Name: Irum Rahman Hometown: Parker, TX Year in medical school: MS1 Graduation class year: 2026
What inspired you to become a doctor?
I knew very early in childhood that I wanted to become a doctor. I admired my parents, who passed their love of medicine and science to me. As I got older, I understood with greater clarity that I was meant for medicine when I began scribing at a pediatric emergency room as an undergrad while taking a full schedule of classes and participating in neuroscience research. Despite the heavy workload that I had taken on, I found my long hours at the hospital to be the most fulfilling part of my week. I loved seeing patients, learning about diseases, and interacting with physicians, nurses, PAs, and ER technicians. I fell in love with the interpersonal aspects of medicine and began to see it not only as a career but also as a lifestyle and calling. Through that experience, I also became drawn to the socioeconomic aspects and disparities in medicine, and I have always supported greater diversity within the field.
Why did you choose the UTRGV School of Medicine?
When I first visited the UTRGV School of Medicine, I fell in love with the unique friendliness and diversity of the population. I’ve lived all over the country, from large cities to small towns, and I enjoyed that the Rio Grande Valley is an intersection of all of these ways of life. The RGV is a unique place to live and study, and I felt I could learn from and contribute to this area.
The UTRGV School of Medicine is a practicing academic medical institution. What aspect of Academic Medicine impacts you the most? (Educational, clinical, research, etc.)
I am part of the AHEC Scholars Program, and through this experience have become interested in studying the unique socioeconomic aspects of health in the Rio Grande Valley. Additionally, I am interested in clinical research as I would like to improve health outcomes for patients in whichever specialty I choose.
What specialties of medicine or research interest you the most? Why?
I have not yet decided on a specialty, but I am considering anesthesiology, ophthalmology, and cardiology. I have broad interests and am exploring what I enjoy in different specialties as we move through our modules.
What is one interesting fact others might not know about you?
As a child, I went on a ten-day, cross-country road trip with my family, where we drove from Los Angeles to New York City. We explored a lot of the Midwest during this trip, so I have, to a certain degree, visited almost all of the contiguous 48 states.
