A journey across oceans and continents led Dr. Kanwar Sandhu to ECU Health, where his time in ECU Health’s Rural Family Medicine Residency training program showed him that people make a place special. Now, he’s here to stay.
Dr. Sandhu was born in India and spent his youth in Canada, where he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia. He attended medical school at Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados and received clinical training at the University of Miami, Cleveland Clinic Florida, and the University of Michigan. As the time came to explore residency programs, Dr. Sandhu visited rural eastern North Carolina for the first time.
“I had been flying over North Carolina all this time,” Dr. Sandhu said. “I knew ECU Health offered a competitive program. When I actually came here, the people in the health system were lovely, but it was the people I met on the streets who really left an indelible mark.
They were so warm and welcoming, it really moved me. I didn’t have the right phrase for it at the time. Now, I know it’s called the southern hospitality.”
A conversation with a cab driver, who told Dr. Sandhu about his granddaughter’s battle with cancer, left a particularly profound impact on the young physician.
“I said some comforting words to him, just what any decent person would say,” Dr. Sandhu said. “When I got out of the cab to get my bags, I remember the driver called to me and said, ‘Sir, I really hope that you would choose to call this place your home.’ I told him that I hoped I would come back. It was a symbolic encounter for me. When I ranked my top choices for residency, my mind just kept returning to that moment and eastern North Carolina.”
Dr. Sandhu has spent the past three years in the Rural Family Medicine Residency Program, where he had a chance to train at ECU Health Medical Center and eventually ECU Health Duplin Hospital in Kenansville. The program, which launched in 2021, exposes residents to the breadth of family medicine to prepare them to provide comprehensive care across a variety of settings. In May ECU Health announced the upcoming launch of new rural residency tracks for Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics-Gynecology and Pediatrics.
“Our Rural Family Medicine Residency Program provides physicians the opportunity to train under the guidance of experienced mentors and interdisciplinary care teams,” said Dr. Mary Catherine Turner, Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education at ECU Health. “Our goal is to provide resident physicians with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to thrive in practice and deliver high-quality care to rural communities. Our new rural residency tracks will extend that mission across four additional specialties while strengthening physicians’ understanding of the unique needs of rural patients.”
Dr. Sandhu has had the chance to connect with patients from rural areas and work through an array of complicated medical cases, many of which present themselves in the primary care setting. In rural health care, a diverse skill set is necessary to provide high-quality family medicine. The rural population comprises approximately 20% of the United States total population, but only 10% of physicians practice in these rural areas. North Carolina has the nation’s second largest rural population.
Rural populations, including those in eastern North Carolina, also face higher rates of health care disparities such as heart disease or diabetes along with social determinants of health such as poverty or food and housing insecurity.
“The challenges that face rural health care directly impact our rural communities, and we know we need to reinforce the supply of doctors practicing in these rural settings,” said Dr. Michael Waldrum, ECU Health CEO and dean of the Brody School of Medicine.
“We know that family medicine residents who spent 50% or more of their training time in rural settings were at least five times more likely to stay and practice in rural settings than ones with no rural training. Experience matters, and rural residency programs are critical to get physicians in rural communities so they can see the incredible impact their presence can make.”
Throughout his residency, Dr. Sandhu found those challenges, and the chance to connect with patients, rewarding — so much so that he will continue to practice medicine at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville and ECU Health Family Medicine Wallace.
“It was an excellent experience for me,” Dr. Sandhu said. “I had amazing mentors and I have treated a lot of complex patients, but I feel like there’s still so much more to learn. Patients in this ecosystem are very complex, so you need to be very competent with your medical skills while keeping an open mind. You have to meet people where they are, and I have really enjoyed caring for my patients in eastern North Carolina.
“I am what I am because of them. They have been not only my patients, but my teachers. The best part of my day is taking care of them; it gives my life a special meaning. I feel so blessed to do this and I’m just so grateful to be here.”
After connecting so profoundly with the region, his journey in eastern North Carolina is far from over. He invited anyone who felt the same calling to learn and serve to join him.
“Anyone who considers working in these rural spaces should certainly consider humility a strength and keep their minds open to learning new things,” Dr. Sandhu said. “There will be hard days, but you can always count on the people around you for support.”