Josh Samudre

Last updated: November 2021

IBD Community Advocate Josh SamudreI was an invisible man. Armed with my wide-toothed grin, I often put up a joyous facade for family and friends while pain and fatigue filled my interior. Embarrassed with ulcerative colitis, I masked a life that was anything but cheerful. Forcing myself to live as a normal college student sapped my energy. Even a gentle breeze bullied my body. Living as a patient with an incurable disease felt like a roadblock on my path to becoming a physician. I soon learned, however, that aspects of living with an invisible illness both enriched my life in ways I didn’t anticipate and strengthened my desire to pursue medicine.

Reaching out to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation gave me a chance to see my disease as a source of connection filled with many opportunities. Through the Foundation, I started fundraising teams, advocated for bill reform to congressmen in Washington D.C., and served as a camp counselor for kids with IBD. The social support that I received from fellow patients and others at these events has been life changing. I met people with worse conditions who handled their diseases significantly better than I did. These experiences motivated me to become a better advocate for myself and other people who are struggling below the surface. Recognizing my own sense of invisibility has given me a platform to pursue my medical dreams and a determination to succeed in this regard.

I am an invisible man committed to serving the needs of others. Enduring the unrelenting nature of ulcerative colitis has empowered me to actively seek out those in need. I recently became accepted to medical school at Tulane University and will start my first year in August 2019. My experiences as a patient enlightened me to the interactions I hope to have with my patients in the future, providing me with a voice to reach out, comfort others, and give them a chance to feel visible again.

Click here to read all of Josh's articles on InflammatoryBowelDisease.net.

By providing your email address, you are agreeing to our privacy policy.

More on this topic