Arif Ahmad, MD

BookLife Talks with Arif Ahmad The BookLife Review of A Piece of Me praises Ahmad for debuting “ with a memorable blend of poetry and prose describing life as a Muslim immigrant in the United States … [ and offering ] gripping revelations and thought-provoking insight .” We spoke to Dr. Ahmad about weaving of poetry and prose together with his hope for a better future for human ity . How did A Piece of Me come together? An unplanned moment of destiny dawned in 2013 with my first piece of writing, “ The Optimist . ” Over the next decade, I kept writing and publishing these pieces. Finally, in 2021, I gathered them in book form . True to that first writing, I strive for a better common future for the human race through our refinement as individuals, people, and societies. The book presents other perspectives : “ I never looked at it this way, ” is what I have heard from several readers. Another reader wrote, “I finished it and then immediately read it again, but this ti...

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https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/--131/a-piece-of-me/ A PIECE OF ME an arrangement of words to inspire reflection A physician offers a cultural critique in free verse. In this “arrangement of words,” Ahmad grapples with his identity as a Muslim and a Pakistani immigrant in the post–9/11 American Midwest. “I use the written word to emote, often untamed and exact out of my heart,” he tells readers in the introduction. He begins by considering “your average Muslim Joe and Mary,” who are rejected both by Muslim fundamentalists for not being “Muslim enough” and by Americans for being too different. As a cardiologist, he contemplates “the disparity of effort between the acts of saving life and taking life. One is so hard, difficult, and temporary. The other seems so easy, effortless, and permanent.” He rails against the Muslim registry proposed by President Donald Trump in 2016 in “American Shame,” while in “Where Are the Mandelas, the Gandhis of This Century?” he wonders where the...

https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/a-piece-of-me/#:~:text=The%20book%20dances%20between%20personal,pervasive%20social%20discrimination%20against%20women.   A PIECE OF ME AN ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS TO INSPIRE REFLECTION Arif Ahmad RF Publishing  ( Jun 21, 2022 ) ( 192pp ) 978-1-73739-291-0 Clarion Rating: 4 out of 5 The varied essays and poems of the autobiographical collection  A Piece of Me  are shared to inspire the community involvement that they model. The autobiographical essays and poems of physician Arif Ahmad’s collection  A Piece of Me  ably reveal his personal perspective. Following the 1947 partition, Ahmad’s family moved from India to Pakistan. He attended university and medical school in Pakistan and did his residency in the US, ending up in Wisconsin as a cardiologist and electrophysiologist. His essays and poems variously function as responses to current events, and as reflections on his home, work life, and personal past. The entries vary ...

https://booklife.com/project/a-piece-of-me-an-arrangement-of-words-to-inspire-reflection-71805   Ahmad, a Pakistani American cardiologist, debuts with a memorable blend of poetry and prose describing life as a Muslim immigrant in the United States. He writes of his own disillusionment—decrying needless killing racial persecution, and American polarization—and muses on the state of the nation: “Why wait for a catastrophe to unite us, I say.” Undercurrents of outrage and fear lurk throughout, and humanity’s tendency toward self-inflicted suffering is nimbly examined– “If killing would make the world safer somehow/ Wouldn’t this be a very safe planet by now?” Passionate feeling powers these incisive pieces. In “American Shame,” Ahmad exhorts political leaders to denounce a proposed Muslim registry in the United States. He shares the searing pain of a proud immigrant American citizen now facing increased vetting upon his return home from international travels in “Welcome Home,” and he ...

https://www.amazon.com/PIECE-ME-arrangement-inspire-reflection-ebook/dp/B09967M6D8/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= A PIECE OF ME an arrangement of words to inspire reflection I am Dr. Arif Ahmad, a busy cardiologist in Wisconsin, USA, double boarded in Cardiology and Electrophysiology. I am a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a Fellow of Heart Rhythm Society.  This book is a labor of love starting with the first writing, The Optimist, in 2013 and gradually accumulating over the years. It is the World during these times from the perspective of a brown Muslim Pakistani American Physician, and then it is some more.  My weaving into the American society is a story in itself. Believing in the absolute equality of all people, I claim zero superiority over anyone else based on region, race, religion, or for any other reason. In the same breath, I refuse to become a second-rate citizen. The American society, in its most honest state, lends itself we...

https://www.amazon.com/Piece-Me-arrangement-inspire-reflection/dp/1737392925/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= INTRODUCTION  A PIECE OF ME an arrangement of words to inspire reflection What might a Muslim, Pakistani American Physician have to say about the decade that was? For a private person, A Piece of Me, feels like baring the most intimate realms of my soul. Some of my writings have followed the ebb of time and are reactionary, while others are time-independent.  I grew up in Lahore, Pakistan. Studying at Sacred Heart and Saint Anthony's gave me a global perspective early on. A Ravian (Government College) and an Iqbalian (Allama Iqbal Medical College) followed. I came to the USA in 1993 to train and practice in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Electrophysiology. American Midwest is home, and the Muslim faith is how I know of reaching for the Divine. To become a better Samaritan is a challenge I keep at. Because I have worked hard and sacrificed much, ...