Abiba Salahou, MD

Hi everyone! My name is Abiba (Ah-bee-bah) and I am a second- generation American from Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. I grew up in Syracuse, NY, where I developed a curiosity for medicine and advocacy while translating for my grandmother at her medical appointments. I am extremely passionate about community organizing, restorative social justice work, and creative writing. I studied biology at Bard College in Annandale-on- Hudson, NY, and completed a senior thesis on the effects of fluoxetine on Xenopus laevis tadpole feeding behavior. After undergrad, I spent two gap years working as a Clinical Research Assistant at Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem and became further involved in community advocacy through the NYC Chapter of Million Hoodies Movement for Justice. As a medical student, I was inducted into the Gold Humanism National Honor Society and also served as a mentor to six POC students in the class below me. I was able to maintain my strong interest in advocacy and discover a new interest in medical education through creating a “Call to Action” Anti-Racism medical education initiative to improve diversity within the preclinical curriculum at my medical school. I also served as a student leader in my school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, SNMA, and interdisciplinary Pediatric Health Equity Grand Rounds. My strong interest in child and adolescent psychiatry led to my involvement in AACAP and I presented on the ongoing Black youth suicide crisis at the 2022 AACAP conference. I am also interested in academic psychiatry, immigrant mental health, psychotherapy, and the intersection of Islam and mental health. Outside of medicine, I love creative writing (especially poetry), thrift shopping, horror movies, and cooking. Participating in the 2022-2023 Doximity Op-Med Writing Fellowship cohort this year has allowed me to meld my interests in advocacy, medicine, and writing. As a recently inducted member of “Yelp Elite” and a budding food blogger, I am super excited to try out new restaurants in New Haven and explore the area with my new family at Yale!