One year of psychiatric community outreach — bringing mental health care and free
psychiatric medication to remote and underserved populations across Karachi and its periphery
For nearly four years, I served as a Senior Medical Officer and OPD In-Charge for chronic disease management, caring for patients with complex long-term health conditions. During this period, I had the privilege of working under the mentorship of Professor Dr. Waqar Kazmi, one of Pakistan's leading nephrologists and former Medical Superintendent and Principal of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College (KMDC).
Over those years, I was entrusted with the care of thousands of patients. Many traveled long distances to seek consultation, often waiting for hours to be seen. It was a position that offered professional stability, clinical growth, leadership responsibility, and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in patients' lives.
Then an unexpected opportunity presented itself.
I was offered a position as Field RMO in a psychiatric community outreach program, serving remote and underserved populations where access to mental health care was limited — or, in many cases, entirely absent. The role required daily travel to communities that often had no access to a psychiatrist or to psychiatric medication of any kind. The mission was direct: to bring psychiatric consultation and free psychotropic medication to people who would otherwise go without either.
Yet I saw an opportunity to contribute where the need was greatest and where the impact of each day's work could be felt most directly. I chose to leave the comfort of a well-established hospital-based leadership role and embrace this challenge.
The program itself is purely psychiatric in scope: free consultation and free psychotropic medication for patients who would otherwise have no access to either. I function as the treating psychiatrist at each camp, managing mood disorders, psychotic illness, anxiety spectrum conditions, and substance-related presentations in patients who frequently present late, undiagnosed, and without any prior psychiatric care. Where my background in internal medicine and nutrition becomes relevant is in patients who arrive in genuine medical distress — uncontrolled hypertension, decompensated diabetes, severe malnutrition — alongside their psychiatric presentation. In those cases I provide combined assessment, since for many of these patients this outreach visit is the only clinical contact they will have. But the program, and the bulk of my daily work, is psychiatric care delivered directly to people the mental health system does not otherwise reach.
The work was demanding. There were days spent in extreme heat, in locations without electricity, fans, or adequate facilities. Long travel hours, limited resources, and challenging working conditions became part of daily life. Yet these difficulties also provided invaluable lessons in resilience, adaptability, and service.
Extreme heat & harsh outdoor conditions
No electricity or cooling at camp sites
Long daily travel to remote communities
Limited equipment & medical resources
Stepped away from hospital leadership to begin full-time psychiatric outreach work across Karachi and its surrounding areas.
Daily travel to underserved communities — delivering psychiatric consultation and free medication, building trust, and addressing complex mental health needs in the most challenging conditions.
Completing this milestone with deepened psychiatric and clinical insight, stronger resolve, and an unwavering commitment to serving those beyond the reach of conventional healthcare.
The year brought its share of hardships, but it also brought some of the most meaningful experiences of my professional life. It tested my endurance, strengthened my problem-solving abilities, and reminded me why I chose medicine as a career in the first place. The personal satisfaction of serving vulnerable and underserved populations has been immeasurable.
No professional journey is undertaken alone. Long before I entered community outreach work, I had the privilege of learning from exceptional teachers, mentors, and clinicians whose guidance helped shape my approach to medicine. I remain deeply grateful to each of them — their dedication to excellence, patient care, and medical education continues to influence my work every day.
One of Karachi's senior psychiatric academics, Professor Raza-ur-Rehman opened the door to my clinical training in psychiatry in 2012–2013, providing supervised attachments at a leading public teaching hospital and personally directing me toward the opportunity at IBS that shaped the next chapter of my career.
A distinguished psychiatrist holding concurrent leadership at two major institutions, Professor Sohail personally selected me to join the IBS clinical team — a decision that reflects the standards he applied in building his department. His confidence in my abilities at an early stage of my psychiatric career remains one of the most significant professional endorsements I have received.
A specialist clinician and academic at IBS, Dr. Zobia Ramzan was a senior colleague and supervisor during my five years at the institute (2014–2019). Working alongside her provided daily exposure to rigorous psychiatric practice within a structured academic environment.
One of Pakistan's foremost nephrologists, Professor Waqar Kazmi simultaneously held the position of Medical Superintendent and Principal of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and its attached Karachi Medical and Dental College (KMDC) — a distinction that speaks to his exceptional standing in Pakistan's medical community. I had the privilege of working under his supervision through SSWAB Trust, his charitable healthcare initiative — which subsequently expanded into SSWAB Trust Kidney Care and Dialysis Centre — where I was entrusted with the management of patients with complex chronic disease conditions. His standard of clinical leadership, his commitment to serving patients beyond institutional walls, and his trust in my clinical judgment during that period left a lasting influence on my approach to medicine and community service.
A respected academic psychiatrist, Professor Nadeem Iqbal's patient-centered clinical approach and dedication to teaching left a lasting impression during my time as Evening Resident Medical Officer at G.A. Asghar Hospital. His example reinforced the standard of care I aspire to carry into every clinical setting.
As I write this, I find myself at a crossroads. Whether I continue along this path for some time longer or return to a more traditional hospital-based role remains an open question. What I do know is that this experience has become one of the most meaningful chapters of my professional life.
The setting may change, the specialty may evolve, and the responsibilities may differ, but the underlying purpose remains the same: to use my training, experience, and compassion in service of those who need it most.
For now, I remain grateful for the journey, the people I have met, the lessons I have learned, and the lives I have had the privilege to serve.
Time will reveal where the next chapter leads.