Zainab Al-Mehdar
Shawville June 8, 2022
Originally from Iran, and raised in the city of Tehran, Dr. Payman Shahabi the Lotus Medical Clinic’s newest family doctor . . .
joined the team here in Shawville.
What he brings is expertise in working with the elderly community, and he believes he can be a great asset to the region, he said.
“I think that because during my residency in the north of Quebec, I had many elderly people as my patients. I have good experience working and managing the older people who are vulnerable,” said Shahabi.
His journey started at the Iran University of Medical Sciences, he then moved to France in 2009 to pursue a Ph.D. degree in pharmacogenetics of cardiovascular medication. In 2013 he moved to Canada and applied to the Montreal Heart Institute as a post doctorial fellow and research associate for a couple of years. In 2019 he started his residency program at the University of Laval and graduated in November 2021 which allowed him to start practicing medicine.
“The most important and most interesting part of practicing after graduating is that you are able to practice independently and autonomously and be able to have your own patients,” said Shahabi.
His areas of interest are in internal medicine–which is composed of subspecialties like gastrointestinal, nephrology endocrinology, cardiology and respirology. An area he is very passionate about and wishes to work in is cardiology.
He hopes one day he can practice in that field as a surgeon. But as an international medical graduate it is quite difficult as it is very competitive in Canada, and getting into family medicine was more straightforward for him, he explained.
He was also excited to talk about his Ph.D. research on pharmacogenetics–it is a combination of genetics and pharmacology which looks at how a person’s genetic profile can affect the response to medication. It teaches medical professionals how to prescribe medication based on the genetic background of each person rather than having a fixed dose for all people. This area of research is where he hopes to continue, he pointed out.
While looking for work, Shahabi came across the position at the Lotus Medical Clinic because he was looking for work near Gatineau, which is where he currently lives. Being exposed to both large cities and smaller ones, Shahabi gravitated towards smaller communities as he enjoyed the work they offered. It was during his residency in Rivière-du-Loup, a predominantly French area, that drew him to the more tight-knit communities, he said.
Having an eight-year-old daughter while living in Gatineau allowed him to find an Iranian community to raise his daughter in while still being close to Shawville.
Although he wants his daughter to embrace the western culture it was important for him to teach her about her own. “I would like that she knows about our culture, and about our famous days, like for example, Nowruz,” he added. It is a holiday that marks the first day of spring for Iranians and is considered one of the biggest holidays for them.
When he’s not working, he told THE EQUITY he enjoys playing the tar, a traditional Iranian instrument. “When me and my friends get together we play for ourselves,” said Shahabi.
Coming from a different background and having worked and lived in different communities, he has learned to adapt to being in new places and cultures he said. He pointed out that he has come across some funny moments with folks not quite knowing where Iran is or some even asking if Iranians travel by camel, he laughed.
Taking the job with the Lotus Clinic he appreciated the help from Joanne Romain, owner of the clinic, Dr. John Wootton and Danielle Romain, the coordinator of the family medicine group, who helped him adjust to the area and the work.
“I was interested in working in a hospital at the same time as in an office, so here they provided me with this opportunity to work in both of these settings,” said Shahabi. An additional incentive to work in a more rural community was the salary increase compared to working in a larger city he said.
Working at the Pontiac he has enjoyed getting to know the people and learning about the culture. Speaking both French and English he highlighted that he didn’t have a hard time communicating with the residents. He also speaks his maternal language, Persian.
His time is split between working a week at the hospital and the remaining time at the clinic. Hearing about the shortage of support at the Pontiac Hospital Shahabi said, “I will do my best to help little by little to fill the existing gap of staff.”
Since it opened its doors in 2014, the Lotus Clinic in Shawville has continually expanded its services with the goal of maximizing its medical staff resources and offering optimal patient care.
THE EQUITY spoke with Romain who said her main focus is ensuring residents have family doctors. We’ve had a hard time in the last couple of years with physicians leaving the area, so patients went back on waiting lists,” she said.
One of the challenging aspects of the recruiting process is finding a person interested in working in a rural area and having a vast knowledge or an interest in multiple things. When compared to the city, if a patient has a certain issue the doctor can refer them to a specialist, which is harder in rural settings, pointed out Romain.
In her clinic, she offers doctors everything they need to come and start working right away, which is something she said is a way to incentivize people to come work here.
Romain is still looking to hire more doctors as she is anticipating a few who will retire in the next few years, she said.
For Shahabi, he pointed out that he is enjoying the work he is doing as a family doctor and is looking for research opportunities in McGill or Gatinuea to allow him to be active in both clinical and research settings, he noted. When asked in what field, he laughed and said “cardiology.”
Shahabi has been working for a little over a month now and has found this experience fulfilling, and added that he is still taking new patients.
