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I thank Dr. AlAmeel for sharing his experience in residency training in Canada in the Humanities section of CMAJ. (1) I particularly echoed his experience of having a new suit made by a 70 year old tailor in Saudi Arabia to prepare for his interview in Canada. It reminds me of an incident that happened to me some forty years ago.
I went to Edmonton for my Royal College oral examination. I wore a suit that I had for 12 years but I hardly wore it (12 years: 3 years in pre med, 4 years in medical school and 5 years in residency). It was a tailor made suit given to me by my parents when I came to Canada.
I arrived in Edmonton the evening before my examination. Without exploring any fancy local restaurant I went to the hospital where my examination was to be held the next day. After carefully checking out the site, I returned to my hotel by taxi.
As soon as I got into the taxi, I noticed something was wrong with my pants - the stitches at the back came off ! I got worried and the taxi driver asked me what happened. I told him my problem and he said,"No problem at all, I will take you home and my 70 year old mother will fix it for you." So he took me home and within 10 minutes, my pants became new again. I thanked both of them profusely and gave him a good tip on my return trip to the hotel.
This serves as a reminder for me that I should help whoever is in need.
I learned my lesson and I did not have the same problem when I went for my Royal College oral examination in my subspecialty in Montreal 6 weeks later. I am also happy to report that I passed both oral examinations.
H.C. George Wong MD
Clinical Professor, Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Reference
(1) AlAmeel T. The Saudi resident and Tillsonburg. CMAJ 2019; 191:E287-288