MEMBERS
( continued from page 29) coming and came to their hotel with x-rays in hand begging for help.
“ These Americans were from Charleston, South Carolina. They called a surgeon back home, and the surgeon agreed to help the boy if he could make it to America,” Dr. Turcu remembered.“ The mother came back to me and said,‘ How am I going to go all the way to the United States by myself? You have to come with me.’ I thought,‘ Woman, you have lost your mind! I have a son here. I’ m a resident. I’ m not going anywhere.’”
The rest is history. Dr. Turcu thought it over and realized she couldn’ t let this mother and her poor son go alone. She relented, and arrangements were made for the three of them to stay in Charleston.
In Romania, in order to stay current with the medical progress, the medical students were using an underground network of English language medical books. These books were essential to becoming adept in medicine. As such, Dr. Turcu became fluent in English on her own. This allowed Dr. Turcu to translate between the Romanian family and the American physicians, and her fluency cleared a path for an easier transition to American society down the road.
“ I had no idea what I was doing. I had never traveled west of Romania, and I was leaving for America with a sick child. I was worried he would fall sick on the plane ride there. Once we arrived, the doctors treated me like one of their own residents. I was allowed in surgery and stayed with him day and night.”
After a month on this side of the Atlantic, the group returned home happy and healthy. For Dr. Turcu, a new sense of purpose had been discovered.
“ I was blown away by the possibilities of practicing medicine here. When we returned, I told my husband,‘ You have no idea what’ s on the other side. Let’ s get medical books. I’ m going to start studying for the U. S. licensing exams. We’ re moving.’”
For three years, Dr. Turcu finished her residency, studied for the US Medical Licensing Exam and then interviewed for residencies in America.
“ I didn’ t really care where I was going. The only requirement was that we go somewhere my husband could complete an MBA. If we were going to start a new life, the idea was to do it together. He had an offer from Michigan State University, so I ranked it high. It’ s one of the best things I’ ve ever done.”
The family moved to Lansing, Mi. in June 2001. Two Romanian immigrants with a 4-year-old son setting out for a new life.“ At the time, you were allowed two suitcases per person on international flights. Our entire life was in six suitcases, and half of those were filled with Adrian’ s toys. We didn’ t have social security numbers or credit cards. We didn’ t have phones. We rented an apartment online without ever seeing it first. We had no idea what we were doing,” Dr. Turcu laughed.“ There is a fine line between being adventurous and irresponsible. We totally walked it.”
The Turcu ' s spent six years in Michigan shaping their lives towards their Louisville futures. They became enamored with college basketball and remain huge MSU fans. Through their son’ s friends in elementary school, the family learned a lot about MSU basketball.“ For his last birthday in Michigan, Adrian received a basketball signed by Coach Tom Izzo. Adrian cherishes that to this day.”
Professionally, Dr. Turcu used her new environment to discover a calling beyond pediatrics. Upon entering the NICU at Michigan State, she found a type of care that immediately spoke to her on a deeper level.
“ In the NICU, everything has very clear objectives. I don’ t have a mind for grey areas. I want to know exactly what I need to do to help my patients, and I want to do it well. The NICU gave me that, and I absolutely fell for it from the first day I walked in,” she explained.
Caring for sick babies takes a measure of inner strength. Not only is Dr. Turcu seeing patients who can’ t tell her what’ s wrong, but her team must work closely with new parents often dealing with some of the most intensely stressful and desperate moments of their lives.
“ There’ s not a lot of room for extra words,” she said, explaining her approach.“ I’ m here to help your baby, and your baby needs a lot of help. I’ m not going to sugar coat or hide anything. Most people appreciate it. In the NICU, you build such a tight connection with your families because you go through many bad things together. I’ m the one holding their hands and crying with them when times are tough. I’ m the one telling them when things are good.”
After years of neonatology residency and fellowship, Dr. Turcu was a capable physician ready to practice. However, she came to America on a particularly strict visa waiver. She would be forced to return to Romania unless she could find a neonatology position in an underserved area willing to hire her.
“ Downtown Louisville, believe it or not, is an underserved area,” Dr. Turcu said, explaining that the family moved very quickly after the option became available.“ Louisville was a big culture change
30 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE