My journey thus far.
By God's grace, I got fortunate to have amazing parents, amazingly cooperative daughter, her babysitters, siblings, family, teachers, professors, friends, neighbors, colleagues, mentors, Facebook support groups such as Private practice physicians and Rheumatology physicians, who helped me with this journey and overcome the hurdles in my path. Especial thanks to the spouse who tolerated me during this process.
A special shout out to Riya, my daughter, who has been an amazing partner. I remember carrying her to and from the daycare at odd hours. She did as many hours as me even when I was in ICU. Thanks to the amazing babysitter, neighbors and friends and family.
And special thanks to Harvard University who gave me scholarship and loan for not just MPH but also for living expenses in the US, which thankfully I was able to pay off in the first year of job right after MPH from Harvard University.
Thanks to the residency and fellowship programs who trained me in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and Rheumatology and also paid somewhere around $60000 USD annually, which was enough to be able to self sustain and keep my head high.
My medical journey started with
- Lady Hardinge Medical College MBBS 2001-2006
- 2007 got married.
Thanks to the strong determination and supportive loved ones as mentioned above, I was able to pursue what every girl should pursue- independence and self respect.
Girls are not inferior to boys. Unfortunately, in small villages of India, this is still the mentality.
- Junior resident doctor at Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital 2007
- Resident Doctor at Artemis Hospital Gurgaon 2008-2009
- MPH Harvard School of Public Health 2009-2010 ( got scholarship and loan from Harvard University for tuition as well as living expenses. Paid off by myself in full with my first job. Thanks to Harvard, I didn't have to take a loan from anywhere else.)
Gave up on clinical side to lead a homely family life. Gave up on great positions at prestigious organizations in Boston and Texas to be close to family. Fortunately, got a great opportunity in NJ.
- Worked as a Life science consultant at Nuvera Life Sciences ( launched multimillion dollar projects for Fortune 500 companies) 2010-2012
- Gave birth to a beautiful daughter Riya, ( the love of my life)
Realized that if not independent, there is no respect and no free will and no autonomy.
Also realized once a doctor, always a doctor. The most painful thing for a doctor is giving up on medicine. So , decided to make a come back to the world of clinical medicine.
- Did observerships and externships while raising a baby and enjoying motherhood. 2012-2015
- Worked as an Internal Medicine Resident doctor at prestigious New York Medical College @ St Michael's Medical Center 2015-2018
- Worked as a Geriatric Fellow at the prestigious University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston 2018-2019
- Worked as a Rheumatology Fellow at the prestigious University of Texas Medical Branch 2019 -2021, where I also earned an Outstanding Overall fellow award.
Like in anyone's life, there were hindrances in mine too. Some people questioned my decision to pursue Geriatrics and Rheumatology and some people created hurdles but thanks to the amazing supportive loved ones as mentioned above who encouraged me to continue this journey.
- Locum at Ascension 2021
- Clinical specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center 2021
Never pursued money during this process. Kept going on in pursuit of excellence and self respect while ensuring that I get time for my family.
In the process I had to give up on lucrative opportunities to have more time for the family while being able to do justice with my work and take good care of patients.
Thanks to the locum to help me gather some funding for the start up. Thanks to the supporting affiliated hospitals.
Thanks for supportive friends for their readiness to loan me capital to invest in the startup, if needed, which can be extremely challenging financially.
It takes a village to raise a child and same is true in the making of a doctor. Not everyone becomes one but if you have the grit and the right people around you, anyone can do it.
Now that this journey is coming close to the destination, I am really thankful to everyone who wished well and cooperated and contributed.
In 2021, I started up a venture "JSR Health Rheumatology Clinic" in an attempt to provide warm and caring services to arthritis and Rheumatology patients.
Aim: To provide the highest quality of care to the patients
Motto is to help them live their best life which they truly deserve.
Need all your blessings to make this a successful venture that would allow me to take care of my patients as well as my family members, friends, neighbors and all loved ones.
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you,
Dr. Jaya Sonkar MD MPH
11.21.2021
©All rights reserved. Jaya Sonkar 2021
