The fluorescent lights of the gastroenterology suite had long since dimmed by the time Asif Choudhury MD finished his last procedure of the day. But his work was far from over. In the waiting room sat another patient, one without insurance, without the means to pay but with a digestive condition that demanded attention. For more than two decades, this scene repeated itself weekly in Fort Myers, Florida, where the interventional gastroenterologist built a practice defined not by profit margins but by a principle borrowed from his grandfather's example.
"Helping people is a core value I was raised with," Choudhury says, reflecting on the family legacy that shaped his approach to medicine. "My maternal grandfather was a respected legislator in the Indian subcontinent, and my paternal family were doctors who focused on helping the poor."
His career spanned continents before he stepped away from clinical practice in 2017. Training took him from Dhaka to Maryland, from Mayo Clinic to Hamburg, Germany but it was in Southwest Florida where he would spend 17 years putting that training to work while never turning away those who could not afford care.
That dual commitment to clinical excellence and community service defined the career of Choudhury in ways that standard medical credentials cannot capture.
Before Choudhury became Section Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Lee Health, his medical education at the Institute of Postgraduate Medicine and Research in Dhaka gave way to residency training in internal medicine at Prince George's Hospital in Maryland. This was followed by a research fellowship at Mayo Clinic, which resulted in papers published in major clinical journals in 1995. It was further specialized by his clinical fellowship training in gastroenterology at the State University of New York in Brooklyn.
The procedures performed by Asif Choudhury MD during his years at Lee Health represented some of the most technically demanding work in gastroenterology. ERCP or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography involves the passage of a scope through the digestive system to the bile ducts and pancreatic ducts. In the case that these pathways are blocked or diseased, the procedure may spell the difference between recovery and further deterioration.
He did these operations at volumes that put him at the top of the lists of his health system. Numbers do not tell the complexity of the cases he handled or the results he was able to achieve. One of his specific areas of interest is that of esophageal stent placement, which entails the handling of sensitive tissues to open a blocked or damaged esophagus with the use of a metal or plastic tube.
"My successful gastroenterology procedures, especially placing esophageal stents in patients with perforations and pneumomediastinum," he says, remain among the accomplishments he values most. "The long-term healing and recovery of many of these patients is something I am proud of."
The recoveries that occurred were usually under the most desperate conditions: cancer patients whose growth had obstructed their esophagus, trauma patients whose wounds had cut tender tissue, patients with strictures so severe that they could scarcely swallow. The interventions provided these patients with an opportunity to eat once more, breathe easily, and proceed to some level of normal life.
Another important service that he offered was gastrostomy tube placement. These feeding tubes, inserted directly into the stomach through the abdominal wall, become lifelines for patients who cannot take nutrition by mouth. To hundreds of patients, the tube installed by Asif Choudhury MD was the difference between proper nutrition and slow deterioration.
While building his reputation through complex procedures and departmental leadership, he devoted equal energy to a patient population that many practitioners overlook. The uninsured and underinsured face barriers to care that can turn manageable conditions into medical emergencies. For more than 20 years, he made sure those barriers did not prevent people from receiving the gastroenterological care they needed.
"I saw uninsured patients almost every week for at least 20 years in my practice," he says. The commitment was not occasional or symbolic. It was a standing appointment on his calendar, a promise kept through changes in healthcare policy, insurance markets and the economics of medical practice.
The care provided went beyond the examination room. Many patients who lack insurance also struggle to afford prescribed medications. Asif Choudhury MD worked to connect these patients with drug company assistance programs that could provide medications at reduced cost or no cost at all. The process required paperwork, phone calls and persistence but it meant patients could actually follow through on treatment plans rather than leaving prescriptions unfilled.
The Friday consultations at his local mosque added another dimension to his community service. Religious spaces often become gathering points for immigrant communities, places where cultural and linguistic barriers feel less daunting than they do in clinical settings.
The regularity mattered. People knew they could find him there, could ask questions that had been worrying them, could get a perspective on symptoms or conditions without the financial stress of a formal office visit.
This pattern of service reflected values learned early. "Their example shaped my belief that I should always help those in need," he says of his grandfather and the physicians in his paternal family. "My goal in life has been to serve the needy as much as I can."
The life of Asif Choudhury MD extended well beyond hospital walls and procedure suites. Athletics provided an early passion. Soccer and cricket, sports that dominate South Asian communities, occupied his youth. He played for both his high school and college teams, experiencing the discipline and teamwork that competitive sports demand.
Music offered another outlet. Band music and music festivals became a part of his life and they gave him the cultural contact and the creative means. These interests connected him to larger societies and provided him with a point of contact with patients and neighbors whose lives were not characterized by medical requirements.
His activities in the Bangladesh Association of South Florida and Bangladesh Medical Association of North America made him remain in touch with the immigrant community. Answering health questions and lecturing at Bangladeshi cultural events and religious consciousness sessions made him available to share medical information with those who would otherwise be disconnected with such information.
"I have spoken at many local Bangladeshi cultural programs," he says. "I have given awareness talks within religious groups in my community."
These presentations tackled practical health concerns while building trust between the medical establishment and a community that sometimes felt alienated from it. The physician who appears at your cultural center, who speaks your language, who understands your background, becomes someone you might actually call when a health problem arises.
When Asif Choudhury MD stepped away from clinical practice in 2017, he did not step away from the mission that had defined his career. His future plans reflect the same commitment to underserved populations that characterized his years in Fort Myers, but with a geographic shift back toward his roots.
"I want to teach and provide training to medical graduates in Bangladesh," he says. The need is acute. While urban centers in Bangladesh have developed sophisticated medical infrastructure, rural areas often lack basic healthcare access. Villages go without doctors. Medical emergencies require travel that poor families cannot afford. Conditions that would be easily treatable in a city hospital become fatal in isolated communities.
Training local medical graduates offers a sustainable solution. Rather than relying on visiting physicians or temporary missions, communities need their own trained professionals who understand local conditions and will remain for the long term. Asif Choudhury MD sees his role as helping to build that capacity.
Beyond clinical training, he aims to promote preventive health practices that could reduce the burden of chronic disease. "I plan to help more people learn healthy living practices focused on exercise and diet," he says. These interventions, far less expensive than treating advanced illness, could transform health outcomes in communities with limited medical resources.
The emphasis on prevention reflects lessons learned over a career spent treating conditions that might have been avoided or caught earlier. Digestive cancers, liver disease, complications of diabetes and obesity, all respond better to early intervention than late-stage treatment. In resource-limited settings, prevention becomes even more critical.
The passion connects to his broader goal of providing not just medical care but holistic guidance.
The career that began with training at Mayo Clinic and reached across multiple continents may have concluded its clinical phase, but the mission continues. For Asif Choudhury MD, helping those in need was never just a professional obligation; it was a calling inherited, embraced and now being passed forward to those who will carry it into communities still waiting for the care they deserve.
