StudioTulsa

"Love Thy Neighbor: A Muslim Doctor's Struggle for Home in Rural America"

Public Radio Tulsa | By Rich Fisher

Published July 2, 2019 at 2:33 PM CDT

In 2013, Dr. Ayaz Virji left a comfortable job at an East Coast hospital and moved to a medical facility in a small town in Minnesota; he felt personally driven -- indeed, he felt called -- to address the dire shortage of doctors in rural America. But in 2016, his choice to relocate was tested when the reliably blue and working-class county where he lived swung for Donald Trump. Leading up to and following Trump's election, Dr. Virji was shocked to suddenly see his children facing anti-Muslim remarks at school. Also, some of his most loyal patients began to question whether he and his family even belonged in the community. What had happened? What had changed, and why? And what could he do about it? Dr. Virji is our guest today on ST Medical Monday. His new book is "Love Thy Neighbor: A Muslim Doctor's Struggle for Home in Rural America."

Rich Fisher

Rich Fisher passed through KWGS about thirty years ago, and just never left. Today, he is the general manager of Public Radio Tulsa, and the host of KWGS’s public affairs program, StudioTulsa, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2012 . As host of StudioTulsa, Rich has conducted roughly four thousand long-form interviews with local, national, and international figures in the arts, humanities, sciences, and government. Very few interviews have gone smoothly. Despite this, he has been honored for his work by several organizations including the Governor's Arts Award for Media by the State Arts Council, a Harwelden Award from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, and was named one of the “99 Great Things About Oklahoma” in 2000 by Oklahoma Today magazine.

See stories by Rich Fisher