tools, the world has never felt so small.

There’s so much material in the area of international communication technology that there’s really no good way to cover it all in a single post.  For those who want a more thorough discussion of some of the unique ways communication tools are being used in medical expeditions, I would recommend the chapter entitled Communications Planning for the Expedition Medical Officer by Dr. Christian Macedonia that’s part of our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine textbook.  For the others of you who are simply interested in hearing a quick overview of how technology has shrunk the world and taken a lot of the hassle out of working overseas, I give you the following anecdotes…

In 2003, as part of my International Emergency Medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins, I was sent to the desert of Sudan to perform a nutritional study on a people group called the Beja.  The Beja live in the northeast corner of Sudan, a very desolate, arid region where the locals live basically as they have for thousands of years.  Due to the civil war in that country, the Beja had been cut off from their natural trading routes and many were starving.  USAID had provided a grant to help feed these people and I was sent by Johns Hopkins to ensure that the food was getting to the needy and they were responding to it appropriately.

The project itself was very challenging and after three weeks in the desert I was ready to come home, but it was a great experience and one I wouldn’t trade for anything.  One of the main memories I had of the trip was simply how isolated our group was.  After crossing the border from Eritrea into Sudan, it was simply desert sand—no roads, no electricity, nothing but khaki expanses, a few distant camel trains, and an occasional burned out armoured vehicle or unexploded ordinance left behind from the war and half-buried by sediment.

Amazingly, in spite of this isolation, I was still able to talk to my family back home in the States from time to time through the use of a satellite phone, and every night, powered by a battery that had been charged during the day with solar panels, our group listened to satellite radio as if we were all hanging out together on an extended camp out.  I’ll never forget how odd it seemed to be sitting out under the immense sky of that distant desert, listening to the camels while I talked to my girlfriend (now wife) on the phone and tapped my foot to the classic rock music coming in from the stereo.  Surreal.

In another example, a few years later I took a new job and my wife and I moved to the country of Qatar.  Initially, one of our main concerns was  keeping in touch with friends and family back home.  It shouldn’t have been.  Between email, online video chats using either the Apple iChat technology or video Skype, and our Vonage internet phone, staying in touch was a breeze.  Matter of fact, when we ordered our Vonage phone, we chose a local US phone number.  That way when our friends and family from the States called, it would be a local call for them and rang our house in Qatar just like any ordinary phone line.  It was crazy to talk to our loved ones on their cell phones while they were running errands, and so convenient to just walk over and call the States just like on any other household phone.  The cost for this convenience? A whopping $20 per month.  It was a steal.

The Vonage phone system worked so well and was so easy to use, I never felt like I skipped a beat when we moved outside the US.  My writing and other projects continued without difficulty.  Matter of fact, multiple conference calls relating to the planning of our Expediton & Wilderness Medicine textbook were held while I was overseas and our first Expedition Medicine National Conference was organized and planned using the internet, email, and our Vonage phone, entirely while I out of the country.  I flew back to the States the day before the event and went back overseas when it was over.

Another great device we purchased just prior to our expatriat experience was the Vonage V-Phone.   The V-Phone looks and feels like a flash drive and is designed to be stored on a keychain.  When my wife and I would travel to other countries, we could attach this device to our laptop, plug in a headset, and the V-Phone would enable us to make calls just like an ordinary phone.  It was amazing.  Currently these devices cost around $50 US, and they are well worth it.  However, it should be noted that the V-Phone is not compatible with Mac laptops and they are blocked in certain countries.  When we traveled to Dubai, for instance, we were disappointed to learn that not only our V-Phone but also Skype and the other internet phone services were blocked by the local government there. 

One last communication device worth noting…

During our travels, the coolest member in any expat community was the guy who had a device called a Slingbox hooked up to his tv.  Basically, a Slingbox is a device that enables you to control your home television over the internet.  Savvy expats would buy the device and install it on their home TVs back in the States (or give it as a gift to a family member or friend and install it on their TVs).  When overseas, the owner could go to the Slingbox webpage, login, and watch live television while having total control over the channels and DVR.  It was a great way to follow the home ball club (even though the games were usually played at 3am) or simply get a taste of your favorite TV show from time to time.  What’s great is that now the Slingbox has an iPad ap that allows Slingbox owners to watch live TV on their iPads.  I remember being at a lunch not long ago and noticing that golfing great Phil Mickelson, just one table away, was watching a live NFL game on his iPad via Slingbox.  Slingbox is a very cool technology for those who want to say in touch with certain sporting or cultural events while living in a foreign environment.

So there’s a quick anecdotal tour of how modern technology can keep the world small and enable you to stay in touch with colleagues back home, even though you’re miles away.  An international assignment does require some sacrifice at times, but modern communication technology greatly lessens the impact of such a move these days, and allows you to stay connected no matter where you live. 

Evaluating Your International Contract & Employment Opportunity: Questions For Your Potential Employer

Evaluating contracts and employment positions overseas is much like evaluating these things in the States, with a few unique issues that should be discussed prior to signing. 

Here are a few of the questions you should ask any international employer prior to agreeing to a contract.

1. Transportation

If you take a position in another country, by definition you’ll be traveling to another place for your work.  A good question to ask your employer is who will be paying your relocation expenses. 

Some companies will employ you once you arrive at their facility overseas but require you to foot the bill for airplane flights and shipment of your personal items.  Other companies will cover your plane tickets and help cover the costs of shipping your personal items, but will require you to cover anyone in your family who is traveling with you.  The best arrangement for you, of course, is if the company agrees to cover the airfare for you and your family plus the shipment and/or storage of your personal belongings.  It’s important that you ask about this issue up front since you want to be sure to budget for any necessary expenses.

Once on the ground in your new “home,” be sure to ask how you’ll be traveling from home to work and around town.  Can you take public transportation?  Does the company provide a vehicle or do you need to provide your own?  If you are responsible for your own transportation, are there options to rent a vehicle or do most employees buy? 

If you will be driving yourself, be sure to ask about driving laws and restrictions.  Driving regulations can differ significantly from country to country and in some nations, driving may not be allowed.  For instance, in Bermuda, visitors are not allowed to rents cars (only scooters) while in Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive.  Always remember that when you are in a foreign country, you are under the laws of that country.  As strange or unfair as some of the regulations might appear to you, the “that’s not how we do it back home” defense rarely flies when stopped by local authorities.

2.  Housing

An important aspect of your new employment will be discussing where you will live.  Good questions to ask your future employer are whether housing will be provided and if so, will you be given a certain house to use or a housing allowance? 

The house versus housing allowance issue is more than simply semantics.  A housing allowance gives you more flexibility, but a house protects you from rising house rental prices and other possible uncertainties.  For instance, if you are given a housing allowance you can shop around for accommodations that fit you better—a larger home for a family with children or maybe a flat in the city if you’re single.  However, if you are given a house, you are protected somewhat from the rising cost of rent or the uncertainty of where you will live once you arrive.  Regardless, this is a good conversation to have with your employer from the outset.

Another housing question to be considered is how far the housing is from your work site.  A home across the street from work is a big difference than one located out of town.  I have friends, for example, who actually live in the country of Bahrain and commute into the country of Saudi Arabia each day for work.  Yet another question is whether you have veto power over where you live.  If you arrive and the home you are given seems unsafe or unclean, can you move to another location or are you stuck with what’s been given?  Last, an often overlooked aspect of housing is who pays the utilities.  In a country with temperature extremes, this could make a significant difference with your monthly bills.  Find out in advance who is responsible for the utilities as well as who to call in case of maintenance issues (and who pays for any repair bills). 

3. Salary and Cost of Living Issues

Obviously, when you are negotiating a contract with any employer, salary needs to be discussed.  However, when working in a foreign country it is important to ask in what currency you will be paid.  It makes a big difference whether you are paid 80,000 US dollars or 80,000 pesos, for example.  Also, remember that since you are living in a foreign country, international exchange rates now affect your monthly income and purchasing power in obvious ways.  With the falling US dollar, many expatriates I know who are paid in USD’s have seen their relative income drop every year.  The flip side of this equation is that if you are paid in a foreign currency that is rising against the US dollar, you are in affect getting a raise each year relative to your income back in the States.

Be sure to accurately estimate your living expenses each month.  We’ve already discussed transportation and housing costs, but be sure to look into such monthly expenses as food and the cost of standard household items like toothpaste, soap, cleaning supplies, etc…  In some countries these things will be extremely cheap, but in others they could be very high.  Just make sure you know what you’re getting into.

4.  Other Issues to Consider

There are always lots of little loose ends to consider when making a move to work overseas.  There’s no way to cover everything, but a few more things to keep in mind and ask about prior to departure:

• What about education for children?  Are there educational opportunities for your kids and if so, who pays.  I know certain Oil executives who have their children’s school tuitions written into their contract as part of their benefits package.  In some countries, the price of an English-speaking school is very high.  In other countries, it simply isn’t available.
• Have a plan to deal with any chronic medical issues you or your family may have.  Try to pack a few months worth of any necessary meds and be sure to ask about healthcare in the region.  If you’re the only medical professional within 100 miles, you need to know this going in and plan accordingly.
• Who actually is your employer?  This sounds like a silly question except sometimes it’s a difficult one to answer.  Depending on how your contract is structured, you might be an employee of the hospital, or a placement company, or some other entity.  If you sign a contract with an American company that then places you overseas, you in theory have more protections (due to American labor laws) than if you sign directly with a foreign company or government.  Foreign contracts are subject to foreign law, which may differ significantly from American law. For instance, in some countries, an employer can fire an employee for any reason without any notice whatsoever, without appeal.  If your contract is with an American employer, however, you should be given due process during any contract issues and at least have the security of knowing that you are protected under US state and federal labor laws.
• Be sure to ask about health insurance and whether you have American health insurance, health insurance applicable to your employment country, or both (or neither).  I know many expats who have had difficulty with this issue.  In some cases, the expat gets sick in the foreign country only to find out their health insurance only applies to American healthcare.  In other cases, an expat back home on leave gets sick and finds out their health insurance does not cover American healthcare, only healthcare in their country of employment.  Be sure to look into this issue prior to signing your contract and plan accordingly.
• The issue of pets is another one that can be very difficult.  Are pets allowed where you will be living?  Are your pets even allowed in the country in which you’ll be working?  In the Middle East, for instance, many breeds of dogs (specifically certain bulldog breeds) are not allowed into the country.  Exotic pets such as snakes and other unique animals are often difficult to bring into another country for any reason.  If you cannot bear the thought of leaving FiFi behind with friends or family while you’re away, make sure this issue is discussed before you sign a contract.

Working overseas can be a very rewarding experience.  Use these tips to avoid some common pitfalls and you’ll make your overseas experience a lot more enjoyable.

Motor Vehicle Travel: The Real "Death Zone" of International Travel

How do most physicians die in international medicine?

Here’s a pop quiz:  The most dangerous thing you and your companions will do while on your next expedition is:

(A) Trek to 14,000 feet while trying to avoid altitude sickness

(B) Push through that jungle trail hoping not to pick up a malaria parasite along the way

(C) Dive deep in the ocean while dodging Great Whites and the Bends

(D) Drive from the local airport to your hotel

If you answered “D” then give yourself a prize.

When most people think about international travel risks, they think about terrorists, wild animal attacks, exotic infectious diseases, or some other uniquely international threats such as lava flows or voodoo hexes.  However, many people are surprised to learn that statistically, the most dangerous thing they’ll do during their international trip is drive in an motorized vehicle.  Mountaineers talk about the “death zone” on a high-altitude peak, above which life is very sketchy.  For most international travelers, their “death zone” is a busy road in an unfamiliar international location.

According to an article published in the Public Health Reports , the most common way American civilians die abroad (excluding chronic "natural" causes such as heart disease or cancer that roughly correlate with typical US death rates for age and gender) is in traffic accidents.  The only recent exception to this rule is humanitarian workers in areas of conflict—in these cases intentional violence is the most common cause of death .

With so many people dying on the roads while traveling abroad, what are some basic travel-safety tips for medical officers to consider?  Below is an excerpt from the Travel Safety chapter of our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine textbook that was written by Dr. Michael VanRooyen, Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative:

Consider a few practical tips for traveling via automobile when traveling abroad. This includes avoiding the temptation to drive yourself.  If you can hire a local driver, you might get a better sense of the region you are traveling, and if there is a traffic mishap, you are not held directly (and financially) accountable.  If you have to drive, take your time, know where you are going, and seek major routes.  It is also wise to avoid driving at night. Navigating the poorly lit roads in Nairobi in an unfamiliar vehicle, with many pedestrians walking along the road (as there are very few sidewalks) is a recipe for disaster, both for the person or persons you may hit, and for you. 

Helpful hints while driving abroad ( http://danger.mongabay.com/ )

• Become familiar with your vehicle in less crowded conditions
• Don’t drive at night
• Drive slowly and in control
• Avoid large gatherings or busy markets
• Wear a seat belt, always
• Avoid driving when you are suffering from jet lag

If you need to rent a car, look for a common type vehicle from a reputable dealer, and make sure the car is in good working order, making note of any preexisting body damage.  Consider getting a car with air conditioning so you can have the windows rolled up and the car locked when you are in it.  If you encounter what appears to be an informal road block or rocks across the road creating a makeshift barrier, there is a good likelihood that these are ploys to get you to stop. Turn around and drive away. Carjackers and thieves work in very organized groups around service stations, parking lots, markets and along major highways.  Be suspicious of anyone who flags you down, or points to your car to indicate a flat or an oil leak, hails you or tries to get your attention when you are in or near your car.

Also, it is generally unwise to rent a motorcycle or motor scooter.  While locals may be whirring conveniently around, nimbly navigating through traffic, as an outsider you have a reasonable chance of becoming a hood ornament, and being forced to be content with the local health care system. Many organizations who deploy field staff, the US Peace Corps included, have long since discouraged the use of motorcycles or scooters for their staff. 

When my wife and I first moved to Doha, Qatar, a very busy urban area well-known for its aggressive drivers, we opted to drive a very solid Toyota Land Cruiser and practiced our driving during times when traffic was less.   Within a short while, my wife and I could easily negotiate the local roundabouts without difficulty and had no problem following the rules of the road.  However, had we not taken our time to get acclimated to the new driving scene, we most likely would have had some problems.

Motor vehicle accidents are a serious problem and a leading cause of death for international travelers.  However, by following some common-sense tips for motor vehicle safety when traveling, you’ll do much to ensure the safety of yourself and your traveling companions.  Be aware of the risks while traveling in your international “death zone” and you’ll up your chances for a safe and enjoyable time while overseas.

Getting Started In International Medicine

Alright, so you want a career in international medicine.  Where do you begin?

You’ve finished your specialty training and you’re looking for opportunities to work overseas.  Great.  You know how to run a code and diagnose a pneumonia.  Fantastic.

Now the work begins.

International medicine is such a broad field that whenever I am approached by a physician who wants to work overseas I always ask them to tell me a little about their overall goals.  Do you want to make international medicine a career pursuit?  Is your goal to work short-term in a variety of locations while holding a full-time position back home?   Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?

It’s true that life has a way of rerouting even our best-laid plans, but it’s always better to have some sort of plan before embarking on a new career pursuit.  For those that don’t really know where to begin, I recommend the following:

1. Just get some experience

You can’t go wrong just getting a few short trips under your belt.  Whether you want to simply dabble in international health as a side career or begin to build a full-time career as an international medicine specialist with hopes of leading  a non-governmental organization (NGO) or academic research group, the place to start is with a few short volunteer trips.  No NGO or credible organization is going to actually pay you to do international health if you’ve never worked “in the field.” If you ask any seasoned person in international medicine, they always say time in the field is one of the biggest criteria they have for important hires.  You might be brilliant. You might have great “people skills.”  You might have incredible letters of recommendation, but if you’ve never packed your bags and lived in a remote place for a time providing medical care, then you’re basically an untested commodity.  No credible organization will take a chance on an untested person and place them in a position of responsibility if they can avoid it.  If you want to make international health a part of your life, you need to get some experience.

Where do you go to get experience?  Well, there are two easy places to begin.

First, visit your local faith centers or nonprofits and see if there are any positions available for volunteer physicians overseas.  In today’s world, you’d be surprised how many local religious organizations and nonprofits are sending people to obscure places and would absolutely love to have a physician come along (especially if the physician is paying their own way—and you need to be prepared to pay your own way in the beginning).  This is a great way to practice preparing for a trip, evaluating the medical gear you will and will not need, working with others (not a physician strong suit typically), and working in an unfamiliar environment.  Many individuals who go on to formal international medicine careers begin as volunteers in positions just like this. 

Second, there are multiple locum tenens companies who are placing more and more physicians in foreign environments.  Obviously, working in a fully staffed hospital in Australia is much different than working in a remote clinic like the Everest Base Camp ER, but you have to start somewhere and using a locums company like Global Medical Staffing to get your initial experience internationally can be a good place to start. 

2. Network

I’m not a fan of joining organizations simply for the sake of joining. However, there is a lot to be said for joining a couple of organizations in the beginning and attending a few medical conferences designed for international medicine, especially if you don’t have a lot of connections in these fields already.

In the United States, the three organizations that seem to most help individuals looking for opportunities in international medicine are (in no particular order) the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS), the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM), and The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).  All of these organizations offer medical conferences where you can meet potential mentors and network with other event participants.  In addition to these organizations, there are a couple of private conferences that always garner great participant reviews.  The first is our ExpedMed events (yes, I direct these events and I am biased, but we do get great reviews and we draw top talent from the WMS, ISTM, and ASTMH, as well as many academic institutions, as speakers each year).  Information on ExpedMed can be found at www.ExpedMed.org  .  The other private group that always receives great reviews are the folks at  www.Wilderness-Medicine.com  .  Yes, I guess the reality is that these guys are really competitors of ExpedMed, but we use some of the same faculty and we consider them friends, so I don’t have a problem recommending them. 

I’m sure there are plenty of other great organizations and events that I could mention here, but these are the ones I hear about the most and the ones with which I have personal experience.  If you need a good place to start, I’d begin with one of these entities.

3.  Read

It goes without saying that if you’re interested in a career in international medicine you should be reading about the subject.  There are some great journals and textbooks out there, including our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine textbook, but don’t just stop there.  Read blogs about international medicine.  Get some adventure stories that are non-medical but involve international health in some fashion (Shackleton’s adventure for instance or Teddy Roosevelt’s River of Doubt journey).  Use these resources to not only stimulate your desire to travel but also to learn the history of the field you’re entering.  Oh, and when you read the academic work, don’t just read for clinical knowledge, read to see who the authors are and where they’re working. Look through the bibliography and see who is cited and where the research is taking place.  You never know where this sort of “sleuthing” might take you or what connections you might make.

4. Investigate formal training opportunities

I say "investigate" because depending on your career goals you may or may not need/want formal training. However, it's worth looking into since there are some great programs to teach things like tropical medicine or public health in disaster situations.

For Emergency Medicine specialists, formal fellowships in International Emergency Medicine are available around the country.  I completed one of these programs at Johns Hopkins in 2004, and really enjoyed the experience.  I wrote a prior post on the subject of International Emergency Medicine and for EM docs looking to move into the world of international medicine in a formal way, a fellowship is a great way to jump-start the process.

If tropical medicine is your thing, there are some excellent 3-4 month courses around the world that offer intensive tropical medicine education.  The two most famous are the Gorgas Course in Lima, Peru, and the course at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.  I have friends who have graduated from and teach at these events and both are widely respected. You can check out a prior post here on Freelance MD that serves as an introduction to these courses.

The Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) course is a great way to get exposure to handling public health issues after disasters (more information on this course can be found here ), and for those who really want to go deep, a Masters degree in Public Health from a university with an international focus like Hopkins or Harvard, will significantly broaden your view while deepening your understanding of international public health issues.

These tips should get you going and when you have some experience under your belt and some colleagues in the field to call, you’ll be surprised at the opportunities that begin presenting themselves.  

Emergent Field Medicine

In a prior post I mentioned the Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) course for those who are interested in working in disaster areas providing humanitarian assistance.

Reviewing information about the HELP course reminded me of a great manual for those interested in humanitarian assistance.

The book Emergent Field Medicine was published a few years ago to help those who are providing care in under-developed regions and disaster areas.  My view of this textbook is biased– mainly because I am friends with a number of the editors and contributors of this text– but I still believe it is a great tool for anyone going to a remote area to provide care.

The text was written by a stellar group of experts and provides an overview of a variety of topics including public health, tropical infectious disease, refugee health, nutrition, and dental emergencies to name a few.  The format provides a reader with information that is easily accessible and of appropriate depth for a field manual.

For those who are considering working in a remote area, Emergent Field Medicine is a good way to prepare before you go, and a good resource to use while you’re away.

Medical Fusion in the "News"

The good folks at Health 2.0 mentioned our Medical Fusion Conference in one of their recent News &Updates posts.

You can check out their news piece here. We've been told this particular news post has already had a large number of page views, so we're happy to keep the momentum rolling.

It's exciting for us here at Freelance MD to see more and more people become enthusiastic about Medical Fusion and our other learning opportunities.  Thanks to Health 2.0 for helping spread the word.

Be sure to stop by the Health 2.0 site sometime and try to attend one of their inspiring events in the near future.

Harvard Writers: March 31 - April 2, 2011

For physicians wanting to learn to write and publish, the Harvard Writers course is the best place to begin.

For physicians wanting challenging and fun new career opportunities, there is no better way than to write and publish--from blogs to books, the opportunities are endless.  There is no better way to jump-start or advance your publishing objectives than the CME course offered by Harvard Medical School titled "Publishing Books Memoirs and Other Creative Nonfiction."

I've been directing national medical conferences for the past five years. Because of my involvement in the medical conference industry, I have reviewed many, many courses and spoken to numerous people about the ones that they've found the most helpful and enjoyable.  The Harvard publishing course is at the top of the list for both criteria.

The truth about medical conferences is that most are, at best, mediocre and some are simply a waste of time. There's really no reason to travel to another city, pay hundreds of dollars, and review the same, mundane material you could easily obtain online.

Because I'm a physician who designs medical conferences and not simply a business person marketing a product to physicians, I look at the medical conference industry with the eyes of a consumer. I like learning about excellent courses, because I want to know where the best teaching is taking place--not only as a conference organizer but also as a potential participant.

A couple of years ago a colleague brought to my attention the Harvard publishing course. I was skeptical at first, but as I learned more about the event I became more and more excited about it. Here was an event that allowed physicians to meet other physicians who had authored books, submit manuscripts to editors, and connect with literary agents.

I was impressed.

When my team and I were organizing the first Medical Fusion Conference in 2009, one of the first people I recruited for the course was Dr. Julie Silver, director of the Harvard publishing course and Chief Editor of Books at Harvard Health Publications. Dr. Silver is a very inspiring person-- a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and an award-winning author. As a physiatrist, her clinical and research work focuses on healing from serious injuries and illnesses (www.JulieSilverMD.com).  Dr. Silver is also a cancer survivor who is creating a "best practices" model for hospitals and cancer centers to implement survivorship services that include cancer rehab (www.OncRehab.com).

My hope for our Medical Fusion Conference was that Dr. Silver could give some basic tips on writing to our audience and maybe a few pointers about opportunities in the publishing world.

What took place at that first Medical Fusion Conference, however, totally blew me away.

Dr. Silver gave two lectures that year, both of which were two of the most highly rated talks ever at our Medical Fusion Conferences. Her speaking style was very easy to follow and she communicated a tremendous amount of quality information in her two hours at the podium. Many in our audience commented on their evaluation forms that she was their favorite faculty member that year and felt that she was one of the best presenters they had ever heard at a medical conference.

Dr. Silver is still one of our most requested faculty members at our Medical Fusion events (and we're excited to say that she's coming back for our 2011 Medical Fusion Event this November).

If you browse through our Freelance MD archives, you'll find blogs by many of the successful physican-authors who attended the Harvard publishing course:

 -Dr. Richard C. Senelick attended the course and is now blogging on The Huffington Post

 -Dr. Jon Wolston credits the course as a catalyst for helping further his writing as a poet

 -Dr. Victoria McEvoy partnered with a professional writer through the course and published The 24/7 Baby Doctor

 -Dr. Yvonne Thornton attended the course and is now a best-selling author of multiple books

If you're a physician who's been interested in writing on any level, the Harvard publishing course is a great place to start, and as this list demonstrates, they've had more than a few success stories.  In fact, Dr. Silver highlights Success Stories every year at the course, and these range from past attendees who have published op-ed pieces in major newspapers, now blog on heavily trafficked websites, published books, been interviewed by Oprah, received a job promotion, landed an unexpected consulting opportunity, become a highly requested speaker, and many other exciting new opportunities--made possible by the content and connections from the course.

So go ahead...

Check out the Harvard Writers website. Read through the list of former attendees who are now published authors. Allow yourself to dream a little, but put feet to those dreams and attend the course in March.

There are few courses that will provide you as much quality information in as short a time, and with a little nudge like this, exciting new career opportunities will become a reality.