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About Me

I graduated from Dow Medical College (Dow University of Health Science, at present), Karachi Pakistan, and then joined a dermatology residency program. I practiced and taught dermatology for several years at the above institution, where my father had also served as professor and chairman of the department of medicine. During our earlier years, my brother (now a cardiac surgeon in West Virginia) and I often accompanied my father on his visits to see patients at hospitals or their homes. My inspiration to choose this profession comes from my father, the enduring respect and reverence his students and patients had for him, and the manner in which he touched so many lives with his scholarship, principles and commitment to his profession. Most of my teachers were his former students.

I moved to the US with my family in 2000 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the department of dermatology research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), for two years. I later joined a psychiatry residency program as I had developed an interest in psychiatry and psychocutaneous disorders during my practice of dermatology, and psychiatry has evolved as a highly specialized field in the US, in my opinion, more developed than anywhere else in the world. After completing my psychiatry residency (from Texas Tech University and University of Nevada), I joined the fellowship program in Geriatric Psychiatry at UCSF.

I graduated from Dow Medical College (Dow University of Health Science, at present), Karachi, Pakistan, and subsequently joined a dermatology residency program. I practiced and taught dermatology for several years at the above institution, where my father had also served as professor and chairman of the Department of Medicine. During our earlier years, my brother (now a cardiac surgeon in West Virginia) and I often accompanied my father on his visits to see patients. My inspiration to choose this profession really comes from him, who has been my mentor as well. Most of my teachers have been his former students. I moved to the US with my family in 2000 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the department of Dermatology Research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), for three years. I later joined a psychiatry residency program as I had developed an interest in psychiatry and psychocutaneous disorders during my practice of dermatology. Psychiatry, in the recent past, has evolved as a highly specialized field in the US. After completing my psychiatry residency (from Texas Tech University and University of Nevada), I joined the fellowship program in Geriatric Psychiatry at UCSF.

I began working at Kaiser Permanente soon after completing my fellowship in geriatric psychiatry (UCSF). It is professionally satisfying to work at this multi-specialty institution in collaboration with distinguished clinicians (MDs from various disciplines, psychologists, social workers and case managers). Some patients need to be referred for brief individual psychotherapy (we have excellent clinicians for this), and/or group therapy which can be highly effective in the development of better coping skills and psycho education as well.

Every patient is like an institution for me, unique in his or her own special way. It is an honor to be given the opportunity to understand and integrate the symptomatology and cultural background of each patient in order to help each individual in a manner that works best for them, and with a commitment to continuity of care.

My Credentials

Medical school	Dow Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan
Internship	Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX
Residency	University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
Fellowship	UC San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Board certification	Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

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