In June and July of 2026, I will be one of the main clinic physicians at the Botswana Baylor Clinical Centre of Excellence in Gaborone, Botswana. In this role, I will see adolescents and adults who are living with HIV from Monday through Friday for four weeks. I will serve as the main point of contact for their infectious disease and primary care needs during this time. Some of my focus areas will include optimizing access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), mitigating long-term side effects of ART, initiating prophylactic antimicrobial coverage, and treating opportunistic infections in this immunocompromised population.
I was connected to this global health opportunity through my residency program and their commitment to the Botswana Baylor Trust (BBT). BBT is "a public-private partnership between the government of Botswana and Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, which was launched in June 2003." I aim to make a difference by continuing the positive impact of routine, reliable, and free-of-charge care in an otherwise resource-limited setting.
As a resident training in the MD Anderson Cancer Center track of Baylor College of Medicine's internal medicine program, the care of immunocompromised patients is very close to my heart and a core part of my career. I spend approximately 30-50% of my annual clinical time with cancer patients undergoing severe immune system suppression from systemic therapies and malignancy itself.
When I am not at MD Anderson, I frequently serve as a physician at Ben Taub Hospital, which primarily serves a low-income, immigrant, and/or unhoused patient population. These patients often also suffer from immune system compromise. However, it is more often in the setting of untreated chronic infectious and malignant processes due to lack of clinical access and resources.
My work at both MD Anderson and Ben Taub has helped prepare me for the immunocompromised-centric and low-resource nature of care that I will provide in Botswana. Not only will my Houston patients inform the care I provide abroad, but clinical insights from Botswana will strengthen my care for my local population that shares similar characteristics upon my return.
As I approach the last year of my internal medicine residency, my intentions for my future career have come to the forefront. I will be applying this fall for further training as an infectious disease fellow with the goal of a lifelong career as an infectious disease attending physician. Additionally, as someone with a background in political science (Political Science B.A. 2020) and refugee studies, I would specifically like to tailor my career to one thoroughly immersed in global health.
Not only will this project serve as a significant step on this journey, but it will also inform decades of care I will give patients as a future infectious disease doctor. Although I can read about topics such as these in textbooks, there is no true substitute to time spent serving diverse populations in varied settings and resource limitations. I greatly appreciate Doximity's consideration and support in this next chapter of my patient care.
Thank you to the Doximity Foundation for graciously sponsoring my global health trip to Gaborone, Botswana, where I worked with the Botswana-Baylor Trust. As an aspiring infectious diseases fellow, the opportunity to learn about HIV and mycobacterial medicine from local experts was invaluable. Experiences such as initiating PrEP and ART, attending regional epidemiology meetings, and providing lectures on latent tuberculosis to local students have undoubtedly shaped my career and my ability to care for future patients. I am endlessly grateful to the Doximity Foundation for their support of myself and other medical trainees. Without them, foundational education like this would not be possible for many.
(Note: Clinical photos were not included per clinic policy.)
