“I am Dr Neena Reddy Mukkala, Pediatrician and Neonatologist. I come from a business family. No doctors, no blueprints, no footsteps to follow. I don’t even remember exactly when the thought of becoming a doctor first showed up, but once it did, it never left.

At ten, without the faintest idea of what it really meant, I began scribbling “Dr. Neena” on the corners of my schoolbooks like it was already a part of me. That quiet daydream slowly transformed into ambition. And that ambition shaped everything.

People sometimes ask me if medical school was hard. It was. The kind of hard that tests your limits: the sleepless nights, the missed vacations, the calls I couldn’t answer, the festivals that passed without celebration. But I never saw it as a sacrifice. I had a direction. A dream that felt so personal, so clear, it made the struggle feel like purpose.

I didn’t grow up a straight-A student. I had to study harder than most. But having that singular focus — that “why” — kept me going. It gave me the grit to rise, to top my class, and to walk out of operating rooms holding life itself, placing a newborn into the arms of wide-eyed, tearful parents. That feeling is unmatched. No rank or medal comes close.

The gratification I get from saving a life, telling new parents that their baby is safe, or sitting down to teach young medical students is immeasurable. Moments like those make every bit of the journey not just worthwhile, but truly fulfilling.

What makes me who I am today is simple. I care deeply. Not just about medicine, but about the people behind each chart, each worried phone call, each restless night. A parent’s message never goes unanswered. No matter how busy the day gets, they are a priority because parenting is hard, and I want to help however I can.

I believe in ethical care, in doing only what’s necessary, and in listening with full attention to what a child and their parents are going through. That empathy isn’t something I turn on and off. It is the core of how I practice, and it is the reason this work continues to feel like a calling, not just a job.”

#NationalDoctorsDay