Gazala Hitawala

Hi there! If you clicked on this to read more about me, we are already friends. I am Gazala Hitawala and I spent 25 years of my life in India, finished my medical school from Ravindranath Tagore Medical College in Udaipur, my hometown. I left my family and made the big move to America to start my residency, in search of advanced clinical and research experiences.

My love for neurology is what I like to call a “slow burn”, it developed over the years, in the dust filled library, reading thick fat books on the brain and challenging myself to remember it all. I also witnessed multiple family members fall prey to debilitating neurological conditions- epilepsy, somatiform disorder, parkinson, you name it, I saw it. Some had good outcomes and some worse due to limited clinical counseling available. It became a driving force for me to gain strong training to serve optimally to the needs of a diverse range of population. My journey finally got me to my training here at University of Maryland, a program that provides good exposure to a plethora of neurological conditions, collegial environment where everyone is available to help and create a healthy work environment. We have top notch faculty, leaders in the field and their easy accessibility and constructive feedback always helps us to improve and be better.

The first few days of moving to Baltimore, I was scared, mostly due to the infamous stories I’d heard, but within a month of living here I have learnt to explore so much and yet stay safe. I walk around 15 minutes to the hospital and the waterfront is serene and lovely for a stroll. I have tried crab cakes, sushi rolls, pad thai and the flavors are the best.