Where did you grow up?
Mechanicsville, VA
Why did you choose a career in medicine?
I felt called to missionary medicine during my first year in college.
What is your favorite part about being a physician and why?
I value the bond with people and families formed by walking with them in their journey through the challenges of illness.
Is there a specific event or learning experience that you had that served as an “a-ha” moment or growth opportunity?
I was able to shadow a missionary doctor in Kenya during the summer after my junior year in college. I observed the demise of a young boy with Burkitt’s lymphoma and learned that, had that boy been in the US, he likely would have received treatment and survived. I thought then that I should devote my life to caring for the vulnerable - like this boy.
What is the best piece of advice someone has given you?
Get out of your comfort zone and go where you are needed.
What advice would you give to new MSV members?
Get involved in organized medicine as it a means of pushing back against the cog-in-the wheel/provider-service model which threatens the very soul of our profession.
If you could interview one person (dead or alive) who would it be and why?
Athanasius, the 3rd-century bishop of Antioch, Syria, whose title was “contra mundi” which, translated, means – “against the world”. He was not afraid to speak truth in a world of lies.
What are some of your hobbies and/or passions?
I love to read philosophy, history, theology, poetry, and medical ethics - particularly from a global perspective. I read the Bible in Urdu daily having lived and worked in Pakistan for 16 years. I love classical Western and S. Asian music. I enjoy choral singing and piano-playing. I love to write stories, poems and songs.
Complete this statement, ”I am happiest when…”
I am building community with others, whether in making music with my family or gathering with S. Asian immigrants/refugees in Richmond. I delight in passing on to medical students the things I have been blessed to learn, whether at CrossOver or the VDH refugee clinic or for elective months in mission hospitals in Pakistan or Zimbabwe. I am grateful to be a part of their professional, ethical and spiritual formation.