The Home Stretch for Tim
Many of you have followed the story of Tim, a wonderful young man who grew up in the Kaifeng orphanage in Henan province. When LWB volunteers first met Tim back in 2006, he was just 14 years old. He became part of our education program, and we learned very quickly just what a wonderful student he was.
Tim in 2006
In 2011, he volunteered to help on our cleft surgery trip to Fujian province. After meeting Dr. John Ness, he told us that his even bigger dream was to become a doctor himself, so that he too could make a real difference in his community. We of course encouraged Tim to follow his heart, and we were thrilled when he passed the entrance exam and received his acceptance letter to a medical college in his hometown. This was an enormous accomplishment for a child who grew up in orphanage care, and thanks to our wonderful supporters we were able to tell him his medical school tuition was covered!
Tim with his acceptance letter
Tim is now in his final year of school, and he is extremely busy doing his clinical rotations. He told us he is really enjoying this experience, getting to better understand the daily life of a doctor.
So far he has completed his surgery, internal medicine, and cardiology rotations. He liked the cardiology doctor he followed very much, as he was very patient and taught Tim so much about medicine, such as how to write a thorough medical history.
This doctor also taught Tim so much about how to talk with patients. He said it was wonderful to see how you could get enough medical information from a patient while also making them relaxed and comfortable like talking to an old friend. Tim feels very grateful to have had such a great mentor.
Recently, Tim and his classmates had to return to the college in order to take formal photos in preparation for graduation this coming summer. They have all been split up this year as they do their internships in different hospitals, so it was wonderful for them to get together again. Tim said it was a very emotional reunion, though, as the friendships they have formed during the very stressful process of going to medical school have become really deep. Even though they know that in a few months they all might become separated as they search for work in hospitals across China, they believe their friendships will last forever because of the support they have shown each other.
We will definitely share the great news of Tim’s graduation this coming year.
We are so proud of him for setting such a great goal for himself and then working so hard to make it come true!
