We just could not get away from the questions, and it was hard to reconcile the unfamiliar
fact that New Orleans, for once, was the safe zone. For the most part, the fact that
the residents of the Gulf Coast live and breathe the lingering ramifications of Hurricane
Katrina on a daily basis means that we try to occupy our conversations with topics
other than the storm whenever possible. However, as soon as we stepped foot away from
the Gulf Coast to interview for residency positions, the questions started: “What’s
it really like down there? Have things gotten any better?” Maybe the inquiries were
out of curiosity, or maybe they were simply a conversation starter. We were something
of a novelty, after all, having met as undergraduates at Louisiana State University,
started dating during our first year in medical school, and weathered an unprecedented
evacuation together before getting engaged on the New Year’s Day following Katrina—the
ultimate act of optimism. It was probably inevitable that we—young, recently wed survivors
of the storm—would be subjected to many questions that are not the norm in residency
interviews. Indeed, our experiences as fourth-year medical students applying for residencies
were overwhelmed by discussions of Hurricane Katrina, past and present.
KEY INDEXING TERMS
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The American Journal of the Medical SciencesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 23,
2008
Received:
April 30,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
