Taking time with patients
In the busy health care system, specialists feel the pressures of so many patients waiting to access care. With such hectic schedules, it’s no doubt difficult to present a calm and unhurried face to patients.
One patient wants to applaud her gastroenterologist, Dr. Farhad Peerani, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the U of A, for being a calm presence in her long and difficult health journey.
Her nomination letter describes a warm and compassionate physician who clearly cares about his patients.
“Dr. Farhad Peerani has been a most compassionate, gentle, attentive and learned gastroenterologist for me. When I was finally sent to Dr. Peerani for health care, he wondered why I hadn't taken myself to the hospital by this point in time with the symptoms I was displaying. That began my close-to-4 years under his care.”
“He has listened well to my questions and comments and has always been willing to explain things more than once when I had concerns. If I wanted a deeper explanation, he always respected my need for that. He never made me feel that I was wasting his time with my rehashing of salient points. A request from me for a phone call back was always respected. Because of this transparency in his communication with me, I have flourished under this good doctor's care.”
“Although he must be an extremely busy man, what with all his roles as gastroenterologist, researcher, professor, father and husband, to name the ones of which I am aware, he was always calm and unhurried in his dealings with me.”
“When I sit in my oncology clinic receiving my infusion, I have listened to some patients complain about the poor communication they have with their own specialists. I always tell them what a gentleman ... kind, patient and thoughtful, I have been blessed to find in Dr. Peerani.”
“It is now time for me to move on to another gastroenterologist, and I will miss this blessing that was bestowed upon me the day my path crossed with Dr. Farhad Peerani's. In this day and age where one hears of the stress our health care is under, I would like to shine a light upon a man who has followed his calling with such professionalism and humbleness. Dr. Farhad Peerani is a true leader!”
Continue reading Dr. Peerani's Shine A Light profile (Alberta Doctors' Digest, November-December 2022)