Abby Caplin’s “County Hospital Residents” profiles immigrant physicians, re-training in an American residency program. Caplin’s poem begins with the more general–where a physician is from–and contracts into the more intimate details, the sequence of events that brought this person into this profession far from home.

Writing Prompt: Have you encountered an immigrant physician as a patient or through your own medical training? What was their story? Imagine leaving your home country to practice medicine and live your life elsewhere. What would be the greatest challenge? What does the diversity and experience of immigrant physicians bring to our medical community? Write for 10 minutes.