When I arrived to the United States to start my training as a General Surgeon, a senior resident good friend of mine told me: "You can do only 2 more things in your life besides Surgery. Family is one ....you get to pick the other one". I replied immediately: "Where can I find a soccer team around here?".
After playing soccer all my life, residency and fellowship made it hard to keep playing however, my friend was right and I was able to enjoy games and meet people that shared my passion everywhere.
Eventually the invitation to play for the US Medical Soccer Team arrived. I found a fantastic group of people that share my three passions: family, medicine and soccer.
Life is always better after a "futbol" game.

I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. I completed medical school in 2002 and moved to the US in 2004 for my Pediatric Residency and Pediatric Pulmonology training at University of Florida. I have played soccer since the day I was born and must confess that I was concerned about the future of my "soccer career" when I moved to the states. I was gladly surprised to see that soccer in this country is way more popular than I thought. Soccer has even helped me open doors in my professional career. It turns out the medical director of my current job is a huge soccer fan and all we talked about during my interview was about the "beautiful game". He recruited me for the job and also his soccer team. I moved to Baton Rouge, LA in 2010 after I finished my training in Florida and can't be happier. I currently play more soccer than I ever before.
This is my first year on the team and July cannot come fast enough. I am very glad to have joined a great group of people that love soccer as much as I do

I've played soccer my whole life, and even as a busy adult I've wanted to continue playing, as long as I can. When I found out through friends and teammates about USMST, I couldn't believe it: a team of ball-playing doctors? An international tournament? Walking the walk by living an active, healthy lifestyle? Sweet uniforms? Count me in!
I'd missed the competition, the meaningful games, and the pride that comes from being on a team. USMST gives that to us, but also so much more. We have an opportunity, with this team, to set an example and defy the conventional wisdom that people just don't have time to exercise. I hope to give my all to my teammates on the pitch, and I hope USMST can serve our community in a broader way going forward. I consider myself very lucky and blessed to call myself a member of the US Medical Soccer Team.

Puya grew up in Santa Rosa, California and played Varsity soccer at Montgomery High School. He got is BS in Biomedical Sciences and a business minor at UC Riverside where he played with the UCR club soccer team. He attended medical school at UCLA and then completed his Anesthesia Residency at UC Davis. He is currently practicing Anesthesia with ASMG at Scripps Green Hospital in San Diego. His quick touches and ball movement make him dangerous in the attacking third, and his diagonal runs into spaces behind defenders make teams think twice about holding a high line.

Dr. Lorber grew up in the Southern California attending UCLA for his undergraduate education. He then remained at UCLA completing his Masters in Public Health prior to heading to Chicago for Medical School at the Rosalind Franklin University. He now works at a Southern California emergency department and is married with twins.

Dr Nayak grew up in Lee's Summit, Missouri outside of Kansas City and is an avid Royals and Chiefs fan. He did his undergraduate education at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and received his medical doctorate from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. After medical school, Dr Nayak completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Medicine fellowship at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Maryland, subsequently serving four additional years as a staff cardiologist at NNMC. After leaving the Navy in 2009, Dr Nayak joined the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Wenatchee, Washington, where he currently resides with his family. Dr Nayak's medical interests include cardiovascular imaging, heart failure, and emerging models of healthcare delivery.

I have called these United States Home for nearly 20 years. I was born and raised in El Salvador. Although soccer is the nation's most popular sport, I started to play organized soccer when I was in Jr High School and played through High School. I did not have the most talent and was far from a MVP type player. But it was riding that bench that taught me with hard work, humility and persistence I could achieve what others thought I could not. I made it to the starting eleven in the varsity team. It sort of feels I have my own "Rudy" story. ( Certainly much less dramatic). So Soccer has had a profound influence in my life, and a positive One.

Playing games in Medical School intra-murals, was the last time I saw a pitch with me in it. Back then there was plenty of hair in my head. So long ago.

Since then, a Medical Degree, Family Medicine Residency and Medical practice is where plenty of work and effort has been spilled. After completing my residency in Poughkeepsie NY, I moved to Southern California.

I worked for a Community Clinic for 6 years providing primary care to the under served population in Ventura County. Subsequently I opened my private practice.

A long time friend Paulo Carvalho, the USMST goalkeeper, invited me to join an In-door soccer league. That became my stepping stone back to the world of Cleats, grass, and Soccer balls. It felt like I was 15 years old again.
Little did I know that a few years later I would be part of this great team, organization and have a whole new group of great friends, helping the community, traveling the globe while playing "the beautiful game".

As Primary Care physician I have been prescribing exercise to my patients. The USMST provides me a tool and motivation to lead my patients by example. Compounding exercise with nutritional counseling we can help America gain back its health.

I am originally from Chattanooga, TN. I completed undergraduate studies in 1995 at Vanderbilt University in Nashvile, TN, and then graduated from medical school fom Tulane University in New Orleans, LA in 1999. It was in medical school that I became friends with Ky Tran and Gautam Nayak and played with them on our intramural soccer team, The Cadavers. Even at that time the two of them dreamed of playing in the "Physician's World Cup."

After completing medical school, I joined the United States Navy and completed my internship and residency at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA. I then served for two years as an Internal Medicine physician in the tropical paradise of Puerto Rico, at the Rosevelt Roads navy station.

I then compelted a fellowship in gastroenterology at the combined program at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD and Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. After completing fellowship, I served for three years as a gastroenterologist in the US Navy back in Portsmouth, VA. During this period, I deployed for a six month tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. I was awarded two Navy Medals of Commendation, a Navy Achievement Medal, and an Army Commendation Medal for my service with the navy.

After completing my time in the navy, I then took a position with the Department of Veteran's Affairs in Memphis,TN. I now serve as a staff gastroenterologist at the VA Hospital and am an Associate Professor of Medicine with the University of Tennessee.

I live in the beautiful town of Collierville, TN with my wife and three (soon to be four) children. My wife, Jennifer, and oldest son, Andrew, have accompanied me on our last two world soccer journeys, to Manchester, England and Malmo, Sweden. We have had the joy of seeing many wonderful sights and making friends from teams from all over the world.

Being a part of this team has been one of the truly extraordinary experiences of my life. I can only hope that I can give as much to this team as it has given to me. Go USA!

Dr. Taheri was a process engineer in semiconductor and computer industries prior to medical school. After graduation from Albany Medical College, he completed his residency in anesthesiology at university of Texas at Houston . He has been in practice since 1996 in Beverly Hills , Ca specializing in out patient/office based anesthesia.

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After getting my MD degree from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, I moved to the US to land in Chicago, IL, where I completed Internal Medicine training at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. I subsequently moved to Atlanta, GA, for my fellowship in Nephrology. Immediately after that, I joined the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston to start my current career in academic medicine.

It's hard to describe what football/soccer means to me. My sanity has been questioned by others who have witnessed my limitless passion for the sport, either if it's playing it, watching it or simply talking about it. Back during my days as a younger (significantly younger) player, a match day usually lasted 3 days: 1 day of pre-game mental isolation from earth, the actual day of the match, and 1 day of post-game ranting about the referee or simply celebrating a victory in the most obnoxious way. Currently, it is known in my household that a fuming near-psychotic reaction could be elicited if somebody dares to interrupt me during an important televised game. Unless, it's time for dinner and my wife says so, of course.

Now, after playing "futbol" competitively throughout my life and realizing that my aging skills and family/work-related duties continue to limit more and more my "playing time", joining the USMST hasn't just been an amazing opportunity for me, it has been like a rebirth. I feel pretty lucky to be part of this organization and I feel very lucky to be surrounded by incredibly nice teammates.