Being a female doctor in Pakistan is a luxury for many families due to the significant oppression towards women. I grew up in a nation where the odds of getting married are increased if the woman is a doctor. It is no secret that a notable majority of the female medical students in Pakistan become housewives and abandon their career. Only a small fraction of women in Pakistan take the opportunity to develop any professional skills beyond the walls of educational institutions. Honor killings, polygamy, and mass oppression plague the life of women back home. From the beginning, I refused to follow the norm, and I became determined to pursue the medical field as a profession and not to become marriage fodder.
When I began my medical career, …show more content…
Working in a developing country exposed me to complex cases that ranged from preventive care to fatal conditions. I experienced how health care was regarded as a luxury as opposed to the basic necessity of life. The hospitals were underfunded and resources were very limited. I often found myself counseling and persuading patients for long-term treatments, who simply wanted to suppress the symptoms due to their inability to afford healthcare cost. I partnered up with volunteers and NGOs to arrange for donations to help the patients afford better healthcare. Even now, I am running a campaign to gather funds for my college classmates in Pakistan to help him walk again – his cX vertebral column was severed in a tragic bus accident which left him quadriplegic. He belongs to a poor family and unable to afford the cost of treatment. The funds have been integral to his recovery for purchasing rehabilitative equipment and in daily medical …show more content…
Determined to continue my studies and career in the US, I started meeting with different physicians and was fortunate to work with few doctors. I spent four years with Dr. Boutros, who after evaluating my clinical skills, gave me a chance to gain hands-on clinical experience. I found him to be an amazing internist and admired his extremely caring attitude towards the patients. He would always put patient care before any monetary consideration and would often try to find ways in making treatment affordable for poor patients. He involved me frequently in unique medical problems and handling of cases such as narcolepsy, lipoma, and shingles. As I worked with different patients, I got to know more about diseases that are not as common in Pakistan, such as problems related to STDs and heavy use of alcohol. I was fascinated by the preventive testing for genetic disorders in the US, since the few cases I encountered in my past experience, patients died extremely early simply due to the lack of
When I began my medical career, …show more content…
Working in a developing country exposed me to complex cases that ranged from preventive care to fatal conditions. I experienced how health care was regarded as a luxury as opposed to the basic necessity of life. The hospitals were underfunded and resources were very limited. I often found myself counseling and persuading patients for long-term treatments, who simply wanted to suppress the symptoms due to their inability to afford healthcare cost. I partnered up with volunteers and NGOs to arrange for donations to help the patients afford better healthcare. Even now, I am running a campaign to gather funds for my college classmates in Pakistan to help him walk again – his cX vertebral column was severed in a tragic bus accident which left him quadriplegic. He belongs to a poor family and unable to afford the cost of treatment. The funds have been integral to his recovery for purchasing rehabilitative equipment and in daily medical …show more content…
Determined to continue my studies and career in the US, I started meeting with different physicians and was fortunate to work with few doctors. I spent four years with Dr. Boutros, who after evaluating my clinical skills, gave me a chance to gain hands-on clinical experience. I found him to be an amazing internist and admired his extremely caring attitude towards the patients. He would always put patient care before any monetary consideration and would often try to find ways in making treatment affordable for poor patients. He involved me frequently in unique medical problems and handling of cases such as narcolepsy, lipoma, and shingles. As I worked with different patients, I got to know more about diseases that are not as common in Pakistan, such as problems related to STDs and heavy use of alcohol. I was fascinated by the preventive testing for genetic disorders in the US, since the few cases I encountered in my past experience, patients died extremely early simply due to the lack of