School of Medicine

The Pulse

Dr. Juzar Ali Publishes Memoir

Dr. Juzar Ali, a Professor in the section of pulmonary/critical care medicine, department of internal medicine, recently published a memoir, "The Perpetual Migrant: Finding My Way from Abundance in Poverty to Poverty of Abundance."

The book is an autobiographical reflection of Dr. Ali's early years in India and Pakistan and his career and experience in medicine in Pakistan and other countries, which provided him with a unique perspective and view of the fragmented and convoluted healthcare system in America.

Dr. Ali was inspired to write the book as a memoir primarily for his grandchildren, family, and friends. His personal narrative reflects on his experiences and observations in the post-partition era in Pakistan. He takes the reader through the ups and downs of his life and his experiences across the world. The book documents his journey from his earliest roots and through the challenges of a migrant family. Growing up in Pakistan amid poverty with enclaves of abundance within the poverty, Dr. Ali recounts his migration back and forth to and from the United States. As he does so, he observes poverty amid the abundance around him in the US and sees the tremendous impact on health care in which he has been intrinsically embedded throughout his life. Dr. Ali explores how these pockets of poverty in the US are not necessarily due to limited resources but more because of a lack of commitment and dysfunctional priorities at individual, societal, and national levels.

Net proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the TAHA (Towards Achieving Health Care & Access) Foundation program https://tahaaligandhifoundation.org  through the Spirit of Charity Foundation www.umcno.org/foundation/programs to assist patients in the navigation of their healthcare in the US. The book can be purchased at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.