July 3rd, 2025. The date had been circled on my calendar for a month since we were told by the hospital that July 2nd is the last day for the endocrine parathyroid center, but in many ways, I had been moving toward it my entire life. On this day, I opened the doors of my own clinic, Norman Endocrinology Associates, and began seeing patients in a space that felt entirely new, yet deeply familiar.
There’s something poetic about beginnings that are also continuations. This felt like both. My first patient came in for a thyroid ultrasound and biopsy, and from there the day unfolded just like any other: diabetes consultations, thyroid disorders, insulin pump management, weight concerns, and hormone imbalances. But the surroundings had changed. The company name on the door was my own. The vision guiding the care was mine.
As I stood in that newly set-up office, I thought of my grandfather, Mirza Inayat Baig. An officer in the Mughal army, he eventually settled in the quiet qasba of Sikandara Rao, near Aligarh, India. There, he reinvented himself, not as a soldier, but as a hakim, a businessman, and a teacher. It was a surprising discovery for me as I always thought of myself as the first doctor in the family. I didn’t realize that my grandfather was making medicine, treating people and teaching English, Urdu and the Quran during the British raj in the early 1900s. He built a life rooted in healing, knowledge, and service. Generations later, his spirit echoes in my own path even if we never met. It’s like he left his life lessons in my DNA.
My father, Mirza Shujat Baig, carried that same torch in a different way. He moved to Sukkur, Pakistan after the partition of South Asia, and founded Ideal Construction Company. His work shaped the landscape of the city, building homes, schools, and even Anwar Paracha hospital. He left a physical imprint on the people of Sukkur, one brick and one relationship at a time directing the future of the city.
And now, here I am, the only endocrinologist in Norman, Oklahoma, planting the seeds of a new chapter, one built not of bricks or herbs or armies, but of knowledge, persistence, and care. Starting my own practice feels like more than a milestone, it feels like destiny.
For nearly 15 years, I worked as an employed physician with Norman Regional Hospital. I joined Dr. Tan Pham’s practice after my fellowship in 2010, he was Norman’s first endocrinologist, and I was proud to be the first woman to follow in that path. We saw patients from across the region, as one of only a few providers from here to the Texas border. But the clinic closed, as hospitals sometimes do. The reasons were financial, opaque, and outside the realm of patient care, where my heart has always lived.
I could have chosen another hospital system, another paycheck, and another 8-to-5 routine. But something in me resisted. I had seen too many brilliant physicians walk away after years of loyal service, with nothing to show for it, no independence, no real ownership of the world they had helped to build.
I wanted something different.
This stage of my life feels like the right time to step into independence. Not just to own a clinic, but to own my time, my mission, my growth. I want space for the things that truly matter to me: teaching, research, personal development, and pro bono work. I want to lead not just a practice, but also within the community, something deeper than employment, something rooted in legacy.
The past 30 days have been a blur of morning clinics and evening preparations. My family rallied around me, my children, my nephews, my friends. Emaan, my nephew designed our logo; Isha created the flyer for the open house. My sister Zoobia loaned me start-up money, my partner Tom offered legal advice and emotional support and my longtime friend Dorothy Morales stood beside me as our new office manager to help make this vision real. We scavenged for furniture on Facebook Marketplace, packed boxes, answered phones, and made plans. Slowly, it all came together. Slowly, it began to feel like home.
They say life moves in circles. Perhaps I was always meant to come to this point, a healer, a teacher, a builder, like those who came before me. It’s daunting, yes. But it’s also freeing. If I give the next 15 or 20 years to this work, I won’t walk away empty-handed. I will leave behind something I built with my own hands, guided by my own values.
This is more than a clinic. It’s a continuation of a legacy. And perhaps, in some way, a return to where I began.
Lubna Mirza, MD FACE
Norman Endocrinology Associates
800 Wall Street, Norman Ok 73069
Phone: 405-857-7254
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