First-year endocrinology fellow Kavitha Subramoney, MBBS, MS, took an unconventional path to the field. Originally from South India–which she called “the land of temples and amazing food"–Subramoney initially trained there as an academic ophthalmologist before coming to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for her internal medicine residency. After completing her residency, she worked for several years as a hospitalist at IU.
During her time as a hospitalist, Subramoney–who said that diabetes has always been close to her heart, both personally and professionally–developed an interest in obesity medicine.
“The challenges faced by obese patients are far-ranging and daunting,” she said. “This motivated me to pursue further training and positively impact patient care.”
Her interest in endocrinology was “enduring,” and so Subramoney decided to enroll in the Endocrinology Fellowship, where she has greatly enjoyed her clinical work.
“Endocrinology is a specialty that cares for a patient throughout their lives, and establishing a relationship with the patient was appealing,” she said.
On the research side, Subramoney has had the opportunity to work with COVID patients who were hospitalized specifically with discharge planning to prevent readmissions. Additionally, she was recently awarded a prestigious grant from the Endocrine Fellows Foundation to study the incidence of diabetes in transgender patients.
Mentor Carmella Evans-Molina, PhD, MS, MD, praised Subramoney for her excellent communication skills and described her as smart, diligent, detail-oriented and hardworking.
“Dr. Subramoney is an accomplished physician with extensive medical knowledge and outstanding clinical judgment,” Evans-Molina said.
At home, Subramoney has a 14-year-old daughter and enjoys baking and making ice cream. She also calls herself a “huge Harry Potter fan.”
“I am lucky to have been chosen by this amazing program despite being far out from residency training,” she said. “I have had nothing but support for my unconventional career transition and sincerely appreciate that my mentors and teachers are cheering for me to succeed.”
