Member Spotlight

Institution: University of California, San Diego

Medical School: Oregon Health and Science University

Residency: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Fellowship Training Institution: University of California San Diego

Can you cite any particular instance(s) or individuals that influenced your career choices?

My career choice was heavily influenced by my father, Dr. Mahfuzur Sarker - the doctor is for a PhD, not an MD! Having grown up in rural Bangladesh, he worked tirelessly to eventually relocate our family to the United States. He made one thing clear - no matter what you do in life, make sure you can do so with your head held high and a constant desire to make the world a better place. Obstetrics and gynecology is not the typical specialty for a male Muslim Bengali immigrant but throughout my experiences in medical school, I could not find a single field in medicine with more unknowns than the field of OB-GYN. I knew that being a clinician scientist in the field of maternal-fetal medicine would accomplish my father's number one goal for me.

What challenges have you faced in your career and what advice can you offer?

While applying to residency in the fall of 2018, I quickly faced the fear of not matching owing to the lack of interviews I had obtained. Starting off as a perceived strong applicant, quickly adding 150 additional programs to my application was not on my agenda. I matched that year after heavily leaning on my mentors to reach out on my behalf. If I have one piece of advice, it would be to find mentors with whom you have a good relationship and lean on them when you need. As a result of my lived experiences, I fiercely and openly mentor any junior trainee at any opportunity that I can. No one should ever be alone in this grind.

Can you share an ah-ha moment or experience that has impacted your career trajectory?

Within the field of obstetrics and gynecology, there are few male South Asian or Muslim doctors. So much so that even while applying to residency, it was something that was hard for me to approach with my immediate family as well as my extended friends and family. While starting residency, I initially would became rather uncomfortable when caring for other South Asian or Muslim patients. It was not until deep into intern year that I began hearing murmurs about patients at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Jackson Heights, Queens, NYC, saying they had heard that a Muslim Bengali OB-GYN had started working there. My impostor syndrome was so deep that I wondered who that doctor was, only to realize they meant me. I started realizing that representation matters for our patients, and for the first time, that representation for them was through me, and I could not have been more proud of that community. Not a day goes by that I don't miss my patients at Elmhurst Hospital Center.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Without a doubt, I would move to Iceland. It is truly one of my favorite countries and one of the most beautiful places in the world, especially for a landscape photographer like myself.

If you had to live one day in your life over and over (think 1993 film Groundhog Day), which day would you pick?

I would relive my maternal-fetal medicine fellowship match day. My wife and I made our way to Central Park in NYC and sat in a part of the park we had frequented numerous times over the residency years. She printed a Polaroid photo of my match results and created a custom gold frame to resemble Willy Wonka's golden ticket. What started off as a joke quickly became reality—truly, it was my golden ticket, and I have never looked back!