Dr. Avashia spent most of her childhood in Charleston, WV and graduated with honors from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. She obtained her medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine and completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Indiana University.
I grew up surrounded by role models with a passion for medicine and a value of service. Their enthusiasm was infectious and I loved hearing their stories. I also got to tag along with them to experience medicine firsthand. Over the years I did consider other careers but my interest in the art and science of healing kept drawing me back. I believe that to achieve wellness physicians have to address social, emotional and physical determinants of health. We need to have collaborative relationships with our patients but we also need to be engaged in effecting social change in our communities.
I have worked in indigent care clinics in Austin for almost my entire career. Since 2009, I have been teaching in the Family Medicine Residency program. It is a privilege to be in a role where I can help to shape the physicians of the future. I enjoy bringing elements of global health, art, literature, and integrative medicine into my teaching because understanding our patient's stories is crtical to helping them achieve good health, and medications play only a small part in improving overall health.