Convocation Profile: Owais Salahudeen

On Monday, May 11, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix will hold its 16th Convocation. Led by a pipe and drum corps, the Class of 2026 will process through downtown Phoenix, finishing at the Phoenix Convention Center for their official ceremony. The day marks the beginning of the next phase in their journey as physicians. The college profiled a series of graduating students to commemorate the milestone.

Meet Owais Salahudeen

Owais Salahudeen’s journey to medicine and his first experience with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix began as a high school student. Owais attended the Summer Scrubs program, a camp which brings high school students from across the Phoenix area to participate in various professional lectures and hands-on experiences. 

Owais remembers leaving camp in awe after getting to dissect pig hearts and working through clinical scenarios in the Center for Simulation and Innovation. He had always known from a young age that he wanted to go into medicine, but Summer Scrubs was the first time his dream felt tangible and that he could truly picture himself becoming a physician.

Owais then went on to attend the University of California Los Angeles, where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology. 

Owais’ biggest supporters are his parents. As a constant source of support, Owais could count on them during the harder moments of medical school and call them whenever he needed.

Owais is proud to have grown up in the state of Arizona and has witnessed firsthand the many barriers that Arizona communities face when it comes to health care, so it’s especially meaningful for him that he will stay the state to complete his residency and continue advocating for the communities that helped shape him. 

Match Day

On Match Day, what was it like discovering where you were headed for residency?

Match Day was equal parts nerve-wracking and exciting. I truly had no idea where I would be training for the next five years, and all that information was sitting right inside that envelope and candy bar. It was such a memorable moment to open it surrounded by my friends and family, all of whom had supported me throughout this journey.

What’s Next?

What excites you most about your upcoming residency? Where are you headed?

I am headed to Mayo Clinic Arizona for Diagnostic Radiology! I am most excited about the learning opportunities and resources available there. I was lucky enough to do an away rotation at Mayo and saw firsthand how involved the attending physicians are in the residents’ education and how invested they are in supporting their research and career goals. Staying in sunny Arizona with golf courses galore is not a bad selling point either.

What inspired you to pursue this specialty?

Radiology was not really on my radar when I started medical school. Funny enough, my very first shadowing experience was in interventional radiology, and I was immediately drawn to how innovative and cutting-edge the field was. As I spent more time in the reading room, I came to appreciate how collaborative diagnostic radiology can be and how important radiologists are as consultants for the rest of the medical team. I loved being able to help answer clinical questions and guide patient care, while still having opportunities to do procedures as well.

The College of Medicine – Phoenix Culture

Looking back, what’s your favorite medical school memory?

There are so many memories to choose from! One of the first that comes to mind is orientation in Flagstaff. Right off the bat, the College of Medicine – Phoenix brought our class together, and by the end of the weekend all 120-something of us somehow ended up doing karaoke together. It was the perfect way to break the ice, and that weekend really laid the foundation for many of the friendships I made in medical school.

I also look back fondly on my time as class president. I loved having the opportunity to work closely with both my classmates and the administration to advocate for our students and help make our medical school experience even better.

I am so grateful that the College of Medicine – Phoenix made such a demanding curriculum flexible enough to allow me to travel and continue pursuing experiences outside the classroom. During medical school I had the opportunity to go from Machu Picchu in Peru to Thailand and many countries in between, which made these four years even more memorable.

Looking back now it feels surreal that ten years later I am graduating from the same medical school where that journey initially began.