Student Spotlight: Joan Nambuba

The first time Joan Nambuba (‘22) won the lottery was when her family was granted green cards in 2001, allowing them to immigrate to the United States from Uganda. Now a US citizen, Joan says that the second time she won the lottery is when she was accepted into CCLCM.

“Because of the way the curriculum is designed, CCLCM has allowed me to explore a variety of my interests. I am now leaving the program having affirmed emergency medicine as my calling,” she says.

After nearly four years of working with her Cleveland Clinic research mentor, Christian Nasr, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Joan successfully defended a thesis focused on thyroid cancer patients this past fall. While she continues to have an enthusiasm for endocrine oncology, her career plans actually began to shift as her second year ended.

“I took some time to reflect on my long-term goals and challenged myself to be fully honest about where I see myself in the future,” she says. It turns out that a previous position as an emergency department medical scribe had left a lasting impression.

Joan is a non-traditional student, having taken four gap years before starting medical school. During that time, besides scribing, she interned at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Washington, DC, completed a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health and received a master’s degree in biomedical sciences from her alma mater, Duke University, where she had previously earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience.

“All of these experiences were instrumental in solidifying my path to medicine. Getting into the Lerner College was the icing on the cake,” she says.

While at Cleveland Clinic, Joan has been able to expand on her interest in emergency medicine. Under the guidance of CCLCM alumna Sidra Speaker, MD (‘21), and Cleveland Clinic emergency medicine physician Michael Phelan, MD, Joan presented a poster on predictors of mortality at the annual Society for Academic Emergency Medicine conference last year. She is now conducting global emergency medicine research with outside mentors, which is also contributing to a capstone project for her yearlong participation in the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association and American College of Emergency Physicians Leadership Academy.

Beyond research, pursuing emergency medicine has also allowed Joan to diversify her clinical exposure. In January of 2020, she was approved to participate in a self-designed trauma and casualty elective at Mulago Hospital, which happens to be where she was born. She went to California in 2021 for an away rotation in emergency medicine, sponsored by the Stanford Clinical Opportunity for Residency Experience Program. Using her vacation time this year in February, Joan worked at a US Department of Health and Human Services facility at the Texas-Mexico border providing urgent care for migrant children.

Reflecting, she says, “If it wasn’t for CCLCM, I would not have been able to fully immerse myself in all that emergency medicine has to offer. It’s been really fun!”

This northern Virginia transplant has also found a lot of joy in the Midwest. Outside of the hospital, you can find Joan serving on CCLCM’s Admissions Committee, hiking in the Metroparks and spending quality time with friends. She is especially grateful for the people who have given her a sense of home in Cleveland — her medical school community, Gateway Church Downtown family and Cleveland “squad” of electronic dance music enthusiasts.