Finding Community and Mentorship at the North American Sikh Medical and Dental Association Conference
This article is written by Harnoor Kaur Sachar, Director of Community Service at the Sikh Medical Initiative (SMI). Here, she reflects on her experience representing SMI at the 2026 North American Sikh Medical and Dental Association (NASMDA) Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, and on finding community, mentorship, and a shared commitment to seva among Sikh healthcare professionals and trainees. To learn more about SMI’s community service initiatives, please contact Harnoor at harnoorsachar@gmail.com.
July 15, 2026
FINDING COMMUNITY AT THE INTERSECTION OF SIKHI AND MEDICINE
As an undergraduate student at Georgetown University, I have the privilege of being surrounded by passionate and brilliant students who wish to change the world. And yet, while I am grateful for that inspiration, I have sometimes struggled to find community in the spaces that are most familiar to me.
Attending NASMDA 2026 was an important experience because it allowed me to witness the intersection of Sikh values and medicine firsthand. As an aspiring physician and global health researcher, I have come to realize how deeply my career goals are informed by my Sikhi, particularly the principle of seva. Seeing the ways Sikh physicians and trainees carry these values into their everyday work was both grounding and deeply affirming.
SEVA AS A PRACTICE
At NASMDA, I saw seva not simply as an abstract ideal, but as a practice embedded in patient care and community-building. From conversations with medical students navigating similar identities to learning from physicians who have built careers rooted in service, I found a sense of belonging that I had been searching for.
Representing the Sikh Medical Initiative and introducing our new 2026 Seva Care Cohort further reinforced how powerful it can be to create spaces where faith and medicine are not in tension, but in dialogue.
The Seva Care Cohort focuses on expanding community-based health clinics in gurdwaras. It was incredibly heartwarming to see how supportive the NASMDA community was of these efforts, with attendees offering ideas, connections, and encouragement. That collective enthusiasm reaffirmed for me the power of Sikh spaces not only to inspire individual journeys in medicine, but also to mobilize community-centered care.
MOVING FORWARD WITH COMMUNITY AND MENTORSHIP
I left the conference re-energized and more certain that community and mentorship will be essential to my journey in medicine. NASMDA reminded me that my values and identity are not things I need to set aside in clinical spaces. Instead, they can serve as anchors that shape how I hope to practice medicine—with compassion, humility, and a commitment to seva.
For those interested in joining our seva efforts through the 2026 Seva Care Cohort, follow @sikhmedicalinitiative on Instagram for upcoming information about clinics and opportunities in your area.
