There is no tomorrow...there is only today!

 Today I leave Bangladesh so quite literally there is no "I'll do it tomorrow"...but in a more philosophical meaning, we should never wait to do anything until the proverbial tomorrow, life is short. I've seen my own share of life to have adopted that motto at an early age and as such it led to pursuing my interest which grew into a passion for global health and more specifically giving back to Bangladesh. The image you see above is a product of not waiting until tomorrow, until I had a full time job or was "established", I wanted to go for this unique opportunity that formed in my head because I knew even if I was minimally successful it would give me an opportunity to make an impact. Many of us forget why we chose medicine in the hustle and bustle of every day but here I had a daily reminder. With the help of quite literally ALL OF YOU this was made possible, you've helped pave the way to hopefully a long future of contributions to the continuing medical education of physicians here in Bangladesh and in the process you have helped to inspire others to give back in any way they can, for any cause!

A few parting pictures and experiences...

For those who were with me about the fear of the machine being stolen, this room is the ICU medical officer's area and is located immediately outside of the ICU. The room has a padlock for which only those who work in the ICU have. It is within close proximity and easily accessible for the exact group of people the machine was meant for! 

This was my last 1:1 session with the main critical care physicians who identified themselves as interested and willing to lead the charge. You might be wondering why I am not in this picture..well it's because both of these physicians felt comfortable enough to show each other all the exams they had learned with little to no help from me! 

So you may be wondering the same thing I am, what comes next? How do we ensure that the machine is used and that the learning continues ? On a micro level we are devising a distance learning curriculum that will include videos of me reviewing all the basic exams that were taught as well as videos of us teaching newer and advanced concepts. There will hopefully be an exchange of interesting cases and testimonials of how the use of the machine is helpful to maintain the interest in its use. And as time passes we shall have to formulate a more macro level idea to make this work without any of us at the helm...a truly sustainable project in that case. 

Signing off from Bangladesh! As updates come in and progress happens I will certainly continue to document them as I have here--and again, thank you thank you thank you to ALL OF YOU! No person can achieve anything on their own--it happens as a result of a community, a village of people who are directly and indirectly a part of every step...I am a big fan of my particular village of friends and family as it is your support that pushed me forward especially on the days where I wasnt feeling well or thought for sure that THIS would be the mosquito bite that led to my demise!