DR . WHO Zubi Suleman , MD by KATHRYN VANCE
“ I
draw a lot of inspiration from a quote by Muhammad Ali : ‘ Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth .’ It keeps me motivated and inspired knowing that in my life , I have a duty to care for others .”
Born and raised in Pakistan , Dr . Zubi Suleman ’ s engineer father instilled the value of education for her and her siblings . Her mother , a homemaker , focused on raising her children with strong values , ethics and sense of humanity . Dr . Suleman said that her mother ’ s kind heart taught her a lot about how to treat those less fortunate , and that she attributes her EQ , or emotional intelligence , to her mother .
Education and caring for others brought a natural synergy toward medicine , but even before she chose medicine , she loved playing with dolls – from little bitty to life size – and playing doctor . She fondly remembers having dress up clothes and all the play tools to help determine her dolls ’ ailments . Later , when her older siblings went to medical school and she got to visit and see their stethoscopes in real life , she felt inspired . The early inspiration became a reality as she entered medical school herself . As soon as she finished , she moved to Canada to join family for a short time before coming to the U . S . As a foreign medical graduate , the daunting task of USMLE was now ahead of her .
“ It was like going back to medical school , studying again , getting the same books and everything . That period of taking my exams and completing my qualifications , in between having three children ,
was a pretty tough time . I struggled , and if my family weren ’ t there , it would have been impossible for me .”
But impossible it wasn ’ t , and she soon landed in Louisville for psychiatry residency at the University of Louisville . There was never a second thought to her specialty choice .
“ Psychiatry is my true calling . If I ever had another life and could be something else , I ’ d still be a psychiatrist ,” she said . “ I ’ ve always been a good listener , always there to help people . My friends always trusted me and would come to share their problems , so I ’ d do whatever I could , even if that was just listening and comforting them .”
Out of residency , she worked in a few different patient care settings , but now works at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center . She takes a special interest in treating this patient population and has found it to be even more rewarding than she would ’ ve imagined .
“ I never realized what veterans really went through , so when I started working with them and talking with them , I realized their pain . I have a lot of respect for them . They provided a service for us , now it ’ s our turn to provide a service to them and do anything we can do to help them . I really enjoy working with veterans .”
She is also an Assistant Professor in the UofL Department of Psychiatry and the Site Director at the VA for the UofL residency program , working closely with the residents and medical students .
“ That ’ s such a great part of my work . The teaching itself is rewarding , but I also feel like I am still learning as I go along with them . It gives a different perspective , and we exchange different
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