By Dr. Paramvijay Singh Dhalla
I was born and raised in Punjab, India. My father, a veterinary doctor, always dreamt that his son would be a compassionate and humane physician, one who would serve society to the best of his abilities. This dream of his stayed with me, and I made it my purpose. First, I went to medical school in India. Then, in 2021, I fortunately matched into a family medicine residency at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. This year, I moved from Nebraska to New York to begin my fellowship in geriatric medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
My three years of training in the United States as a J-1 physician thus far have been eventful. I have met some amazing souls and made life-lasting friendships. I met my life partner during this period and got married. Throughout my time here, I have followed these three pearls of wisdom: 1) Do your hard work; 2) Have pristine ethics; and 3) Be humble. By sticking to these principles, I have been able to consistently fulfill my aim of taking on mission-driven experiences which extend beyond excelling in the medical field and include community service, advocacy for minorities, and civic engagement.
With deep gratitude for my meticulous residency training, I share one such exceptional experience. In 2022, while on a break from my training at Creighton University, I was humbled to address a medical emergency on a transatlantic flight. With a timely introduction of anticoagulation, I was able to stabilize a patient with a suspected pulmonary embolism.
A Creighton University doctor is being called a hero after saving a passenger’s life mid-flight.
The 16-hour flight was going from Chicago to New Delhi, India, when a woman lost consciousness.
The flight attendant called out for help and Paramvijay Dhalla jumped into action. He said, “When I heard what’s going on, she said like somebody got unconscious, she’s not able to move, she’s not able to speak.”
Dhalla examined the patient, learned her medical history, and determined she had a lung clot. “If it’s not treated on time, it’s deadly,” Dhalla said.
On a 3-way call with the pilot and an airbase doctor, Dhalla received approval to open the plane’s medicine box. In that box was a life-saving blood thinner.
Dhalla says about an hour after he gave the woman the medicine, she regained consciousness.
When the plane landed, she was rushed to the hospital in stable condition.
Some might call Dhalla a hero, but not him. “I’m just a doctor,” he said.
Excerpt from “Creighton University doctor saves life mid-flight”
by Laura Sambol on 6 News WOWT (November 4, 2022)
My successful medical intervention on behalf of this individual was featured in the local news and was published about in Indian newspapers. Despite being recognized for this internationally, I consider it a greater personal achievement that I was able to save someone’s life, for them and for their loved ones, when there were limited resources available.
Following this unexpected incident, which happened during my second year of training, I was able to help my community in several other ways. For example, advocacy for minorities has been an essential objective for me as a physician. I have had the opportunity to testify about laws restricting access to abortion and others restricting access to puberty blockers. I was interviewed on 8ABC News, a local Nebraska television news channel, about the “epidemic of vaping” and was able to provide up-to-date and evidence-based data on its detrimental long-term health effects.
This year, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to represent the state of Nebraska on Capitol Hill during the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Family Medicine Advocacy Summit in May. During the summit, I conveyed AAFP interests and discussed three crucial bills on Medicare, telemedicine, and medical student loan repayments with my state senators. In addition to that, I have represented Nebraska as the state resident delegate at the AAFP National Conference, where I worked on formulating medical bills that could potentially be introduced to the floors of Congress in the future.
I’m sharing these examples with my fellow IMGs as an example of what is possible if you have faith in yourself and follow those three pearls of wisdom: do your hard work, have pristine ethics, and be humble. I am so grateful for the impactful changes that performing my residency and fellowship in the United States has had on my life. I want to thank Intealth for providing these opportunities to IMGs like me and supporting us not only at the beginning of our training but throughout our graduate medical education journey.
