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Samira,
We are all so incredibly proud of you and cannot wait to hear all about the amazing work you do at UCLA. We can only hope that California doesn’t charm you too much – but no matter what, you’ll always have a family here in Pittsburgh. Hope you know how much you will be missed around here. Please stay in touch and send pictures of the beaches and burritos often.
All the best wishes,
Robby & the Pitt Crew
Take care of yourself, kid. Knock ‘em dead (or maybe don’t…) – Dana
Congratulations again - so looking forward to seeing what you accomplish. Cassie xx
I can’t believe you’re leaving me so soon with these crazy people :) jk, can’t wait to hear all about it + I’ll see you in October for Halloweeeeekend xoxo victoria
crush it out there, beware the gulls -Shen
I know this was already mentioned but you will be so missed. Thank you for all you have taught me both in & outside of the ER. Becca and I will miss you on our Friday movie nights! Will think of you often, don’t forget about us :-) Mel
Congrats Samira. Best of luck to you in LA, take care! –Jesse
you’re gonna smash it, mohan. don’t hit ur head surfing! -Frank
echoing victoria’s statement … still can’t believe you’re leaving us. who am i supposed to get espresso martinis with after doubles now? Drinking with whitaker is NOT the same. love you to death samira, see you halloweekend! - trinity
Samira, I hope you know how much of a fixture of this ER you have become. It will feel like a gaping hole is left when you are gone. I feel very lucky to have worked alongside someone as talented, hard-working, and dedicated to their patients as you are. I so look forward to following your research projects. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever need anything or want to decompress over the phone – I will always be here. Yours, Heather
Even more than missing a terrific doctor, this place will be bereft of a dear friend. Thank you for being a great mentor and a better friend. So proud of you –Dennis
Best of luck to you Samira!! One less person to gossip about… I mean, gossip with :) love, Princess
Don’t forget to find balance. I already know you’re going to do excellent work in LA, because that’s a given with you. But don’t forget to fill your own cup outside of work. Take care ❤️ Parker
Good luck to you, Samira! The crew will miss you dearly. Don’t worry though, we’ll keep you updated on all the shenanigans, just like you’ll keep us updated on your accomplishments! Love, Kim
I will miss watching you in action. You are such a badass and you’re going to do so many more amazing things and continue to make us all proud. LMK if you’re ever in the Bay Area, my cousin will hook you up with the best Filipino food spots. XOX Perlah
Good luck Samira! Don’t forget to have fun and let loose once in a while :) I wish we’d gotten you to join us for beers at the park benches sooner. - Mateo
So excited for you and this perfect opportunity for you. You’re gonna do great things like you always have. -Donnie
Samira,
What can I say that hasn’t been said by everyone else to you in various ways? I would hope you know by now how much I admire you and the totally unique way you approach your work. You are unlike anyone else I have ever worked with. Anyone else I’ve ever met, if I’m being honest – and hell, I’ve worked too long and with too many people to fathom. People come and go in our wonderful chosen field of emergency medicine. Patients and doctors, nurses and families, interns and residents, attendings and program directors. You meet a lot of people. You see a lot of shit happen. And there are always certain cases, certain people that leave a mark on you. You are one of those people for me.
Working with you was almost like constantly confronting the fact that I don’t think I know anything at all. I think I’m a smart guy. I’ve had to think on my feet plenty. But damn, Samira, sometimes you make me feel like I learnt everything all backwards. You make me feel like I wanna follow in your footsteps. You make me confront my gaps in a way that doesn’t make me feel broken, but in a way that’s like you’re handing me the tools to fill in what’s missing, like you’re teaching me how to go on. You make me feel like there’s more ahead of me – to learn, to do, to see – than I ever thought possible. I have a hard time visualizing the future some days, but you have a way of making me believe in one.
What else? You’re an inspiration. The way your mind works is amazing. The way you’re able to pinpoint shit the rest of us could only hope to diagnose is amazing. And what you have been able to do – and what you will continue to do at UCLA – is nothing short of miraculous. On top of the lives you’ve saved among your patients, I’d argue there are a lot of days you’ve made life worth living for me, too.
Please be very proud of yourself. It is your hard work that got you this fellowship, and it is your hard work that will carry you through it. I can’t wait to see what you accomplish over these years.
When you’re gone, the Pitt – the whole goddamn hospital, even – will be missing its smartest doctor. God knows I’ll miss seeing you around.
Stay in touch, will you? I’ll always just be a phone call – or a text, or an email – away. You know my sleeping habits (or lack thereof) so please don’t worry about the hour or the time difference, ever.
Jack
Jack –
I hope I remembered your address correctly from the one time I drove you home… I thought about sending this to your box at PTMC, but I’d feel weird if the mailroom got to see this? I don’t know. I saw this art at LACMA and it reminded me of you, so I wanted to send you the postcard. I really like the colors and the softness, and remember when we for some reason spent a shift talking about American modernism. Something about finding space for flourishing life even amidst so many constant reminders of death. It’s a very beautiful piece.
LA is good. I miss everyone already, and I’m a little lonely while I’m getting settled in but I’m taking the bus everywhere, though I’ll probably eventually rent a car for the time I’m here. I got to meet my mentors and some of the faculty at a welcome dinner they invited me to, as well as the other fellowship alumni. Only 5 other people have been through this fellowship… And it’s kind of wild that I’m the next? Out of the… hundreds? thousands? of applicants, I’m the ONE person they chose. It really makes me feel like my work has paid off, like you mentioned in your card. (Thank you for the card, by the way… It was very nice of you to write your own instead of squeezing into the space between everyone else’s messages.)
Running out of space so I’ll just say I think I’ll try to write postcards often? To everybody. I think it’s cute, plus I can use this to prove that I’m going out and doing things with my life outside of the hospital. Hope this reaches you at the right address…
Samira
Samira,
Hope it’s okay I got your address from Dana. Came off a shit shift to see your postcard in my mailbox and it erased everything that was weighing on my mind. (So yes, you remembered my address correctly.) If I had the energy right now, I’d go out and find a nicer postcard, but this was all I could find in the depths of my desk and I wanna shoot this off before my mailman gets here.
It’s good to hear from you. That Georgia O’Keefe piece is lovely and I’m flattered you thought of me when you saw it. And I’m glad you’ve met some of the faculty & alumni already. You’re right, it is impressive that you were chosen – though I doubt there’s a better fit out there for this program than you are. I do hope you follow through on renting a car, because aren’t the two medical centers you’ll be splitting your time between an hour apart? And I can’t imagine LA transit is particularly conducive to the odd hours of an emergency medicine fellow. Driving in your own car will always be safer. Except when you’re too exhausted to get behind the wheel, in which case… on-call room, I guess? Will you have an office or access to facilities of any kind?
Glad you liked the card. Don’t think I’d have been able to fit all those words in between everyone else’s, though…
Please do keep sending postcards. I’ll write one back every time.
Jack
