Family Medicine
An interview of the Kalioundji brothers: Gus Kalioundji, M.D. [UCLA Resident and graduate of Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine (UAG)] and Sam Kalioundji (UCLA Class of 2002, and current medical student at UAG).

By Danelle Boone

Just a three hour flight from Los Angeles, CA, lies Guadalajara, Mexico – the birthplace of Mariachi music, the Mexican rodeo, and home to over five million inhabitants, including thousands of aspiring U.S. medical doctors who are earning their M.D.’s from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG). Indeed, UAG has graduated over 13,000 American medical doctors in their 70 year history, and their partnership with U.S. hospitals and residency programs makes it possible for UAG trained physicians to practice in any of the 50 U.S. states.

I was on a pre-medical advisors visit to UAG when I met a bright eyed and charming young medical student (and UCLA grad) by the name of Sam Kalioundji. Quickly identifying the counselors from UCLA, Sam introduced himself, and proceeded to indulge our questions about the campus, the city of Guadalajara, and the medical school, itself.

Danelle Boone (DB): So, why did you choose to come to UAG?

Sam Kalioundji (SK): Actually it was the only school I applied to! I was a student at UCLA when my older brother Gus was applying to medical schools. He had a great GPA, a decent MCAT score, and a master's degree in Biochemistry from UCR [University of California, Riverside]. He applied to many U.S. schools, and ultimately was not accepted at any of them. He opted to go to a foreign medical school, came down to UAG, and had an amazing experience. He’s now a resident in family medicine at UCLA. I came down to visit him while I was an undergrad, and I fell in love with Guadalajara. I decided to skip the whole process of applying to U.S. schools, and just come here.

DB: Do you have any regrets?

SK: Not one.

DB: Did you have any trouble with the language?

SK: I spoke zero Spanish when I got here. I studied Latin in high school, but I didn’t speak any Spanish. I had a Mexican roommate though, and he helped me out. Now, I can speak Spanish fairly well. I can communicate with patients, take a full history, no problem. I’m actually doing better now in third year, than I did the first two years when my classes were all in English.

DB: So, what was your pre-med experience like at UCLA?

SK: I was a neuroscience major at UCLA. It was cool. But, the thing that really got me into medicine was my experience at the UCLA Center for Pre-Hospital Care. I took EMT courses, and became an instructor teaching EMT’s. I then became an Emergency Trauma Technician in the ER, and worked there for about a year and a half to two years. I was working 7 pm to 7 am, and then going to classes. But I loved it. I knew then that medicine was my calling. It was just a matter of getting in.

My parents praise UAG. They’re like, “It gave you guys the opportunity to do what you always dreamed of, but without having to struggle so much to get in.” A lot of my friends gave up, or are just now getting into medical school, and I’m in my third year. It took them a lot longer than it took me.

DB: What are the biggest challenges you have faced at UAG?

SK: The biggest challenges I’d say are the language, dealing with a different culture, and learning the system of that foreign culture. When your car breaks down, you have to take it somewhere to get it fixed, and not only do you have to speak the language, but learn how not to get hustled, too. There’s a certain hustle that every culture has. By third year, you’ve learned it. There are only 200 of you in the class, so you’ve got to help each other out. Find out where to get a cell phone, where to go shopping, where to find an apartment. You can always ask one of the students who has been there longer. You create your own community, and you look out for each other.

DB: Is there anything you would have done differently?

SK: Probably, I would have learned the language before going down there. Maybe take six months off. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s not a rat race. You don’t have to rush, when it comes to your career. You learn that it’s often the students who are a little older, a little more mature, who get the most out of it.

DB: What advice would you give to UCLA students aspiring to become physicians?

SK: If you are passionate about becoming a physician, there are a lot of alternatives. US medical schools can be very hard to get into. The California medical schools are some of the toughest. Look at your alternatives, whether that’s UAG, the Caribbean schools, or other offshore schools. And, don’t let anything distract you from pursuing your dream.

DB: So, tell me about your experience at UAG:

Gus Kalioundji, M.D. (GK): It was the best thing I did, without knowing it. The experience, the culture, the Spanish - I know that is one of the factors that helped me get a residency at UCLA. At first it was tough. I had taken high school Spanish and learned a little. But, in Guadalajara, you have to learn it. Now, I am totally fluent. I even listen to music in Spanish. I would say I use Spanish roughly 60 percent of the time. I ask the patients if they want to speak English or Spanish, and almost all of the time they say Spanish. When you understand and can communicate with patients you can help them so much more. Even understanding the culture of your patients. For example, if one of my patients is wearing a soccer jersey from a Mexican soccer team, and I know that team because I lived there, then I can connect with them on that level as well. They can sense when someone understands them and when they don’t, and the relationship you have with your patients is critical to serving them.

DB: I visited Guadalajara and had a great time. Your brother seems to really like it there as well. What did you think of the city?

GK: The city of Guadalajara has a lot to offer, and it’s great to enjoy the city, after you’ve done your work. The nightlife is incredible, but a lot of people get distracted. You have to stay focused. I was really intense my first two years, because you have to work harder. You are not just in medical school, but you are learning a foreign language and a culture as well. The first two years, I took a Spanish class every Saturday. I couldn’t go out on Friday nights, because I had to be in class the next day. It started out with seven or eight people in the class, then four, then three, and finally it was just me. The instructor was incredible. She knew that we were medical students, so she taught us a lot of medical Spanish, and role-played with us, as if we were taking a patient history, or diagnosing a patient. She brought us to her house and taught us about culture as well. By the end of the two years, I was almost completely fluent. It made the next two years so much easier, because you have to use Spanish. You will be tested in Spanish, and of course, the patients you see in clinic are going to speak Spanish.

DB: What was it like seeing patients in a foreign country?

GK: The people of Guadalajara are great – they are so warm. And the language is beautiful, if you take the time to learn it and understand the culture. I actually want to go back and teach a few courses there. At UAG, you really get a chance to work within the community. Diabetes is a huge problem there, and you get a lot of experience with that and other illnesses that are prevalent in the Latino community. Working here in Los Angeles, you see a lot of these same illnesses, and because of my experience at UAG, I am more familiar with them.

DB: You seem like you really enjoy Family Medicine.

GK: I do! I’m going to visit this patient, she has four girls, and now she’s having a boy. It’s exciting because I know this family very well. I know the father, and all the girls, and I’m hoping to be there to deliver their first boy. It’s exciting, but at the same time, medicine is stressful, and it’s emotional. Sometimes you’re delivering a new baby, and other times you have to sit a family member down and tell them their wife or their sister or their mother is not going to make it. And of course, that is very hard. You have to learn how to deal with that, because people may take their grief out on you. There are highs and there are lows. That’s medicine. At the end of the day, you go home, and you are drained.

It’s not a job, and it’s much more than a profession. You can get called in anytime. It’s weekends, it’s holidays, people delivering at 2 am. But, it’s not work, if it’s something you love to do. That’s what I would emphasize to students who might feel pressured to get into it. You have to love what you do.

Gus Kalioundji, M.D., and Sam Kalioundji

A special thanks goes to Gus Kalioundji, M.D. and Sam Kalioundji for sharing their experiences and insight with us. To contact them, please send an email to Danelle Boone.

For more information about UGA, please visit www.uag.edu, www.uagmd.com, and www.fifthpathway.com.

Note: On Fri. March 4, 2005, from 3 to 5 pm, a representative of Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara School of Medicine will be visiting the UCLA Career Center. All currently enrolled UCLA students are welcome to attend.