Azka Afzal, MD

Dr. Azka Afzal has been practicing internal medicine since 2016, following the completion of a 6-year combined Bachelor’s and Medical Doctorate program at the University of Missouri. She entered this program directly from high school, driven by a long-standing passion to pursue a career in medicine. However, she soon recognized a disconnect between the current practices of western medicine and the root causes of illnesses, which patients sought to address. She observed significant improvements in her patients when incorporating a holistic approach to care, focusing on nutrition, wellbeing, and preventative care. This approach was influenced by her primary care mentors during her residency in internal medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.

Originally from Chicago, Dr. Afzal returned home after completing her education and training. She practiced primary care and hospitalist medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine for 5 years, where she was part of an innovative approach that allowed her to care for her own primary care patients in the hospital if they were hospitalized. Through this, she directly observed how building a therapeutic relationship with her patients, collaborating with them on their care, and incorporating holistic care significantly reduced their hospitalizations, decreased the amount of medications they were taking, and improved quality of life.

She is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and a member of the American Medical Association, Society of General Internal Medicine, and the Society of Hospital Medicine. She is eager to continue her lifelong journey in integrative medicine by joining the Raby Institute at the end of the summer. Her leisure activities include spending time in nature and with her family, including her dog and cats. She also enjoys medical education and writing in her free time, having authored medical articles for platforms such as ABC News and Good Morning America.