alumni focus YEARS
20
H U M AI RA CHAUDH RY, M D’0 5
Celebrating
Our Alumni BY T Y B A L D W I N
In this 20th anniversary issue of Pulse magazine, we applaud the achievements and contributions of our alumni. Some have remained a part of the NJMS community: teaching, caring for patients, and conducting research. Others have achieved success at institutions across the U.S. And then there are our recent graduates, in training to become the best clinicians, teachers, and scientists that they can be. Through the years, they have made us proud—not only of their individual accomplishments, but also the depth of their talents, interests, and achievements through all sectors of society. Read here about three of our graduates who are making a difference.
26
PULSE • SUMMER 2023
Meet the New NJMS Chair of Radiology
“T
he first year of medical school was challenging for me,” says Humaira Chaudhry, MD’05, associate professor and chair of radiology. “I almost felt like the decision to go to medical school had been made for me, when I was too young to know what I was getting myself into. Doing gross anatomy, facing a corpse. All of that was really overwhelming. I seriously thought about quitting that first semester.” Fortunately for Chaudhry, and for her patients, she got the encouragement she needed and was able to stay the course. “My family was very supportive and so was the dean of student affairs at NJMS. Everyone said the same thing: ‘Give it time. Don’t make any rush decisions.’” It’s easy to see how Chaudhry might have seen her path as predetermined. Both of her parents had science degrees. Together, they had immigrated from Pakistan in the 1970s with Chaudhry’s two older sisters, both of whom were class valedictorians at Clifton High School and then went to NJMS. “There was definitely a lot of pressure to do well in school,” says Chaudhry. (Born in Passaic, she calls herself “a Jersey girl, through and through.”) “I felt like I’d be labeled a black sheep if I didn’t become a doctor.” After graduating from Clifton High School (yes, as class valedictorian) Chaudhry entered the accelerated NJIT/NJMS seven-year BS/MD program. And after that first year, things did get better. “I really enjoyed learning pathology and microbiology,” Chaudhry says, “and I liked NJMS and the friends I had made. So the decision to stay in medical school became my decision.” Even so, Chaudhry realized that she wasn’t cut out for clinical medicine. “With my personality, I have a hard time dealing with