Attending medical school in Miami, where high rates of HIV persist, Natasha Chida says she quickly became interested in human rights.
“It was apparent to me that the HIV epidemic is a direct result of social injustice, racism and health inequity. That’s one reason I decided to go into internal medicine,” says the fourth director of the Osler Medical Residency at Johns Hopkins. Chida succeeds former Osler Medical Residency Director Sanjay Desai ’03, who left his position in October to serve as chief academic officer for the American Medical Association.
When Chida began caring for patients with HIV after graduating from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (where she also earned a master’s degree in public health), she enjoyed serving that population so much that she decided to specialize in infectious diseases. After completing her internal medicine residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she also served as chief resident, Chida came to Johns Hopkins for an infectious disease fellowship. In 2016, she joined the faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases.
Chida went on to co-direct the Osler and Bayview Medical Training Programs’ medical education pathway, which prepares trainees for careers in medical education. She has also served on national education committees for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Infectious Diseases Society of America and is consulted often about COVID-19.
In her new role as director of the Osler Medical Residency Program, the nation’s first residency, Chida oversees 155 residents. She aims to further develop the Osler program’s outpatient training experience, “engaging with community outreach, and tailoring the program to meet residents’ needs, with a personalized training experience that fits their unique goals.”
“There’s very little I find more satisfying than seeing a resident or fellow think through what they want out of their future, watch them attain their goals, and then move to their next experience excited about their future,” says Chida, the mother of two sons, ages 5 and 2. “I experienced that here myself.”
