NYC doc found her calling in urgent care, family medicine leadership
Dec. 15, 2025, David Mitchell—Rupal Bhingradia, MD, FAAFP, FCUCM, found her niche in a practice setting that matched her interests, but the New York family physician said her career path was “sort of a fluke.”
During a year off between medical school and residency, Bhingradia worked as a scribe and patient advocate at an urgent care. She liked it so much, she returned to that setting after completing her training.
“I thought I would be working in primary care, but the shift-based work in urgent care appealed to me and so did the need for enhanced procedural skills,” said Bhingradia, who typically works three or four 12-hour shifts per week. “I took most of my electives in urgent care, ER and the same-day clinic setting. I learned how to insert IVs from nurses in OB just to be able to do that. I suture all kinds of lacerations — staples if they’re needed. I do X-rays, splints and reset broken bones. I do school and employment physicals. The main thing that appeals to me is that every day is different.”
Two years after completing family medicine residency at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Penn., Bhingradia was working as a medical director for a cluster of urgent cares in Manhattan. Later, she was a chief medical officer for a company with dozens of locations.
Bhingradia took on the CMO role just as the COVID pandemic was beginning and stayed for more than three years.
“The majority of time I spent in that role I was handling the logistics of the pandemic, keeping patients and staff safe, getting PPE,” she said.
She left that job last year, returning to full-time urgent care.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” she said. “They don’t teach you in residency how to give up leadership roles, but it was the right decision for my well-being and to get to do what I enjoy, which is spending time with patients. It also allowed me more time to connect with other physicians at the state and national level and hear their concerns.”
Dialing in to family medicine leadership
Though Bhingradia left leadership behind at work, she’s deeply involved in leading her professional organizations.
A chance meeting made that possible.
Wanda Filder, MD, MBA, then AAFP president-elect, was the speaker at Bhingradia’s residency graduation. She mentioned to Filer that she would be working in New York and asked if the family medicine leader had any advice.
Filer gave her the phone number of Sarah Nosal, MD, then vice president of the New York AFP, and urged her to make a connection.
“Had Wanda not been the speaker at my graduation, I might not have been involved in the Academy because my residency wasn’t supportive of attending conferences,” she said. “I was not involved. I thought AAFP was the journal that came to my door, and that was it.”
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Bhingradia made the call.
“Sarah was out on run, but she took my call,” Bhingradia said. “She was very welcoming. New York does a really good job of bringing students and residents into the chapter.”
Bhingradia attended a meeting of the chapter’s commissions that summer. She became a delegate to the chapter’s Congress of Delegates and later served as its new physician delegate to the AAFP’s National Conference of Constituency Leaders, which is a leadership development event for physicians in the following constituency groups: women; international medical graduates; Black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC); and LGBTQ+ physicians or those who support LGBTQ+ issues.
“I started showing up and was encouraged to run,” she said. “At NCCL, the support is there to build skills and participate if you want to run for a leadership role.”
Bhingradia served as a new physician delegate to the AAFP’s Congress of Delegates and later as the new physician member of its Board of Directors. She also served on her chapter’s Board.
Along the way, she watched Nosal ascend to roles as New York chapter president, AAFP director and, this fall, Academy president.
“I watched her leadership journey and, it showed me what is possible,” said Bhingradia, who is part of the AAFP’s delegation to the AMA House of Delegates. “I enjoy the advocacy part of it, having my voice heard and making a difference.”
Volunteer role fills her cup
NCCL also connected Bhingradia to Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP, FAAFP, a fellow New York family physician who has focused her practice on trauma-informed care of survivors of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.
Ravi was looking for a clinical space for her practice while Bhingradia still was in her CMO role. Bhingradia helped Ravi’s nonprofit secure donated clinical space in one of her urgent care company’s facilities. Both Bhingradia and the clinic have since moved, but Bhingradia continues to serve as Board chair of Ravi’s PurpLE Health Foundation.
“That fills my cup more than the work I’m actually compensated for,” Bhingradia said. “These people are doing meaningful work. It takes time, but it’s some of the most rewarding work I’ve done.”
Bhingradia also is serving as one of the AAFP’s vaccine science fellows. She was selected for the fellowship in the spring, before HHS reorganized the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
“I knew there would be controversy,” she said. “It’s been really interesting.”