Aashna Kadiwar had an explanation for every symptom: The fatigue was due to her job and her college coursework. The winter season was giving her a cough. An extra blanket was causing the night sweats.
Finally, however, she could not explain why her symptoms were so severe. She visited an urgent care center, which landed her in the emergency room and led to a diagnosis of stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
It was just two days after her 21st birthday.
“Never in a million years would I think it would have been a cancer,” Kadiwar said.
She is now a second-year physician assistant (PA) student at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, set to graduate in May. The diagnosis did not derail her path, the diagnosis helped define it.
Aashna Kadiwar listens to a patient during a Salvation Army community health event.
Following her diagnosis, she underwent six months of chemotherapy. She grew up in a family of health professionals, including physicians, pharmacists and more recently PAs, so Kadiwar had people around her who understood what she was up against. She credits them, along with her care team and her faith, with helping her get through her treatment.
Aashna Kadiwar holds her treatment completion certificate at Moffitt Cancer Center after ringing the bell marking the end of her chemotherapy for stage four Hodgkin's lymphoma.
From patient to purpose
Hematology oncology had never been on her radar. She had considered dermatology, but nothing had stuck. The diagnosis and resulting medical care changed that. “Now I have something that clearly speaks to me,” she said.
During her clinical rotations at USF Health, she spent time on a malignant hematology unit. Sitting with patients going through chemotherapy, she told them she had been in their position four years earlier.
“No one expects a young person, or a provider like me, to have actually gone through what they are currently going through,” she said. “I’ve noticed the interactions get closer and deeper.”
Kadiwar chose for its 24-month accelerated curriculum and a clinical network she said could not be matched elsewhere, with built-in rotations at Tampa General Hospital, The USF Carol and Frank Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare, Moffitt Cancer Center and James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.
Larry Collins, associate director of the Physician Assistant Program at USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said her commitment to patient care reaches well outside the classroom. During her two years in the program, she has volunteered at community health fairs and mentored incoming PA students.
Larry Collins (left), associate director of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program, speaks with PA student Aashna Kadiwar during a community outreach event.
With Tampa Bay Street Medicine, Kadiwar joins fellow students on evening outreach runs, bringing hygiene supplies, medications and basic health guidance to people in need. At a Salvation Army community health event organized in partnership with the USF Health College of Nursing, she sat with patients one-on-one, fielding questions about chronic conditions and pointing people toward available resources.
“To think there aren’t health disparities even in this area is wrong,” she said. “It’s a way to help others that may not know or may not have access to the same means as the rest of us.”
For Kadiwar, the work is both practical and personal. As a patient, she had a team that showed up for her. The outreach events are, in part, her way of repaying that service.
Larry Collins, associate director of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program, participates in a Tampa Bay Street Medicine outreach run.
“Few students embody the mission of the PA profession as fully as Aashna,” Collins said. “Her sustained involvement in community outreach, mentorship and interprofessional engagement highlights a deep sense of responsibility to her peers and the communities she serves.”
Now, as graduation approaches, Kadiwar says the milestone carries a weight that goes beyond the degree.
“I’ve survived cancer,” she said. “For me, there’s a purpose, and I think that’s what gives me that joy right now, giving back so I could hopefully help someone like my team was able to help me.”