Fellow focus: Dr. Uma Mahesh Avula

First, tell us about you. 

I am from South India from the historic Hyderabad City. I did most of my schooling and college there. I grew up in an environment where pursuing medicine was thought to be very competitive and a tougher path. My school teachers thought I would be an engineer since I was good at math. I surprised them by choosing to go to medical school instead. The topic of arrhythmias was one tough nut to crack in medical school and hard to believe now that I have over 30 published papers and a patent on arrhythmias. I had a great time working at the University of Michigan and Columbia University for the last 10 years. During this time, a lot happened on the personal front, I am happily married to my lovely lady, Sonika.

When did you know you wanted to pursue Nephrology? 

There is no simple answer to this. After years in research with my amazing mentors who were all physician-scientists themselves, I had the thought of going clinical at some point. When the opportunity came in, I thought – why not Nephrology.

What do you like most about UMMC? 

I have only been here at UMMC for a couple of months and I am slowly getting the hang of it. The faculty, co-workers, nursing staff – everyone – has been amazing. It’s a great place to learn all aspects of Nephrology, especially transplant as UMMC is the only kidney transplant center in the state.

What advice would you give to the interns? 

Just remember, all above you – residents, fellows, attendings, faculty – were at your place at one time point in their journey. It’s ok to not know it all, it’s ok to make mistakes, it’s ok to ask for help.

What could you give a 40-minute presentation on without preparation?

‘Winter is coming’ and I can talk about it for hours – 13000 yr history of Westeros is at my fingertips.

What is something you wish you knew more about?

There are a lot of thing I wish I knew more about. Stock trading, space travel, deep sea exploration, mechanical engineering (it blew me away when I found out how the gear system works in the car and how they sequentially figured it out 120 years ago), and bitcoin… the more I try to understand the concept, the more I feel so lost.

What are some small things that make your day better?

Going home on time after work makes my wife happier and that’s what makes my rest of the day better.

Tell us something about you that most people don’t know.

I binge watch sci-fi shows and thriller series often at one stretch through the weekend to finish all the seasons. Lately though, I haven’t found any that are interesting. I have also and continue to spend countless hours reading literature about the origins of religions.

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