Hamita Sachar, MD, has always appreciated the potential for multifaceted growth medicine.
“To be a clinician is a never-ending learning experience,” said Sachar, assistant professor of medicine (digestive diseases), and vice chief of gastroenterology. “There’s always something you will never know and it’s going to fluster you and challenge you to find the answers. That curiosity is what drives me.”
Yale School of Medicine (YSM) has been a sort of home base for Sachar, extending from residency to fellowship and now, into a leadership role in the Section of Digestive Diseases. She has been at YSM since earning her MD from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine in 2008.
At YSM, she found herself surrounded by a host of mentors. In a profession that historically has been male-dominated and a specialty that is even more so, Sachar highlighted the support of prominent women within the section, including Rosemarie Fisher, MD, Deborah Proctor, MD, Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao, MD, Tamar Taddei, MD, and Avlin Imaeda, MD, PhD.
“In terms of how I feel about women in medicine, my views can be tinged by pessimism because it can be very difficult to navigate certain issues. There are disparities and inherent biases that one experiences on a daily basis. But for my own personal growth within this institution, I’ve generally been happy and I think it has a lot to do with my personal relationships with the people who are directly responsible for my development and growth.” Among her mentors is Loren Laine, chief of digestive diseases, who worked with her on several GI bleeding research projects. Ultimately, they published two high-impact papers. Though she was recruited to continue research, Sachar realized that her heart lay more in clinical practice and improving systems of care, and joined Yale as a general gastroenterologist.
During her first two years on faculty, she identified a number of areas where improvements in clinical operations could lead to enhanced care outcomes. Those observations ignited an interest in redesigning systems of care within the section in general, and led to projects that fixed the way doctors reviewed patients who were referred for endoscopy, revised how referrals were managed, and improved the efficiency of day-to-day work. “It’s been a great adventure so far, and I’ve been supported by section leaders and the department of medicine.” As she grew into this administrative role, she eventually became the vice chief of gastroenterology (GI), and now runs the clinical practice as it relates to GI. She also has a dual leadership position as Associate Chief for Gastroenterology within the Digestive Health service line at YNHH.
“I have my time to see my patients, which has always been my first love, and I also get to do this other role that has a greater, broader impact on our patients and how we deliver care to them. It’s very satisfying.”
What she’s learned from leadership so far is the importance of mindset. In a large institution like Yale, it can be difficult to get things done. However, knowing that the “wins” have a strong impact keeps her going. “The little stuff can be very tiresome, but the more you try to surface from that and look at the big picture, the better it’s going to be for you. You have to keep your moral compass pointing in the right direction.” In this vein, she feels the growing pains of improving the clinical practice at Yale, which is known for its research. “There’s no reason why a place like us can’t be excellent at both. Frankly, we attract great people and why not leverage that?” Sachar emphasizes that clinical excellence doesn’t undermine the level of research Yale produces. Rather, it would be more of a conversation, where clinical practice is embedded in evidence-based research. Enhancing systems of care to support clinical outcomes is part of ensuring that the clinical excellence at Yale has maximal impact on patients. “We can’t stay stagnant. There are so many diseases we don’t have answers for, and we can’t be the institution that sits on it; we have to move it forward.”
The essence of forward progress is made possible by the people she works with. There’s nowhere that Sachar feels that bond than through her own experience with casework as a gastroenterologist. The greatest pleasure she’s had as a physician at Yale is in solving difficult, second- or third-opinion cases that require conversations with a host of specialists from different fields, spanning from radiology to surgery to conferences with colleagues. That collaboration, which is intrinsic within Yale’s medical community, is what differentiates Yale from private practice and other institutions. “You just learn so much as you go through that process. We get the luxury of doing this here,” she said.
The little stuff can be very tiresome, but the more you try to surface from that and look at the big picture, the better it’s going to be for you. You have to keep your moral compass pointing in the right direction.
Hamita Sachar, MD
Since forming one of the nation’s first sections of hepatology and then gastroenterology over 50 years ago, Yale’s Section of Digestive Diseases has had an enduring impact on research and clinical care in gastrointestinal and liver disorders. To learn more about their work, visit Digestive Diseases.