Dr. Sahar Bilal is a board-certified family physician who cares for adult patients at Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY. She received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, NY. Dr. Bilal went on to complete her family medicine residency at Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY. She also holds a Master of Science in neuromusculoskeletal sciences from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine and a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, NY. Dr. Bilal is fluent in Urdu/Hindi. She is particularly interested in social determinants of health and equity in healthcare, women’s health, and academic medicine.
Dr. Bilal has wanted to be a doctor for as long as she can remember. Some of her earliest memories are visiting family in Pakistan when she was in middle school and recognizing the lack of access to primary care and how detrimental that was to her loved ones and their community. Her aunt and uncle both passed away in their 50s from different cancers that were terminal at the time of diagnosis, and she still wonders how the trajectory of their lives might have been if they had routine care and more medical literacy. What she loves most about being a trained family medicine provider is watching her patients thrive in the community after seeing them in the hospital. As a hospitalist, Dr. Bilal gets to care for her patients on the most vulnerable days in their lives, and as a family medicine physician, she values being able to form connections with them. Often, she finds that patients are overwhelmed with all the information given to them, and they do not know their medical history beyond what medications they were advised to take. She loves having the opportunity and ability to explain their disease processes to them so they can make informed decisions regarding their care.
Dr. Bilal understands that every person is unique, and many factors affect one’s health, access to healthcare, and trust in the medical system. She strives to earn her patients’ trust as a provider through open communication and works with them and their unique wants and needs to help them live healthy and happy lives.
Dr. Bilal was born in Queens, NY, and grew up on Long Island. She has engaged in community-based education sessions to improve health literacy among the brown and black and refugee populations in the Capital Region. Outside work, Dr. Bilal loves spending time with her daughter, husband, and their cats. She enjoys hiking and is learning to swim and ice skate. You will most likely find Dr. Bilal listening to a podcast at any free moment. And being from downstate NY, she loves experiencing new cultures through travel and food.