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The DO

How NYITCOM’s Emigre Physicians Program saves the dreams of immigrant physicians

By The DO Staff

03.14.26

Tanzina A. Ela, DO, arrived in the United States from Bangladesh in 2017 with bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBBS) medical degrees, an internship behind her and the expectation that her life was finally beginning. Instead, life as she knew it was ending. The arranged marriage she entered months earlier became violent fast, stripping her of safety long before she could say the word “escape.” When she finally fled, she had no family in the U.S. and no financial cushion.