The precocious outgo of being sick has ever gnawed astatine Emory cardiologist Azizul Hoque, MD. Growing up successful Bangladesh, helium said, “I’ve seen immoderate radical who were precise beloved to maine and severely needed attraction but could not spend treatment. It cemented successful my caput the vocation extremity of becoming a doc and doing thing to help.”
When helium moved to the Midwest arsenic a postdoctoral chap astatine University of Iowa Cardiovascular Center successful 1992, helium remembers the daze of realizing that patients successful the American healthcare strategy faced a antithetic benignant of fiscal load from the different places helium had lived – including the erstwhile Soviet Union, wherever helium went to aesculapian school.
“In European countries, there’s guaranteed healthcare for the wide population. It’s a guaranteed right. People don’t person to interest astir getting attraction if they suffer their job,” helium said. “Unfortunately, healthcare is inactive a privilege here.”
In a vocation spanning respective continents and conscionable arsenic galore precocious degrees, Hoque has made it his beingness ngo to bring arsenic overmuch attraction to arsenic galore radical arsenic possible, connected a wage standard they tin afford. When not practicing cardiology oregon teaching arsenic a distinguished doc and adjunct prof astatine Emory, for instance, he’s starring a telemedicine healthcare task successful the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, 1 of the world’s astir crowded cities.
Fluent successful Bengali, Russian and English, Hoque studied medicine successful Moscow, astatine the Russian Medical Academy (formerly known arsenic Sechenov First Moscow Medical Institute), graduating from aesculapian schoolhouse successful 1986, conscionable 3 years earlier the autumn of the Berlin Wall symbolically heralded the extremity of the Cold War. It was a premier accidental to witnesser past firsthand, during that important clip of glasnost, perestroika and shifting geopolitical possibilities nether the precocious Soviet person Mikhail Gorbachev.
Outside of his studies, helium besides enjoyed immersing himself successful Russia’s affluent literate past – speechmaking Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Pushkin, whose enactment spoke to intermingling themes of power, empathy, and ethics.
He did his residency astatine the Medical College of Georgia and a Fellowship astatine University of Louisville earlier joining Emory successful 2008, wherever helium has leaned into a passionateness for teaching cardiology students astatine the precise opening of their careers. The acquisition absorption of Emory Healthcare and its transportation to the School of Medicine is 1 of the aspects that helium loves most. 
Hoque’s healthcare enactment successful Dhaka began successful 2014, erstwhile helium started the telemedicine task successful a escaped wellness session successful Kallyanpur, 1 of the largest slums successful the country, a location to astatine slightest 10,000 people. That session was inaugurated by the U.S. Ambassador successful Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dan Mozena. Hoque supervised the telemedicine programme for 5 years, visiting with patients for 1 hr each week. He inactive sees patients erstwhile a period done the virtual service. When helium goes backmost to visit, he’ll ever walk 1 time successful the clinic. He has besides focused connected helping to bid aesculapian students and cardiology fellows connected the crushed successful Dhaka.
In 2017, present successful Metro Atlanta, helium assisted the motorboat of a session for radical without wellness security successful Gwinnett County, the Bangladesh Medical Association of North America (BMANA), located connected Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Sponsored by the authorities of Georgia, successful the past 5 years BMANA has served hundreds of uninsured patients. Even during the pandemic, the session continued operations virtually.
Despite the engaged docket that these other projects adhd to his clip arsenic a physician, the payment of engaging with antithetic populations with the extremity of fostering communal wellness is tangible, Hoque said. “My doctrine is that giving ever makes you consciousness better.”
English (US)