Why I chose to pursue a career in healthcare:

Growing up in Trinidad, my paternal grandmother was a traditional ""bush"" doctor, and when I was younger, I assisted her by going out into the backyard to gather the herbs she needed to make the medicines. I admired her commitment to helping and healing patients. It was a family tradition to carry on that practice, but I decided to take a more standard route. I came to the United States to complete my undergraduate studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. I then moved back closer to my family to get my Doctor of Medicine degree at St. George's University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies. This included my last two years of clinical clerkships at St. Joseph's Regional Center in Paterson, N.J. After medical school graduation, I went back to Trinidad for a 3-month medical internship before my husband and I finally decided it was time to settle down with our three kids. I then returned to Edison, N.J., to complete my Family Medicine Residency at JFK Medical Center.

What I want my patients to know about me:

My husband did a lot of moving during all of my education and training. So, during my last year of residency, we knew we wanted to be closer to Baltimore where his family lives. This was actually one of the first interviews I had and everything after that paled in comparison. I did a couple more interviews, but I knew I wanted to make a decision by December 2013. The people are nice and welcoming in Franklin County, there's a lot of open space, the area is great to raise kids and it was just right for us.

What I do when I'm not seeing patients:

Even outside of work, I love learning about all things medicine related. We spend a lot of time doing activities with our children including outdoor activities, seeing plays and movies, or visiting the beach every chance we get.