From war-torn past, ’09 grad begins her new future

Merima Ramovic Zobic, DO, can classify most of the major events in her life into one of two categories: before and after.

Until she was 9 years old, Dr. Ramovic Zobic lived with her family just outside of Foca, a river town of approximately 40,000 in what is now southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But when the Bosnian War erupted in the spring of 1992, her peaceful world was shattered. "We lived in a valley, and we could see Serbian soldiers burning the villages all around us," Dr. Ramovic Zobic recalls. "Word spread that soldiers were detaining men from the villages, so my father left to seek safety."

A short time later, he sent word to his family that it was time to evacuate. Taking only the few items of clothing and food they could fit in a backpack, Dr. Ramovic Zobic, her mother and brother said good-bye to their home forever.

"For 15 days, we trudged through the woods, hiding from soldiers and searching for food and shelter," Dr. Ramovic Zobic remembers. Reuniting with her father at Mount Bjelasnica, one of the sites for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Dr. Ramovic Zobic and her family took shelter in several abandoned vacation cabins and hotels.

At night, however, they would return to the woods to sleep. "It was safer there," she explains. "If you could hear the shooting, you could tell how far away the soldiers were."

Chance for escape

After a few weeks, a small truck arrived in the village, promising the women and children safe passage to the Croatian border on the condition that husbands and sons over the age of 18 would stay behind to join resistance forces.

Once again, Dr. Ramovic Zobic and her family said good-bye to her father and boarded the truck.

After arriving in Croatia, she was herded with her mother and brother into a huge sports arena. "There were thousands of people sleeping on the floor, and we had no running water," Dr. Ramovic Zobic remembers. Although food was scarce, she was given a slice of jellied bread and a cup of hot tea twice a day.

After several weeks, relatives from Germany traveled to Croatia to pick up Dr. Ramovic Zobic's aunt and cousins. Although she resisted leaving without her husband, Dr. Ramovic Zobic's mother agreed to take Merima and her brother to Germany.

Packing nine people into a Volkswagen Golf, Dr. Ramovic Zobic's family drove to Warstein, Germany. "We had no passports or identification, but somehow we convinced them to let us cross the border," she says.

In 1995, Dr. Ramovic Zobic's father was able to join his family in Germany, where they lived until moving to the United States in 1999.

A fresh start

Settling with her family near a refugee center in Utica, NY, Dr. Ramovic Zobic quickly learned English and began high school. As she excelled in her studies, her dream of becoming a physician began to seem more and more possible.

"Since I was a small child, I wanted to be a physician," she says. "When I was 9 years old, I made a promise to myself that I would help people someday. Instead of being a part of violence and war, I wanted to help heal people."

Therefore, when a friend suggested she apply to the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM) in Biddeford, Maine, she didn't hesitate. "UNECOM was always my first choice," she says. "As soon as I learned about osteopathic medicine's hands-on approach, I knew it was the only option for me."

New serving a general internal medicine residency at the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, Dr. Ramovic Zobic says she is often reminded of the horrors she witnessed as a child in Bosnia. "Because of the medical center's close proximity to the refugee center, we treat many Bosnian patients," she says.

Although the memories are sometimes painful, Dr. Ramovic Zobic says they are helping her to heal. "I spent a lot of my life blocking out what happened when I was younger, but you can't ever forget something like that," she says. "Now that I am treating patients who lived through similar experiences, I can see how much I have to offer them."