Lorena Calderon Encarnacion

International Medical Graduate in the process of obtaining medical license in the United States, currently awaiting scheduling number from ECFMG for USMLE step 1.

Seeking to join the Maine Health system and maintain full-time position that offers professional growth. Interested in pursuing Obstetrics and Gynecology residency in the future.

• BASIC LIFE SUPPORT, National Health Care Provider Solutions, Las Vegas, NV, 06/01/22
• COVID-19 TRAINING FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 12/01/20

The Summer Work and travel is a program enables by the US Department of State that provides foreign students with an opportunity to live and work in the United States during their summer vacation from college or university to experience and to be exposed to the people and way of life in the United States. 

While being a cstudent I had the opportunity to take part in the Summer Work and Travel Program. This allowed me to travel from my natal Dominican Republic to the United States for an immersive experience in the English language while working for three months. This program has a pivotal impact in my life. I took part of it three consecutive years. 2014-2016.

For some context, I was 20 years old the first time I participated in it while enrolled in medical school, with basic English knowledge and no work experience. In my country the working age starts at 18 without parental permission, at that age I was already enrolled in medical school, like most people pursuing superior education, I went to Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, the one Public University in my country and that meant that if I wanted to take as many classes as possible to complete my program on time, I needed to be a full time student, something that my parents encouraged me to do. My school offered two regular periods a year January - May and September - December, as well as a summer class that I was never lucky enough to make the cut for due to the high volume of students and the limited availability for courses. So when my friend Dario talked to me about this program I did not hesitate to get more information.

Almost by accident, I landed in the state of Maine. I signed a job offer to work as a Ride Operator at Funtown Splashtown. The place of employment, my housing arrangements and the new geographical location exposed me to people from so many different countries, cultural background, languages and ages, all while learning about them and from them in a different language and learning about myself in my new found independence many miles away from home. Budgeting, saving, taxes, managing a small household along my roommate also prepared me all the better in ways I was not expected after being somewhat sheltered at home. 

I could not wait for the next Summer so I could bring my best friend along and live the experience together and so we did in 2015. We came back and at the end of that Summer I met my now husband. 

The cultural exchange, language improvement and traveling were just the tip of the iceberg. Not once did I think when I first looked into it that a few years after that I would be relocating my life, my career and starting a family in the very place I came for a fun Summer.