00:00:02.424: “We are now recording. Tell us about yourselves.”
I am an assistant clinical professor in rehab medicine,
with a PhD in speech hearing sciences
I am a new attending physician
in adult primary care
I have many identities.
I am multi racial,
Bilingual
a Nuyorican.
an eager academic
There is a lot to my identity.
I am a cis gender
Tamil woman,
the child of melanated immigrants,
a writer and musician
I identify as a complex human being first,
and a sensitive one,
one that is interest in giving back and learning.
I don’t identify as a collection of buckets.
Who I am is a person
of nuance and complexity.
When I was a child,
I was enamored with healing,
had a little doctor’s kit.
I went for a PhD
to contribute new techniques to the field
I knew whatever I became
had to include
one-on-one interconnections,
being a part of someone’s healing
on a personal level.
It made me feel joy.
It is what brings me joy.
Have been a widow for many years
Raised my children
while working multiple occupations.
Up to seven days a week
nights, weekends, et cetera.
I think I made the most of what was available to me.
It was a labor of learning
Am the first physician in my family
My parents took an astronomical leap
by working to come to this country
from their home.
My life is the story of
our labor of love,
the struggle of generations of ancestors
against poverty and everything else.
This job can be tremendously rewarding
but also isolating.
This joy is an immense privilege
and responsibility.
I like my job.
What I am to do is
modify my courses to make my work
understandable.
I have many students that I’ve mentored
who went on to complete their secondary and other degrees.
I’m proud to say that.
Mentorship is about interaction with others,
and the chain continues.
I love my job.
I don’t know that I always felt the same as a trainee.
We want our medical healers to be empathetic.
To have empathy those same providers
cannot be burnt out.
Training systems in medicine should reflect that goal.
We have ignited minds in our trainees
I feel it is our responsibility to be invested in
Mentoring those in training,
to build strong compassionate connections
amongst healers.
I do not take being a mentor lightly.
I recognize the importance of mentoring. It made a difference for me.
Connection requires communication.
Communication is a two way street.
I’ve learned that you can’t communicate by yourself.
There has to be some sort of willingness,
an audience.
One way to do that is by being a bit more self-effacing.
Community is fundamental to connection.
Each of my communities have taught me
that to survive as a whole person
requires connection to community.
I’ve learned too that intention matters in every step.
Maybe the pandemic has deepened that human empathy.
I hope the pandemic reinforced how indispensable being present is.
I ‘m developing certain projects
to connect in my career,
but I would like more connectedness
in my personal life.
I’m an only child and therefore,
books and imagination and self-knowledge
were extremely important to me.
They were my bridge
to understand and connect with others.
I’m a human being,
Connection is very important to me.
It’s that simple.
It took becoming a physician
for my voice to be allowed into
spaces of power
to fight for issues that matter to me.
That connection didn’t happen before.
Wasn’t able to get in that room.
It’s that simple.
I hope to be a point of connection
for more to
use their voices with pride
for trauma informed care
for advocacy around equity
in medicine
and more.
Connection can be that simple
Connection can be that powerful
00:23:37.949: “We have reached time.”