Frontier Residents
Where are you from?
I was born in Pakistan and moved to New York at a young age. After completing my undergrad in NY, my family relocated to Austin, Texas where I worked as a high school math teacher.
Why did you come to Cahaba FMR?
Cahaba’s mission – providing care to underserved communities – aligns with my personal philosophy. I have lived and worked in similar communities, and would like to continue on this trajectory as a physician. In addition, during my interview, the environment was very supportive and friendly which further reinforced my decision to join the Cahaba family.
Undergrad:
State University of New York at Potsdam
Med School:
Dow International Medical College
What does your life look like outside of medicine? Reading, planting, listening to podcasts, watching crime detective series, and spending time with my family.
What is your favorite food to cook? I try to cook Mediterranean food and love to bake.
What is a destination you'd like to visit or live?
Antalya, Turkiye
What drives you?
People and their stories of resilience and perseverance.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
Rural Medicine. Academia.
Where are you from?
I hail from a suburb just north of Dallas, Texas where my brother and I grew up on the same street with all 14 of my cousins as we wreaked havoc on the neighborhood. Since then I've hopped around the Great State for school, living in Bryan-College Station and Fort Worth.
Why did you come to Cahaba FMR?
In undergrad I found a community of people who lived different than anyone I had met before. Their career aspirations, authenticity, vulnerability, and involvement in underserved communities and each others' lives, was radically intentional as they strived to practice the way of Jesus. This kind of unselfish ambition was refreshing and inspiring. Simultaneously, I was exposed to experiences where I saw first-hand, the massive need of vulnerable populations overseas and within our own cities and how physicians used medicine to impact that disparity. These experiences solidified my decision to pursue medicine as a means to a greater end of seeing transformation in communities.
Cahaba UAB FMR embodies this kind of vision from the faculty to the residents to the administration. I came to Cahaba UAB FMR for their intentional community and kingdom-minded mission. I knew that here, I could grow into the kind of physician that is compassionate, thoughtful, intentional, and visionary because those are the kind physicians that will be training me . Aside from the amazing people, they offer the kind of broad-spectrum family medicine that you can only get working in underserved populations where the patients are medically complex. With access to the abundance of specialties at UAB in our block rotations, we also have the opportunity to learn from and bring academic medicine into the front-lines of the community.
Undergrad:
Texas A&M University (Whoop!)
Med school:
University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
Being an extrovert with people, admiring mountains or any increase in elevation or any large rock, hiking, bouldering, traveling to national parks, learning to cook Filipino food, attempting to amass a collection of giant indoor plants, curating my playlist of lofi chill indie christian hip hop, reading books about the spiritual disciplines, watching Latino TV shows
What is your favorite food to cook?
smoothies-- especially avocado!
What is a destination you'd like to visit or live?
I'm a mountain man, take me to Patagonia
What drives you?
The hope that this world of toil and suffering will be restored, redeemed, and resurrected and we have a meaningful part to play in that right now.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
I would love to work internationally in some capacity somewhere and somehow.
Where are you from?
LaFayette, Georgia
Why did you come to Cahaba FMR?
I became interested in medicine during my sophomore year of college due to medical missions.Thus, I decided to go on a medical mission trip to Honduras in 2017. It was an amazing experience and confirmed my desire to do medical missions in the future. Fast forward to medical school, I decided to finish my clinical rotations at the Dalton branch of the Northwest Regional Campus of the Medical College of Georgia. I rotated in many small towns during my time there. Being from a small town of around 7,000 people myself, I enjoyed how the attendings integrated themselves in their respective communities. In fact, several of their patients were on a first-name basis with their physician since they knew them outside the clinic (church, school sports, etc.). These small-town experiences during my third and fourth years of medical school cultivated my interest in rural medicine. Given my career goals, the Frontier Track of Cahaba Family Medicine offered an exciting opportunity to do missions work (with financial support!) as well as learning full-spectrum family medicine in rural Alabama. Moreover, the residents, attendings, and staff cultivate a familial atmosphere. This will certainly make the challenges of residency easier to bear in the coming years. I am grateful for how God led me to this program and my new family!
Undergrad:
Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee
Med school:
Medical College of Georgia
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
I enjoy music immensely. In fact, I play drums very loudly. I must say, it is a great way to meet your neighbors! I also enjoy live music, hiking, basketball, football, and a variety of motorsports (Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR).
What is your favorite food to cook?
Homemade buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy. It is a recipe handed down to me by mother. It is truly a salve for the soul!
What is a destination you’d like to visit or live?
I would love to visit the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, the Great Plains, and the Pacific Northwest, all areas I have not had the pleasure of exploring yet. Regarding a destination I would like to live, a mountainous area would be great! I am thinking North Georgia, Western North Carolina, West Virginia, East Tennessee, etc.
What drives you?
Glorifying God wherever life leads me!
What is your (current) post residency plan?
I am not sure of the specifics; however, I am interested in practicing in a small town or city. Part-time medical mission trips, both domestic and abroad, would be exciting too!
Where are you from?
Oxnard, California
Why did you come to Cahaba UAB FMR?
I came to Cahaba UAB FMR in order to be exposed to both urban and rural medicine in underserved communities and for the opportunity to do international rotations. During the interview, interactions with faculty and residents revealed a friendly, welcoming culture that I see myself thriving in. The full spectrum family medicine curriculum and affiliation with UAB are appealing because of the breadth of experience that I will receive during training.
Undergrad:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Med school:
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine at New Mexico State University
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
I enjoy traveling, hiking, watching sports, and collecting unique hot sauces.
What is your favorite food to cook?
Mediterranean/Middle Eastern
What is a destination you'd like to visit or live?
Syria
What drives you?
Using the practice of medicine to dramatically improve a patient’s mental and physical well-being. I believe working directly with patients is an incredible privilege which provides me with purpose.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
I plan to enter private practice and eventually open up my own clinic.
Where are you from?
Selma, Alabama
Why did you come to Cahaba UAB FMR?
As a native of Selma, Alabama, I love being close to home. I respect and admire that the Cahaba UAB FMR - Frontier Residency is a small, intimate program focused on the personal growth of each individual resident. During the interview and my clinical rotations, the attending physicians were approachable, knowledgeable, and warm. I felt welcomed and encouraged to ask questions. Cahaba UAB FMR was appealing to me because I desire to serve patients in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and Patient-Centered Medical Home where resources are available to serve marginalized groups and commonly under-served communities in both urban and rural areas. As a newly designed program, the Frontier residency offers direct learning from attending physicians. I’m looking forward to implementing the newly formed objectives of Cahaba FMR-Frontier tack as well as offering my experience to cultivate a positive environment for future resident physicians.
Undergrad:
University of Alabama Huntsville
Med school:
Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
My life outside of medicine looks like sharing my time with family and friends, traveling, gaining personal insight, and podcasting.
What is your favorite food to cook?
I enjoy cooking Spaghetti and Mediterranean Quinoa Salad.
What is a destination you'd like to visit or live?
Lagos, Nigeria
What drives you?
What motivates me is my desire to achieve both short-term and long-term goals that will render me the opportunity to offer my services to under-served communities.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
I would love to return to my hometown and work with my father at his Family Medicine Practice in Selma, Alabama.
Where are you from?
Various small rural towns a few hours outside Fort Worth, Texas.
Why did you come to Cahaba UAB FMR?
As a very new medical student who was walking around a large medical conference, the first time I met Cahaba residents and faculty, there was something different about them. They did not brush me to the side or tell me to return in a few years when I am closer to the application cycle. They didn’t even try convincing me to join their program. Instead, they asked, “How is the transition from college to med school going? It can be really tough – are you handling it okay?” Conversations like this happened every time I interacted with Cahaba, including during my audition rotation and even during my interview with them. It is even more true now as one of their residents. As a full-scope family medicine residency program, Cahaba focuses a lot on providing us with robust clinical experiences and training, but they do not do this at the expense of their people. In fact, people are Cahaba’s number one priority: whether that be providing exceptional medical care to patients regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, equipping MAs and support staff for smoother clinic workflow, providing resources to providers when handling complex medical situations, or checking in on their residents to make sure they are being cared for.
Why the Frontier residency?
One year big city medicine: downtown Birmingham, UAB
Two years in small town Alabama: Marion, population 3,000. No Walmart. No McDonalds.
One week per month at J. Paul Jones Hospital: 1 attending, 1 resident, 1-2 nurses
Need I say more?
Undergrad:
Tarleton State University
Med school:
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
Spending quality time with my neighbors’ dog – and the neighbors too, reading a book, convincing myself not to purchase a drone, church, just about anything outside, and falling down Red Mountain (though I only did that once).
What is your favorite food to cook?
Food that someone else cooks.
What drives you?
God, people, family, friends.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
Equipping the forgotten by bringing physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health to individuals and communities.
Where are you from?
Louisville, Kentucky.
Why did you come to Cahaba UAB FMR?
I grew up outside of Louisville, where I was mesmerized by the alluring country scenery, and dazzled by the generosity of the community who nurtured me into developing my optimistic and humorous personality. I met my wife during school, where I was introduced to God, and humbled by His Grace which strengthened me to conquer seemingly insurmountable obstacles. During my rotations in medical school, I have found tremendous reward serving the underserved communities in Florida, and I was greatly reminded of the purpose for me to pursue medicine–to serve the vulnerable communities in His country that nourished me and graciously granted me an opportunity to achieve my dream. I have thoroughly enjoyed various aspects of medicine, and deeply admired the longitudinal care my family medicine preceptors have provided for their patients. I was reverberated by the personal connection between the physician and the patients, and inspired to provide medical care for patients of all ages, to address a plethora of etiologies, and promote preventative medicine. Cahaba’s reaffirmation to “love God and show his glory by walking in the steps of Jesus and ministering the love of Christ” resonated tremendously with my motivation and purpose. It was my uttermost privilege to join Cahaba and to faithfully serve His country and His people.
Undergrad:
University of Kentucky
Med school:
Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
I love hanging out with my wife and doing whatever we feel like at the moment. I also enjoy driving through the countryside with my dogs.
What is your favorite food to cook?
Basically whatever my wife wants to eat lol
What is a destination you’d like to visit or live?
We always wanted to visit Santorini and Japan!
What drives you?
Service to God and the country.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
Army Medicine, Rural Medicine
Where are you from?
Covington, LA
Why did you come to Cahaba UAB FMR?
I grew up in a rural part of Louisiana and wanted to live rurally after I was finished with school, so as I browsed a list of rural family medicine programs, I found Cahaba and noticed we share many of the same values. Cahaba was the only residency program I found that emphasized underserved populations, global health, and resident wellness, all in the context of Christian values. My interviews confirmed my impressions but also led me to consider being a part of something new in the Frontier residency. I’m excited to help start a new residency program, learn the daily life of a Christian physician, and serve the towns of Marion and Camden in the process.
Undergrad:
LSU
Med school:
Tulane University
What does your life outside of medicine look like?
Watching Star Wars shows, reading, cooking.
What is your favorite food to cook?
Tortilla soup (you’d never know it’s vegan).
What is a destination you’d like to visit or live?
I’d love to live in Colorado, and I want to visit Patagonia.
What drives you?
Finding and doing God’s will every day.
What is your (current) post residency plan?
I’m not totally sure yet, but I’m sure it will involve a primary care clinic, some lifestyle medicine and possibly urgent care or emergency medicine.