“I truly believe if you save one human, you’re saving all of humanity, and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously.”

I went to Bangladesh as part of Med Global's needs assessment team to provide health care to Rohingya refugees. I will never forget how traumatized the entire population was. A lot of their issues were psychological, like PTSD, depression, and anxiety. I will never forget that the children didn't even smile, even the babies. That was really shocking. I've never witnessed this kind of trauma in an entire population like that. What they left behind was so awful to impact even children that way. 

A lady came in with her young grandchild complaining of a cough, and I was listening to her lungs and she had pneumonia. So I left the examination room to bring water so that she could take her antibiotics before she left the clinic. I came back and she was crying along with the male interpreter that was sitting there. I asked him what happened and he started describing a horrible story of how she witnessed her three sons killed in front of her, and she only had her husband and two small grandchildren. She was very frail and very old. I wondered how they got their food and who took care of them. She said their granddaughter had to do that for them.

It really made me worried about what would happen to the grandchild after the grandparents passed away because they didn’t seem to be in great health. Those kinds of stories that you see in these camps really make us realize how blessed we are and how privileged we are to live in communities that are relatively safe. That's the first time I ever cried in a clinic with my patients. As doctors, we try to be strong. But that was one experience that showed me that sometimes showing sympathy and empathizing with our patient really can go a long way. 

As a physician, especially as a Muslim physician, I see people at their most vulnerable, in their worst state of health, and the worst emotional times. Being able to make a difference in these people's lives is very gratifying. I truly believe if you save one human, you're saving all of humanity, and that's a responsibility I take very seriously. I've been entrusted with this profession and skill set and it's my duty to make sure that I use it to help the most people that I can.