Rachna Dhar was born and raised in Kashmir, Srinagar in India. She was very inspired by Mother Teresa’s work in India and wanted to help people, like Mother Teresa did. Her mother suggested she could help others by becoming a doctor. The seed was planted. By age 5, Dr. Dhar was already calling herself “Dr.”
Given the unrest in Kashmir at the time, it was not feasible for Dr. Dhar to go to medical school there. So at age 17, she left home alone for Russia. She attended medical school in Moscow. Later she moved to the US, took her equivalency exams, and moved to NY to complete her residency at Brooklyn Hospital. Her husband and young son lived in CT, but the commuting was too tough given the demands on a resident, so she was only able to go home and spend time with them on weekends. It was a challenging time for the young family.
After residency, they moved to PA where Dr. Dhar began her medical work as a Hospitalist. Later she joined a private practice where her work grew to include an outpatient clinic and several nursing homes in addition to inpatient duties. Her job was very demanding and the hours were long. Then her husband was transferred to the Richmond area in 2010, and so she began to look for a job nearby.
Her husband found out about physician jobs in community health. “You will thank me!” he told her. At the time she didn’t understand what he meant. She researched Virginia community health jobs on PracticeLink, and contacted the Virginia Community Healthcare Association about opportunities that were listed around the Richmond area.
She began working at Caroline Family Practice, part of Central Virginia Health System, in August of 2010. Now she understands what her husband meant, and she does thank him for discovering community health opportunities. She is able to balance her professional life with her family’s needs and feels like she is getting the best of both worlds. “My patients are so appreciative of everything I do.” The patients call her their “life saver” and Caroline Family Practice “heaven”. “It’s very rewarding,” says Dr. Dhar. At the same time, she is able to be home every evening with her family.
What surprised her most about working in community health? She “never expected that people in America would have gone for so long without seeing a doctor because they didn’t have insurance or couldn’t afford it.” And her biggest challenge? “Not just caring for her patients clinically, but helping them find the ways and means to take care of themselves – like finding affordable medicines to help them, and discount programs for medications.”
Dr. Dhar would encourage anyone contemplating medical school to consider Primary Care. “It offers more diversity in the types of patients, diagnosis and treatment. There is a lot to learn and they will always be learning.” And she would also encourage them to consider working in a community health center. “CHC work is for people who became a doctor because they wanted to help people. If that’s what brought someone to medicine, they will love the job.” Like Dr. Dhar.
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