About
This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.Subscribe
As seen in:
This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.
This is painfully true.
I know a couple from Afghanistan. Both have PhD-level education, but when they took refuge in the US they had to work as wait-staff.
Im Portugal, era cardiologo.
At the risk of sounding dense (but with the comfort in knowing that I’m certainly not the only one to ask), is this is pop culture reference that I’m missing? Seems a little vague to be a statement about highly educated immigrants having to “settle” for unskilled jobs. I don’t get it :(
No. That is the statement it is making.
Edit to the above:
not to be interpreted as driving taxis after 10 years of med school is fair and just, or that immigrants should be happy to take any ol’ job they can get regardless of their extensive qualifications. That kinda came out wrong, I guess.
The problem often stems from the American medical establishment’s refusal to recognize foreign certifications, not necessarily the current economic state.
*Disclaimer: I make no statement about the validity of those certifications. I’m a home builder. :-)
the point is, highly skilled people will come from other countries and work any job that pays as long as they can stay in the US… bigger goal being to have their family/children become part of america, etc
if their biggest goal is to be part of USA (america being the whole continent’s name), i would be suspicious of the level of their education.
I definitely remember this line from a film. I wish I could remember which one!
A rather more cynical British take on the idea:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FkciojGDeP8
“In my country I am leading heart surgeon…”
These clips are from a very dark animation made some years ago for the BBC: Monkey Dust. This video has them all packed in a row, but in the show there was one per 30 minute episode.
As for the idea that American taxi drivers are indeed other nation’s doctors, I think the truth lies somewhere in between!
I know 2 professionals, an attorney and an agronomist, who do entry level work-carry out boy and bus boy. They are Latinos who arrived with no English, thus can’t pass the boards to work in their fields. They both came for a better life for their families. They work like hell, the lawyer’s daughter attends private school, and they don’t complain. It’s amazing.
This is why I skydive. If I need a doctor it only takes me three minutes to get to the ground.
i’ve just read an article @bbc about how migration makes less-developed countries diminish their human capital. In some countries, qualified doctors are training as nurses… in order to go west looking for a job and send money to their families. de-qualify in order to migrate, a phenomenon well worth discussing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7774180.stm
…because the world is far more complex than the US…
For the people who wanted to know:
It is a reference to Family Guy, episode “From Method to Madness”
Transcript: http://www.familyguyfun.com/method.html
(At least I think it is—I know that the second commenter was referencing it.)
…and moving further left on the scale: if the vehicle is telephone booth-sized, the chance of getting a Doctor is 100%. Makes sense to me.
Heather: the title does remind me of an early episode of “Heroes”. But I can’t say it’s a direct quote by any means. A friend of mine told me about his experience in his internship year at Dartmouth: “One day I was on the way to work, driving by a McDonald’s. I looked up at their sign that said they were hiring managers and realized that I could make more money by far as a manager at McDonald’s than I was at the moment.” Sadly, a PhD would have been overqualification, since he spoke english. Does it go the same way if I take my education to India?
In my country, I was engineer . . .
(puts mop in bucket)
I believe it was the first season of ER where one of the women who worked as a cleaning person(?) in the ER was actually a cardiologist from another country (possibly Russia?) If I remember correctly she had a man’s name…Bob?
Consider that most western nations have points systems for immigration, where you earn extra points for your profession, such as dentistry, or medicine. At the same time, professional establishments don’t accept diplomas not issued by other western nations. That’s how it is in Canada, at least. So a Nigerian doctor might find it easier to come to Canada with his diploma, but she will have a very hard time finding work in her field without redoing some, if not all, medical school in a western establishment.
Here’s a commercial that ran in Canada about foreign MBAs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP9cQelrmc0
EDIT: Why did I use his and her when refering to the same person? =/
“if their biggest goal is to be part of USA (america being the whole continent’s name), i would be suspicious of the level of their education.”
Some countries have quite bad conditions.
In the book “And Still We Rise” (nonfiction), Claudia’s mom had a PhD (I think) in teaching, in Guatemala. But she came to the USA to because she felt her future children would be better here. She worked in a sweatshop, and was working (during the book) as a maid. Why? As it turns out, in Guatemala she had a previous husband and two children. The children both died in infancy, and her husband later died.
So, is it hard to imagine why she gave up a skilled profession for a sweat shop in the USA?
My honest-to-goodness true story:
My mom owned and operated her own (very successful) general practice clinic for years overseas. When she decided that my brother and I should have more/better opportunities in life, she gave it all up so we could move to the US. She ended up selling Avon adn aTupperware door-to-door during the many years it took her to overcome the language barrier. To this day, she’s found it impossible to re-learn all of the necessary medical jargon in a new language.
She currently works as an underpaid and under-appreciated lab technician, surrounded by an army of “doctors” half her age who don’t know much beyond a handful of cookie-cutter procedures.
In my country, I am the leading neurosurgeon.
No you’re not, I am!
Monkeydust rules.
That’s why I’m an artist. I’ll be equally poorly paid no matter what country I’m in.
rodcontr Says:
if their biggest goal is to be part of USA (america being the whole continent’s name), i would be suspicious of the level of their education.
If you aren’t in the US, great.
If you are, feel free to leave. Wouldn’t want to hold you against your will.
Pingback: Where have I been? « Steve Fischer’s Random Blog
Pingback: There’s at Least 1000 Doctors driving cabs in NYC « Welcome to A Day In Tha Life Of…
Subcontinent countries give out PhD’s like candy to kids. It seems to be one of the few distunguisihng titles one has to rise above the caste system.
I have lived,. (US BORN) in SE Asia for 5 years. Getting MD status here is tough as well. Most countries want to take care of their own med school graduates.
I have many Bangladeshi friends…they are good people, just trying to make a living, like all of us are trying to do.
Agree with Steve here, that it may be funny only if you tried NYC cabs!
By the way, great post!