Giving back to different communities as a medical student and future provider is a true passion for Noopur Ranganathan — and the proof can be found in just about everything she does.

As an M1 at OUWB, for example, she established a partnership between OUWB’s Orthopaedic Surgery Interest Group and Disability Network Eastern Michigan (DNEM) — a relationship she said is beneficial for both the organization and OUWB students interested in orthopaedic surgery.

Her commitment to service continues through her nonprofit called Tibia Strong that focuses on serving as an advocate for orthopaedic patients.

And between the community-based initiatives, Ranganathan completed a research year in orthopaedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and was selected to give a talk on quality education and gender equality at the United Nations Commission on Status of Women in New York City.

Her actions speak to her commitment to helping others — and embody the OUWB mission statement “to develop compassionate physicians who are dedicated to improving the health of their communities through collaboration, and lifelong learning.”

“As a medical student and future provider…we strive to be advocates of health across all communities,” said Ranganathan, now an M3.

‘It means everything’

DNEM’s mission, according to its website, is to “(promote) inclusion for all by breaking down barriers and opening paths towards independence and personal choice through resources, advocacy, information, support, and education.”

Through the partnership established by Ranganathan, OUWB students have volunteered at various DNEM events: adaptive kayaking, adaptive golf, wheelchair tennis, and other recreational activities.

And the support from OUWB wasn’t limited to volunteerism — Ranganathan individually raised more than $1,000 to donate to the organization by taking on jobs in her neighborhood, tutoring, and donating a stipend she received through the orthopaedic surgery summer internship at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, Royal Oak.

These types of donations help fund necessary equipment for their events, said Carrie Gerdeman, director, Recreation & Health Services, DNEM.

“It means everything (to have students involved),” said Gerdeman. “These are the doctors that are going to be servicing people with disabilities.”

Gerdeman added that because DNEM is a Center for Independent Living (CIO) run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities, the partnership is a great opportunity for future physicians to learn about CIOs and recreational programs.

“Those aren’t things they’re going to learn in medical school because they’re not typically part of the medical model,” she said. “But they are a huge piece of helping people with disabilities be independent and lead really fulfilling, enriched lives.

“It’s really important then on our side to have doctors partnering with us in their knowledge that they bring. It’s a really great partnership because we can learn from them, they can learn from us, and take that into their careers.”

‘The future of health care’

Ranganathan first volunteered with DNEM in 2022. However, she has a history of giving back.

Since high school, Ranganathan has been an advocate for the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on advocating for equitable quality education.

According to the SDG 4 informational website, the initiative “aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

As part of this initiative, Ranganathan organized a STEM initiative for at-risk students in Florida. This program helped reduce the high school dropout rate in Volusia County.

“That initiative and the impact it created got recognized by the Education Board of Florida, which then gave me the chance to talk about the importance of quality education and gender equality at the United Nations,” she said. “Since then, I’ve been working for the United Nations as an advocate.”

During undergrad at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she created a technological solution for the deaf-blind community. That solution empowers those with visual and auditory impairments to take control of their own communication by having words automatically translated into braille. Her efforts were rewarded with the Peter and Sharon Fiekowsky Award for Public Service.

With her well-established history working in this area, Ranganathan aims to get other students involved and said that it’s “essential” that medical students are aware of these communities’ needs.

“What we’re seeing (in medical school) is the medical aspect of health care, which is important, but to be a future physician, it’s equally important to understand the needs from the patient side,” she said.

“Understanding the person behind the patient can really help deliver more personalized care, and that’s what the future of health care is.”

Looking ahead

After her second year of medical school, Ranganathan spent a research year at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Her focus was on foot and ankle, which allowed her to spend time in operating rooms and clinic. She also had exposure to other subspecialties of orthopaedic surgery.

It builds on a love of the specialty that began when she was an athlete in high school. She had a fracture that led to her eventually shadowing an orthopaedic surgeon.

During her research year, she also worked at Dick’s Sporting Goods that enabled her to learn more about sports from a patient perspective while contributing to her nonprofit.

“The main reason I like orthopaedics is it’s one of few specialties where you really care about a patient’s hobbies and interests,” she said. “Almost every single day in an (orthopaedic) clinic, you’re asking patients what they want to get back to doing, whether it’s running a 5K, biking, gardening, and so on, which can impact management.”

It’s the same mindset that led her to start Tibia Strong.

The nonprofit’s overall mission is to provide care to orthopaedic patients in various ways.

In just one example, the organization creates kits that contain various non-clinical supplies that can be used by orthopaedic pediatric patients. There are plans to eventually include more items in the kits, too.

Another initiative of the nonprofit is to raise awareness of the field of orthopaedics among high school and undergraduate students.

“I’ve always been interested in the work done by nonprofits since high school,” said Ranganathan “as nonprofits are the best way to gauge the needs of a community.”

Looking ahead, she hopes to continue nurturing growth of the nonprofit. And she is aiming to include it as part of the next phase of her career in medicine.

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.