Subhjit Sekhon

Subhjit grew up in Fresno, California. After high school, she started medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City as part of its six-year combined BA/MD program. After her fifth year of school, she was given the opportunity to further her interests in research through the TL1 Predoctoral Program at Washington University in St. Louis and obtained her Master’s in Clinical Investigation. Subhjit intends to pursue a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology and focus on global women's health and how to enact sustainable development in healthcare in order to improve care, education and outcomes for women and their families in developing countries.

Guatemala
 

What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
I am very humbled and grateful to be awarded the Kean Fellowship, and to use this opportunity to use research and healthcare to better the lives of others. Growing up with immigrant parents from India who were employed in healthcare, I learned from an early age to be appreciative of growing up in a country conducive to my healthcare needs. During a medical outreach trip to Nicaragua, I had the privilege of serving over 900 patients from several remote and under-resourced villages. For many it was their first experience with a healthcare professional and a majority wanted help for common complaints. By meeting basic healthcare needs, I developed a passion to help medically underserved areas and create sustainable healthcare solutions, and I now have the chance to continue cultivating this passion.

What do you anticipate learning?
Many communities in low- and middle-income countries are denied the fundamental right to accessible healthcare. Thus, these populations carry not only a disproportionate burden of tropical disease but they are also more likely to present once the disease is no longer preventable or curable. Barriers to access are understood as geographical, economical, organizational or cultural factors hindering patients in obtaining needed medical services. I anticipate learning about these barriers, and the social, political, environmental contexts in which they exist, and then using this knowledge to provide the best possible care to those who often need it the most.

What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
My primary interest in tropical medicine is to understand the disease in totality of circumstances. I am curious about the intersection between infection, biology, patient and society, and I believe this interdisciplinary approach that includes diversity in perspectives is the true catalyst for change. As a future physician-scientist, tropical medicine appeals to me because it equally weighs social determinants of health with the microbiological basis of disease, which I believe is the true way to treat a patient, conduct meaningful research and implement healthcare change.