War. Corrupt governments. Political oppression. Physicians are immune to none of these. To escape them, many come to the United States. MedPage Today is profiling some of them, capturing their stories, from the challenges -- having it all and then losing it all, planning and executing a dangerous clandestine escape, gaining U.S. entry -- to the rewards (and new challenges) of finally becoming a doctor in the U.S.
Heval Kelli, MD, was beaten by Syrian police when he was just 11 years old.
His father was a lawyer who wasn't falling in line with the government's agenda, and that made life very hard for the Kelli family, who were living in a nice house in a middle-class neighborhood at the time.
After the incident, in which Kelli's mother was also attacked, they decided it was no longer safe for them in Syria.
"My father paid smugglers to get us out of the country," Kelli told MedPage Today.
That was more than two decades ago, and now Kelli is a cardiology fellow at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Watch the video to hear more about Kelli's journey -- from Syria to Germany to the U.S., learning English as he starts high school and washes dishes 40 hours per week, all the while dreaming about becoming a doctor in America.