Husband and wife doctors arrive, seeking patients

By Gillian Slade on January 23, 2019.

Two additional family doctors have joined Mowhawk Medical Clinic where in addition to handling walk-in patients they are accepting those in need of a family doctor. The husband and wife team are Muhammad Raza and Madiha Saleem.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE

gslade@medicinehatnews.com @MHNGillianSlade

A husband and wife team of family physicians has joined the Mohawk Medical Arts Clinic near the hospital.

Originally from Pakistan, Dr. Madiha Saleem and Dr. Muhammad Raza trained in South Africa and spent some time in Calgary before choosing Medicine Hat.

They now feel as though they have found the ideal place to raise their young family and to practice medicine.

“We feel it is the perfect-size city,” said Saleem, commenting on the efficiency of commuting time and getting children involved in a range of programs. “Medicine Hat is a good place to raise children.”

Saleem and Raza will be on duty at the Mohawk walk-in clinic and they are also taking on new patients seeking a family doctor.

They extol the virtue of patients having a family doctor. For doctors who know the whole family in their practice, there are benefits, too, because the background informs them of a range of circumstances that could be influencing the patient’s health.

Particularly for someone who has some mental health issues, having a family doctor makes a huge difference, said Raza. At a walk-in clinic the doctor does not have the background of the patient and is also limited in terms of the time available to see them.

Having worked in walk-in clinics in the past, Raza says some patients have presented symptoms they thought were not significant only for tests to confirm something serious.

A family doctor also follows the patient’s progress and would remind them of preventative medical care and information such as when vaccinations are due, said Saleem. The result is a positive impact on the patient as a whole.

Anyone who looking for a family doctor should book an appointment for a “meet and greet” with Raza or Saleem by calling 403-488-8541.

After having lived in numerous places in the world, Saleem and Raza say they wanted to come to Canada because friends they had at the start of their studies many years ago had moved to B.C. These friends encouraged them to come to Canada.

Raza says Canada has the best health care in the world.

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