Meet Bairavi Maheswaran, our first osteopathic medicine trainee spotlight. Here is her story.

Bairavi is a trained Carnatic violinist who was born in Toronto and raised in Floral Park, NY from the age of three. She has a passion for teaching and teaches both violin and math at Tamil school. Between teaching and studying she spends her time volunteering with the South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network (SAMIN). When she is not giving back to her community Bairavi attends the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) in Old Westbury, New York. Not only is she in her first year of osteopathic medicine but she’s also in her second year of a masters in medical and health care simulation. Bairavi is interested in both psychiatry and neurology with a special interest in adolescent and forensic psychiatry.

“Growing up, after school, I spent my time mindlessly highlighting prep books, trying to solve as many math problems within ten minutes, and then run off to a tutoring class. Why did I have such a packed day? The Tamil community, I grew up in equated our intelligence based on what school one attends. I did not go to a top high school, and believe me, I was always made aware that I did not. I was often told that I won’t be able to become a physician and bullied by others since I was not “smart”. This took a toll on my self-esteem; I questioned my self-worth a lot and did not want to interact with others with the fear of being judged. On top of that, I didn’t take care of my health, by not eating or sleeping, and would often get headaches and ulcers.

When I got into medical school, I took a step back and thought back to those times, when I questioned my intelligence and felt worthless. I asked myself why? What caused me to think this way? This is when I started researching mental health and how to understand my emotions better. Further, I had discussions with other individuals in my Tamil community, who went through similar circumstances as me. Speaking with them made me notice this huge stigma in the South Asian community regarding mental health. If we talked about feeling sad or empty, we got labeled as crazy. This is when I knew I had to change this way of thinking.

As a student of osteopathic medicine, one of our tenets is that the body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit. If our mental health is causing our issues, our physical body will also feel that impact. Not everyone realizes how our mental health controls our overall health. One way we can normalize these discussions is by speaking about our experiences with mental health more often and openly. Mental health is frequently not spoken of due to the taboo it has in our society, but the more we speak on it the more people will see how common it is and that it is an issue many struggle with. Further, educating others about emotions and normalizing the emotion once feels can be of great benefit.

Society as a whole defines health as something external, if they look good or fit in with society’s standards, then they are healthy, but no one takes the time to think what’s going on within them internally. As a medical student, my main goal is to promote the access of mental health resources and create resources that cater to different cultures.”