An interview with Somil Bhushan from the Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorder Center of Silicon Valley on July 11, 2023 by George Ackerman, Ph.D, J.D.
Biography
Somil Bhushan is from San Diego, California. He is passionate about health promotion and disease prevention in the medical field. Currently, he is an MPH candidate at UNC Gilling’s School of Global Public Health with a concentration of applied epidemiology and will be applying to medical school afterwards. He has worked as a clinical research intern for Family Health Centers of San Diego on a project that focuses on screening the homeless population in downtown, San Diego for Hepatitis C while connecting patients with treatment and further health education. In addition, he volunteered on another project relating to vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 to gain information on San Diego residents and their opinions towards pandemic guidelines and receiving prospective vaccines. Clinically, he has served as a medical scribe in a primary care physician’s office and currently is a medical assistant at the Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorder Center of Silicon Valley. In addition, he serves as an intern for the Parkinson’s Foundation where he works to identify Native American/Alaskan Native population contacts in supporting the efforts of increasing Parkinson’s Disease health education and increased access of prevention information.
Please tell me a little about your background.
During my undergraduate studies at UC San Diego, I majored in public health with a concentration of medical sciences to build a holistic view of medicine and health care before I apply to medical school. Towards the end of my degree completion, a guest speaker in one of my classes had discussed an internship with the Parkinson’s Foundation that focused on increasing Parkinson’s disease health education and health care resources among American Indian and Alaskan Native populations, and I was able to receive this position. Throughout my time with the Parkinson’s Foundation, I have been fortunate enough to engage with patients, caregivers, and movement disorder specialists to deepen my knowledge of the disease and learn about what types of advocacies and research have been implemented to improve the lives of those living with the disease. This experience led to me gaining another position of becoming a medical assistant for a movement disorder specialist to gain clinical experience in the treatment of individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Following my graduation at UCSD, I began an MPH program at UNC Gilling’s School of Global Public Health where my degree is focused in applied epidemiology. I am particularly interested in environmental exposures and neurological health outcomes and this passion of mine has resulted in me assisting a team at UCSD in researching the association of pesticide exposure with Parkinson’s disease.
Can you tell me more about your organization?
My advocacy consists of many different roles. With the Parkinson’s Foundation, I focus on increasing health education and resource accessibility through creating educational webinars that focused on increasing knowledge on understanding Parkinson’s disease, staying safe in the hospital with Parkinson’s disease, and caregiving in Parkinson’s disease. In addition, I implemented community outreach through calling tribal health clinics about Parkinson’s awareness month and attending tribal health conferences to disseminate health care resources garnered by the Parkinson’s foundation. As a medical assistant at the Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorder Center of Silicon Valley, I assist Dr. Salima Brillman, MD in her practice of providing care and treatment for individuals living with the disease. As a graduate research assistant at UCSD, I help a team of clinicians and researchers explore how environmental exposures to pesticides are associated with neurological health outcomes of Parkinson’s disease, cognitive impairment, and dementia.
What is your passion and how did you get involved in Parkinson’s awareness and hope for a cure?
My passion is to help advocate for Parkinson’s awareness, understand the mechanisms of the disease, push efforts towards finding a cure, and most importantly help those living with the disease yield the best quality of life. This passion stemmed from a personal connection as my grandmother had Parkinson’s disease and battled the condition for 7 years until her passing. This motivated me to pursue public health and medicine in my education and has led me to aspiring to become a movement disorder specialist that will also research epidemiological associations with the disease.
What type of goals do individuals with Parkinson’s have when working with you?
When working with individuals in the Parkinson’s community, I strive to embody that every individual’s situation is unique and will require different regimens. This can mean increasing their education on the condition, pointing them to where resources for living with the disease are located, or facilitating their treatment of the disease by assisting their movement disorder specialist.
What effect can your advocacy have on an individual with Parkinson’s awareness?
I believe that knowledge is power and with Parkinson’s disease being such a complex neurological disease, research has only prevailed to uncover more information about the mechanisms of the disease and how its incidence is increasing each year. Every individual’s level of knowledge is different and by providing them with health education from understanding the disease to what may be associated with being diagnosed with the disease, I feel as if I empower individuals to be able to better face their condition and help them realize that one can live a long high-quality life with the right resources.
What would you like to see as a future goal for your advocacy?
My plans after I complete my MPH program are to apply to medical school and work to become a movement disorder neurologist. I believe that by becoming a physician I will finally be able to assist those living with Parkinson’s disease in all forms possible being education, research, and treatment.
What events do you participate in?
I participate in health education sessions and conferences related to Parkinson’s Disease. This year, I was fortunate enough to have my scientific abstract accepted to the World Parkinson’s Congress in Barcelona, Spain where I presented a years’ worth of work detailing how to transform health education and care among American Indian and Alaskan Native populations.
How does this also assist the caregivers?
I understand that Parkinson’s disease not only affects the individual living with the condition but also their immediate family members and caregivers they live with. By addressing these individuals on the same level as the patients, it can lead to increased quality of life among both groups and create a channel of care that is competent and decrease the outcome of caregiver burnout.
How can someone get in touch? What is your website?
I can be reached through my LinkedIn account or email address.
www.linkedin.com/in/somil-bhushan-100446189
sbhushan@pdmdc-siliconvalley.com
If you had one final statement or quote you could leave for the Parkinson community, what would it be?
One final statement I have for the Parkinson’s community is that we can achieve better lives together. No individual should feel alone through this process and rather they should understand that the unique experiences of everyone shared with the larger community will lead to increased knowledge and research that can help us all one day live in a world without Parkinson’s disease!