Saira Babar

Saira Babar grew up in a small village in northern Pakistan where the nearest hospital was an hour and a half away. She knew what it was like not to have immediate access to medical care. So she set her sights on becoming a physician. I wanted to help people, she says.However, a woman seeking a college education in that nation went against the grain. Fortunately for her, her father went against the grain, too.My father was a very non-typical person. He was a very educated person and encouraged me to go to medical school, she says. So, she became the first in her family to receive a medical degree.Her first opportunity to help people came during summer holidays from medical school. As a volunteer at Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, she treated illnesses among people who had been displaced from their homes across the border in war-torn Afghanistan.In 1999, her marriage brought her to the United States, and she completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Fort Smith. Her husband, Mohammad Babar, is a chemical engineer with Unilever.Dr. Babar (pronounced bobber) joined the Jefferson City Medical Group in July. I like the diversity of family medicine, where you can treat all age groups, she notes. She especially appreciates the ability to give her patients quick access to many other JCMG specialties when needed.Dr. Babar and her husband have two children, ages 1 and 3, who are learning to speak both English and Pakistani.I would like to have them exposed to both cultures, Dr. Babar says, but adds that the differences in the cultures are not many.She enjoys vegetable gardening, cooking and reading.