The road to success is not an easy and straightforward path, but a path that is poised with challenges of all natures. For EnMed instructor Farid Omoumi, MD, PhD, life to success was anything but a clear shot.
Omoumi has endured his fair share of challenge and resilience, yet after years of hard work and persistence, Omoumi found his perfect match within the EnMed family, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Omoumi’s journey was none other than ordinary; following high school, Omoumi completed his medical education at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in his home country, Iran. For six years Omoumi was a practicing physician, and in 2008, he immigrated to the United States eager to lay down roots in his new home and continue his passions.
However, applying and matching into a U.S. residency program came with more difficulty than Omoumi could foresee. Omoumi would be required to complete the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) to acquire the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certification. While all medical students, both national and international, are required to complete the USMLE, matching into residency in the U.S. heavily depended on graduation cut-off and U.S. based clinical experience, two things that would keep Omoumi from matching into residency. Trying to navigate the difficulty of these challenges, Omoumi saw two solutions: restart his medical education in a U.S. medical school, or pivot to another field to learn something new.
Omoumi found himself at a crossroads, poised with the question, “What now?” Omoumi stated, “At first, I was not sure what to do. Did I want to redo everything I have already done or start fresh in a completely different field?” To his surprise, he chose the latter and pursued his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2016.
After six years of persistence and dedication, Omoumi received his PhD in 2022 from the University of Oklahoma, focusing his research on phase-sensitive x-ray breast imaging. “I had no background in engineering prior—not even a bachelor’s degree. But I knew I could do it,” said Omoumi. Putting both his medical and engineering mindsets together, he found himself at the intersection of engineering and medicine.
Upon completing his PhD and during his post-doc period, Omoumi sought the need to use both acquired skillsets in his professional career. “When I came across EnMed, I had put all my other applications to the side; this was the one for me,” stated Omoumi, “EnMed would allow me to use what I know, and guide students with similar paths to create a world where engineering and medicine could coexist for the betterment of health care.”
Omoumi began his teaching career with EnMed in May 2023 as an instructional assistant professor. Having moved across the world in 2008, to now shaping the mind of young innovators, Omoumi is the epitome of resilience, dedication, and ambition, and he is ready to innovate the next generation of engineering and medicine.
