Today we’d like to introduce you to Rukhsaar Khanam
Hi Rukhsaar, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m originally from India but have lived in different cities growing up. Grew up in Dubai, graduated high school in Singapore and finished medical training in Chennai, India. I moved to the US to pursue my Internal medicine residency in Champaign IL and moved to STL do my fellowship in critical care. I’ve always wanted to be in medicine as long as I can remember. I met my husband at 19 in med school and since he’s from NY it was the obvious choice to move to the US to pursue training. The journey has been long & hard but absolutely love what I do 🙂
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Medicine as a career is a huge commitment and there’s a lot of sacrifice Along the way. When most 20 year olds are out there traveling, discovering themselves, making new friends and exploring other interests and hobbies. I was like my colleagues in medicine studying really hard to get to where I am. Being a woman in medicine is itself a unique challenge and on top of that being a mother of two kids under two has definitely tested my grit and resilience. I think my biggest struggles were the culture shock of moving to the United States, grappling a new working environment, being pregnant in residency and fellowship and trying to keep my head above water while I dearly missed home, family, and friends.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a board-certified internal medicine physician currently training in a critical care fellowship at one of the hospitals at St. Louis. I am most proud of my professional achievements that I have achieve so far. I come from a family that is comparatively conservative in nature where women are allowed to study, but not encouraged to make a career out of it. It is expected to place family and marriage before personal goals. I’m proud of trusting my guts and sticking up for myself while taking the gamble to move to a foreign country and build a life here.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I wish I could tell my 19-year-old self who was very naive starting out that it definitely is a huge commitment when pursuing excellence in the field of medicine. I would tell myself not to compare my journey with others in the same field. Your life is made of different seasons and your career will reflect the same. I wish I knew when I was starting out how much I would change as a person and I would tell my 19 year old self to hold grace and kindness while dealing with self doubt and imposter syndrome. I would tell her how proud I am of her.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: rux_aar
