Anand Bosmia M.D. - 2009
Anand is one of our most memorable philosophy majors, graduating from our program in 2009 and from UAB Heersink School of Medicine in 2015.
From there Anand went on to LSU, Shreveport to train in general psychiatry with a specialization in forensic medicine. Anand is a gifted writer whose interests are wide and varied. He has published articles on a variety of topics including the cultural practices of outlaw biker gangs, Irish Travelers, Indian ascetics and the Japanese Yakuza. He had also been writing a novel, a murder mystery set in Birmingham, Alabama but has had to put it aside for now as he studies for his forensic psychiatry board exam which he will take later this year. Passing this exam will allow him to do court evaluations—competency to stand trial, insanity defenses and so on—for the district courts of North Louisiana.
Anand is currently working in a busy practice as a general adult psychiatrist at Shreveport Behavioral Health Clinic which serves the poor who are mentally ill. He considers his medical practice to be more than simply a job; he considers it to be a vocation, and what he has learned as an undergraduate philosophy major is intrinsic to his worldview. He feels as though he frequently faces medical dilemmas which have obvious ethical components that he is forced to navigate under much less than ideal conditions. In these circumstances, he is frequently reminded of what he learned as an undergraduate philosophy major.
Anand says: “I am finding important spiritual meaning in my work. Philosophy helped me see the evils of utilitarian approaches to patient care and the need for virtue to guide a physician in caring for society's vulnerable individuals. Mental health is not a priority in this country given the closing of state hospitals for the chronically mentally ill, and the habit of many inpatient facilities of discharging patients once insurance stops paying for hospitalization is a betrayal of the Hippocratic Oath.” Even though Anand does sometimes feel as though he is pushing a rock up a mountain, he has also had his share of success stories and he finds his job and his life to be meaningful.