Dr. Mahesh Allam had a flood of emotions as he watched his daughter, Shalini, rip open the envelope that revealed she鈥檒l spend the next three years at Georgetown University Hospital getting her internal medicine residency training. That鈥檚 the same city where he did his training 30 years ago 鈥� and his daughter, a 麻豆原创 medical student, will mark the third generation of physicians in the Allam family.
鈥淚 am very emotional right now,鈥� Allam said. 鈥淗aving her as a third-generation doctor in our family is something better than we鈥檝e expected. We鈥檝e been blessed, but it鈥檚 entirely her hard work.鈥�
Allam, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist, has practiced in Orlando for 25 years since moving from his native Jamaica. His father was also a physician who practiced ophthalmology in Jamaica for many years before he died. Shalini was born in Washington, D.C., and will return there after she graduates from 麻豆原创 in May.
She was so excited to open her match envelope that she accidentally ripped it in half.
鈥淚 had to line up the paper and was struggling to read it when my parents screamed 鈥榊es! It鈥檚 Georgetown,鈥欌�� she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a true honor to be able to start another generation of Dr. Allams in my family,鈥� the younger Allam said. 鈥淚 know my grandfather would be so proud to see how far our family has come and how much we鈥檝e grown. I鈥檒l remember this day for the rest of my life. I鈥檓 so excited that I got my number one choice it鈥檚 just been tears of joy.鈥�
Other Central Florida physicians also watched their children become the next generation of health care providers. Dr. James Sanders, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the 麻豆原创 medical school, was tearful as he watched his son, Jim, match into radiology at his undergraduate alma mater, Emory University. The younger Sanders will do his transitional year of training at the 麻豆原创-HCA partnership residency at Osceola Regional Medical Center.
鈥淓very year I get nervous at Match for all the students, but this year I was a little more so,鈥� he said. 听鈥淚 feel very blessed. It鈥檚 an incredible profession and I鈥檓 very proud of him.鈥�
鈥淎s a child, he used to actually read MRI鈥檚 with me and that was really fun,鈥� Sanders said.
The future Dr. Sanders studied astronomy and physics at Emory and loves visual sciences. He said radiology will allow him to use that love to help heal others.
鈥淢y father has been a very powerful role model in my life and he鈥檚 been supportive along the way,鈥� he said. 听鈥淚鈥檓 very happy to join the community and I really look forward to the next chapter of my life.鈥�
As the daughter of a radiologist, Reem Abdalla grew up running through the halls of hospitals and tinkering with X-ray machines and charts. 听But though she grew up around physicians, nurses and patients, it was not until her undergraduate years that she fell in love with medicine. On Friday, she learned she will do her internal medicine residency at Orlando Health, where she once volunteered as a pre-med student. 听
鈥淎side from being very lucky to get the ins and outs of this career and the medical expertise from my father, I was also very lucky to have a family that understood how difficult the process was and who were able to provide the support I needed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s truly a luxury and I’m very grateful to them.”
Her father, Dr. Adel Abdalla has been a radiologist in Orlando for the past 17 years since moving from Egypt with his family.
鈥淭his moment really took me back to the moment Reem was born and how much went into making this moment happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a mission complete.鈥�
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