A presentation by Shahbaz Ahmed

1. Shahbaz Ahmed, MS
Medical Physicist (Radiation Oncology)
Nishtar Medical University & Hospital, Multan
Fulbright Alumnus, PhD. Scholar (Medical Physics) Cultural Exchange Representative
Wayne State University / Karmanos Cancer Center, Detroit, MI
Freelance Scientific Content Developer
Email: Shahbaz.Ahmed@wayne.edu
How did I reinvent myself?
Sharing the Experience of Fulbright Doctoral Studies in the USA

2. Contents
• The Fulbright Journey
• Medical Physics. Why Wayne State?
• Learning new skills
• Cultural Exchange
• Reverse Cultural Adjustments
• Hunt for happiness
• Work-life balance
and much more…

3. • On an occasion at one of my previous job site,
when I requested for permission for an online
course / MOOC one of my bosses asked me a
question:
Boss: What would a
medical physicist sitting in
the US do? Would he/she
enroll in a course like this?
Me: Definitely
Not!!!
Boss: Why so?
Me: No Answer!!!

4. Fulbright Application & Process
• Kept preparing the documents actively for about 1 and a half year
(passively, for 5 years)
• Applied at the 11th hour in a state of confusion.
• Resigning from a national government regular job as Assistant
Professor / Sr Scientist was a BIG challenge, indeed!!!
• Paying for GRE (about 200$ at that time) was a challenge, as that was
about one-third of my salary!!!
• It became possible through a voucher by USEFP for the GRE fee for
the top 5 scores of the mock test

5. O Bird, who flies to the Throne of God, You must keep this truth in sight,
To suffer death is nobler far Than bread that clogs your upward flight.
Reference:
Jab Ishq Sikhata Hai Adab-e-Khud Agahi
(Bal-e-Jibril-054, by Sir Muhammad Iqbal, PhD,
“Poet of the East”
“National Poet of Pakistan”

6. Selection, Planning and Departure
• Selection as Principal Candidate
• Lodhran domicile
• School & High School from Village / Urdu Medium
• College and Undergraduate education from South Punjab (Govt College, Bosan
Road, Multan & IUB, Bahawalpur)
• Serving in public sector university and intention to return back
• To keep visiting parents and in-laws every four months initially, then
at least once a year!

7. * Pre-Departure Orientation
* Get Togethers
* WhatsApp Connections

9. Departure from Multan International Airport (MUX) to Chicago (ORD) to Detroit (DTW)

10. • Academic & Professional Goals:
• To take maximum courses
• To invent something!!! – The most common aspire of every PhD student in
the beginning…
• To prepare myself and anticipate to bring a revolution in medical physics
education, practice and research in Pakistan!!!
• Social, Cultural, and Personal Goals:
• To share Pakistani culture in the US, and vice versa, for bringing peace,
harmony.
• Demystifying the stereotypes / myth-busting
• Transition from being a BOOK-WORM to a more balanced lifestyle…
Aims and Objectives:

11. Welcome to USA
• Support extended by an Indonesian family
• Fresh air; Clean environment Birds; Fireflies; Ecosystem
• Within campus, at an off-campus rent rate
• Apartment number # 911
• Smell of weed
• Electric stove
• 1 USD = xxx PKR
• Smiling Faces 

12. Medical Physics Graduate Program
• One of the oldest medical physics programs in North America.
• One of every 25 members of AAPM is an alumni of this program
• Prof Colin Orton, Prof Michael Joiner, Prof Jay Burmeister, and others
• Located in Detroit, Michigan, which is home to diverse muslim
communities of:
• Arab
• Syrian
• Yemeni
• Iraqi
• Bengali
• Indian
• Pakistani
• African and Afro-American

13. Incoming Class of 2017:
Back row, left to right: Olivia (Grahm) Valadie, Laza
Rakotondravohitra, Michael Costello, An Qin
Front row, left to right: Evan Porter, Nick Myziuk, Ina
Sala, Not pictured: Shahbaz Ahmed Left to Right: Jeffrey Alberghini, Kirsten DeCampos, Raji Arunachalam, Michael
Kovalchick, Garrett Godfrey, Benjamin Van, Shahbaz Ahmed (2017 class), Alec Buczek

14. Return travel for family!!!
• Shock!!!
• State of depression at first.
• Consulted Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Wayne
State University for
• emotional support
• academic success
• stress management
• It was helpful!!!
• I became resilient…
• My family became a little independent.

15. New Arrangement
• To visit family back and forth every four months.
• To transfer all the masters credits towards PhD.
• Still, audit the courses for learning purposes.
• To finish PhD as soon as possible.
• Research goals become a little realistic.

16. • Selection of a supervisor is just like matchmaking
• However, you don’t usually have a match-maker.
• Not only that, pursing a PhD is similar to being in a marital
relationship
• Understand
• Compromise
• Sacrifice
• Sustain
• I was lucky enough to find a good match!!!
Choosing a supervisor

17. Jay Burmeister, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
Chief of Physics, Karmanos Cancer Center
Professor, Department of Oncology,
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Karmanos Cancer Institute / Gershenson ROC

18. Coursework
• Transferred 32 credits from MS @ PIEAS
• Took 33 credits @ Wayne State University!!!
• Courses related to the regular PhD program as well as the
Professional DMP program
• Qualifier exam:
• Part-1
• Part-2
• Presentation / Verbal Exam

19. Some
Research
Work
Snippets
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Physical and Biological Dose Comparisons
Helical
TomoTherapy
Dose Optimization
for TBI and TMLI
Bi-institutional
Multi-
disciplinary
FMEA for a very
specialized
treatment
(Dedicated Co-60
based TBI)
14 authors

20. COO-KING…🍳 .

21. .
.
Eating
out…
Yes, Delicious
Food is
available out
there
!!!

22. COMMUNITY

24. .
F U. S. A. Trips & Visits .
.

25. Fulbright

26. ************
Class mates,
Friends, Room
mates, fellow
Alumni, and
Acquintances
************

27. Active Participation in Events
and Activities With Pakistani
Medical Physics Community

28. Sharing my Fulbright Experience

29. Chit chat with Dr Lawrence Court
Laurence Court, PhD
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center, Houston, TX
During AAPM Ohio River
Valley Chapter (ORVC)
Fall 2018 Symposium

30. COVID Pandemic… Everything changed….

31. Skills learnt and enhanced in the US…
Photography
Videography
Driving
Swimming
How to keep a cat
Financial Mgmt
Travel Planning
Cooking, baking, and catering…

32. • “Specializing early doesn’t always mean career success” – David Epstein, Science and Investigative
Reporter | TEDxManchester
• Kind vs Wicked Environment – Pros and Cons – What works where.
• Tripple B (Boss, Be-Ghum, and Balance) Management
• Parenting – Psychology of Kids – Be a Kid sometimes
• Putting Neuroscience in the Classroom: How the Brain Changes As We Learn
• URL: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/spring-2020/putting-neuroscience-in-the-
classroom-how-the-brain-changes-as-we-learn
• Pew’s “After the Fact” podcast series on “The Future of Learning”
• What Do We Know About the Brain Today?
• The Evolving Classroom
• A Career of Learning
• 'Superagers' and Lifelong Learning
Food for Thought

33. How do you
identify me?
• Look busy, do nothing!
• JACK of all trades; MASTER of none.
• Ok, you are not the only one to think like that. It is
natural!
• MayI have a right to modify those labels for myself,
please! ☝️
something. (Showcase your talent)
few.

34. “Ancora Imparò”
By Italian Sculptor Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
(1475 AD – 1564 AD) at the age of 87 years
Or By Roman Philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger
(4 BC – 65 AD) at the age of 70 years
✋ “I am still learning”
Are you, too?
Let’s help each other in this process!
Fulbright Masters and PhD, Fulbright Scholar, and Hubert
Humphrey Fellowship Programs by USEFP
https://publichealth.wustl.edu/ancora-imparo-i-am-still-learning/#:~:text=I%20kept%20thinking%20back%20to,Peter's%20Basilica.
https://www.maryellencarsley.com/blog/i-am-still-learning-misattributed-to-michelangelo-di-lodovico-buonarroti-simoni
“I am still learning”

35. Why and how to connect with me?
www.TheJackBro.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Chughtais
Email: Shahbaz.Ahmed@wayne.edu
Facebook: FB.com/ShahbazAhmedChughtai
#MedicalPhysics
#CulturalAdjustment
#CareerCounseling
#FreelanceWork
#If_I_can_be_of_any_help!
Do you want to work with me through PeoplePerHour
(PPH)?
It is the #1 freelancing community which can help you find the best freelancers.
http://pph.me/HalloShahbaz