Page 4 - RUSM Fall Quarterly ENews

ALUMNI KEYNOTE SPEAKER PROFILE

Being different is a unique character trait that some

begrudgingly accept while others embrace and magnify
the gift. Ross University School of Medicine alumna Sonal

Bhatia, MD ’02, is an inspirational physician who pushes
the envelope to help others who are ‘different’ and gives

back to those who need a supportive voice.

An Indian girl growing up in Mexico City meant standing
out, being teased and coping with uneducated comments

from others. “Being different led to pain,” recalled the
Chief Medical Officer, Rare Disease at Pfizer. “I looked

different and dressed different. I had to constantly prove
that I was a part of the community.” And while she

survived some awful experiences during her primitive
years, it also taught her grit.

When Dr. Bhatia turned 13 years old, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada

where the veil of rejection lifted, and she became immersed in a community of diversity.
She celebrated the change by founding the Unity Club — a platform for students to

share their uniqueness. Years later, Dr. Bhatia was equally surprised and invigorated
when she arrived in Dominica to begin medical school. “I met people from all walks of

life and we quickly became a family. It was a support system where everyone lent a
helping hand. Any feeling of isolation was gone and the feeling of fitting in was instant. It

was a huge positive mindset.”

Dr. Bhatia’s career aspirations began to change during residency when a close friend

developed breast cancer and passed away. “I was so frustrated,” she explained. “I
thought — we know science and we have medicines, but all we can do is give these

certain medications. We can’t prescribe what we don’t have. I began to question — are
we really serving patients or are we just prescribing what was there and not thinking

about the future?”

That led to her working for big pharma, an industry that hadn’t been in her purview as
beneficial until she realized it was the key to providing physicians with more

breakthrough medicines as science evolved. “I knew right then that I wanted to be part
of this community that could reach a large population level and ensure equity to the