Rena Ahuja, M.D.
Hoag Hospital
Newport Beach, CA USA
"I think that if you’re motivated and you really want something, then you can get there. You just have to stay persistent."
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Rena's work combines: Medicine, Science, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Biology
University of California, Los Angeles
Doctorate
Medicine
American University of the Caribbean
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I first became interested in medicine when I was young as a result of having grandparents that I had to care for.
2.
I completed an internship at Kaiser, spending time in each department. This confirmed my interest in medicine.
3.
After receiving my BS in Biology from UCLA, I took the foreign medical school route.
4.
There were no guarantees I’d make it back home. I had to be open to being anywhere and the challenges that came with that. After graduating, I returned to the United States.
5.
I worked as a hospitalist at Hoag Hospital. This led me to Arizona to complete the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine led by Andrew Weil.
6.
I completed the offsite program while my husband and I opened an independent outpatient practice.
7.
We started my practice from scratch, with zero patients, from a room that my husband and I were renting out. Now, I welcome patients at a constant pace, while also being on staff at Hoag Hospital.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
Starting your own practice is too tough. You might not be able to sustain it.
How I responded:
While working as a hospitalist, I learned the intensity of health problems. I wanted to focus on the prevention side. I knew I was passionate about this and took the leap. With zero patients and in a room that my husband and I were renting out, I started my own practice. After six months, we got our own place and expanded. At first, I was seeing one or two patients a week, then a few a day. Now, I’m at that normal level.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
Going to a foreign school, I wasn’t sure where I would end up. I had to schedule my own rotations to get the experiences that I wanted. There were no guarantees that I’d make it back home. I just kept at it.