Meet Navid...
 Class: 2006
Hometown: Woodbury, Connecticut
Undergrad: Gordon College
Major: Biology
Program: M.D./M.P.H.
I am the youngest of five children, most of whom grew up in a small town in Connecticut after emigrating to America from Iran shortly before the Iranian Revolution. My mother is a
pediatrician, and so I was exposed to hospitals and medicine as a boy. I would accompany her to the hospital, where the nurses would let me play with the toys on the floor and give me
popsicles and chocolate milk – what a place! During those formative years I viewed hospitals as magical places filled with people who were committed to comforting and healing others. A
conviction began growing inside my heart: I wanted to contribute to this healing process.
Multiple experiences throughout my teen, college, and post-college years confirmed my calling to medicine. During high school I volunteered in the Emergency Room at Waterbury Hospital,
shuttling specimens to the lab, wheeling patients to various departments, and observing doctors at work. A few years later, while at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, I traveled to
Guatemala for six weeks on a medical mission trip. The following two summers I participated as a student and instructor, respectively, in the Yale Basic Science Review/Minority Medical
Enrichment Program.
After graduating college I spent a year studying medical ethics and theology at Oxford University, England, where I was challenged by some of the sharpest minds in the
world. After my experiences at Oxford, I traveled to Germany and played professional baseball for the Paderborn Untouchables. Unfortunately, I injured my shoulder after four weeks, and
returned home to the States. Shortly thereafter I took the position of office manager at my mother’s pediatric practice, and concurrently served as youth pastor of my home church. My
experiences working with adolescents and teenagers had me strongly considering entering seminary and Christian ministry full-time. After much thought, discussion, and prayer, I eventually
concluded I could impact peoples’ lives on more levels as a physician. I left both positions to complete a post-baccalaureate at the University of Connecticut prior to beginning medical
school.
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“I am thankful for UConn’s clinical skills education program and how well it has prepared me to perform histories and physicals, the bread and butter of medicine.”
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As a dual degree, M.D./M.P.H. student, I’ve been very fortunate to receive my medical education at UConn. The pass-fail grading system during the first two years set the tone for my
classmates and me. We couldn’t help but embrace and perpetuate the prevailing collegial, non-competitive atmosphere. I’ve developed great friendships here, watching Yankees-Sox games (to my
chagrin I can no longer chant “1918”), going to UConn basketball and football games, meeting with classmates, residents, and faculty involved with our local Christian Medical and Dental
Association chapter, and other social outings. As challenging as medical school has been, I’d be hard-pressed to remember times I’ve laughed harder.
Also attracting me to UConn is its curriculum, which minimizes time spent in giant lecture halls. I was thrilled to finish my day at noon several days a week and have afternoons free to
teach health education to middle schoolers, volunteer at free local clinics, get some exercise, or hit the books. Unique to UConn’s curriculum is the significant degree of clinical exposure we
receive in a program called Student Continuity Practice. For the first three years of school I spent the afternoon with my preceptor in a primary care office. Early exposure to clinical care
gave me a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. It was especially rewarding to learn about a disease in school and then be able to evaluate and care for a patient with it in the
office. Moreover, I am thankful for UConn’s clinical skills education program and how well it has prepared me to perform histories and physicals, the bread and butter of medicine. It was
humbling, helpful, and indubitably humorous to view video recordings of myself and classmates interacting with standardized patients, who in-turn provided helpful feedback.
Pursuing my Master in Public Health degree has dovetailed nicely with my medical education and my Christian faith. My thesis project is in the area of faith and medicine, and I’ve received
wonderful support from the faculty. I am investigating disparities in patients’ and physicians’ views regarding how satisfactorily physicians address patients’ faith-related needs. I am hoping
to incorporate my findings into another project I’ve been working on with a handful of Christian physicians in the Hartford area: opening a faith-based medical center to care for the area’s
underserved.
Upon completion of my medical and public health degrees, I plan to enter a family medicine residency. My long-term goal is to integrate my interests in underserved medicine, sports
medicine, and faith-in-medicine. I’m not sure where these interests will take me, but I know that my experiences at the University of Connecticut’s Schools of Medicine and Public Health have
exposed me to outstanding individuals who have educated and supported me throughout my journey in medical school. |
