These interviews are a collaboration between the Worcester District Medical Society and the Lamar Soutter Library. The conversations provide insight on the physicians' personal and professional experience in providing healthcare to immigrant and refugee communities.
George M. Abraham, MD, MPH, MACP, FIDSA, FRCP (Lon.)
Dr. Abraham immigrated to the United States after earning his medical degrees from the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, and completing his residency and chief residency at Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, MA. He received his master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Having recently completed his term as the President of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Abraham champions and writes extensively on DEI causes and issues in the health sciences fields. Recently, the VA chapter of the ACP named their DEI award after him, recognizing his being a vocal proponent of DEI attributes.
Howa Abu, MD
Dr. Abu was born and raised in Nigeria where she attended the Premier University of Ibadan Medical school, graduating in 2010. Post-graduation she did her one-year internship and worked for three years as a medical officer with the military and in underserved communities. In 2014, leaving behind her family in Nigeria, she graduated from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a master's in public health, focusing on epidemiology and biostatistics for clinical research. In 2016, Dr. Abu began doctoral training in Clinical and Population Health Research at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA. She served as a postdoctoral research associate in Cardiovascular Medicine at UMass Chan. Presently, she is a third-year Internal Medicine resident at the Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, MA, and in July 2023 she will rejoin the UMass Chan Medical School community for her Geriatrics fellowship training.
Harvey G. Clermont, “Jerry”, MD
Dr. Clermont graduated from Harvard Medical School and trained in surgery at Harvard. While serving in the Navy where he cared for Aleuts and other indigenous peoples, he moved to Shrewsbury, MA to continue practicing surgery. Dr. Clermont founded a 501c3 organization (C.H.A.N.G.E.) which provided free healthcare to the indigent of Guatemala, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. He also founded five additional non-profit organizations, including St. Anne’s Free Medical Program in Shrewsbury, MA, where he primarily treated foreign born people who could not afford healthcare.
Jane A. Lochrie, MD
Dr. Lochrie has 27 years of volunteering weekly at the St. Anne’s Free Medical Program where she is the Medical Director. Together with John Smithhisler, CEO, St. Vincent's Hospital, Worcester, MA and Lisa Izzo, Executive Director of St. Anne’s and St. Peter’s Free Medical Clinics, she was instrumental in opening the St. Peter’s Free Medical Program in August 2020 where she is the Medical Director. Dr. Lochrie has participated in mission trips to Haiti and Guatemala where she continues to help educate and care for those in great need.
Sahdev Passey, MD
After graduating from Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, India, Dr. Passey migrated to the United States in 1973 and has been in the Worcester, Massachusetts area ever since. After completing his Pediatric Residency at Worcester City Hospital and a Fellowship in Ambulatory Pediatrics at Memorial Hospital, Dr. Passey started his Pediatric Practice in Worcester, MA in 1978 and continues to practice pediatric medicine at the Vernon Medical Center in Worcester. Since 2005, Dr. Passey has been the Director of the Free Health Stop, Shrewsbury, MA, a charitable project supported by the Indian Medical Association of New England. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for his community and volunteer service, most recently a Life Time Achievement Award for Volunteerism from the White House.
Yuvaraj Singh, MD
Yuvaraj Singh is a chief medical resident at Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, MA. He will be joining the University of Massachusetts, Worcester MA in July to pursue a gastroenterology fellowship. He is an international medical graduate, trained at Manipal University, India. He joined Saint Vincent Hospital in 2019 to complete his internal medicine residency. Dr. Singh spent his formative years in Doha, Qatar where he currently resides and visits during vacations.
Meme Tran, MD
Dr. Tran is an emergency medicine physician at the Milford Regional Medical Center, Milford, MA. She graduated from MIT and completed medical school and residency at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA. Her parents are refugees from Vietnam, and she is a first-generation college student and the first to become a physician in her family. As a board member and former interim executive director at the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP), she works to help refugee families and children achieve self-sustainability.