Personal rewards beyond protocols

Like many young parents, Navin Raj, M.D. and his pediatrician wife, Sana Syed, M.D. struggle to find balance between home and work life. With a three-year-old toddler and one-year old infant, these parents are busy nurturing their own family along with practicing medicine. After a long day, Dr. Raj is drawn home by the energy from his loving wife and growing family.

This same familial loyalty he finds at home also motivates him to treat patients. A family physician, Dr. Raj most enjoys being able to care for a patient, from cradle to grave, and positively affect each patient’s individual health. Whether working in the office, clinic or at Beaumont Hospital, Wayne, he also relishes treating multigenerational families. “When I can counsel the seniors or elders in the family on healthy behaviors, and then see the children or grandchildren following through on what I’ve recommended, that brings me great happiness and joy.”

In private practice for five years with Kashif Qureshi, M.D, Dr. Raj used Oakwood Annapolis, now Beaumont, Wayne, as his go-to hospital. These partners share two offices, one in Inkster and the other in Brownstown Twp. Both physicians are multilingual and they enjoy treating patients who speak other languages.

Dr. Raj laments that sometimes the ‘have tos’ of medicine sidetrack direct patient care. When this happens, he returns to the patient and health issues he can influence. “Sometimes we get so crowded and tied up with what we have to do, like EMR check boxing, that I remind myself to focus on the patient to make a difference.” He added that helping patients improve their health reminds him why he went into medicine.

And, on a rare occasion, Dr. Raj will take personal time to visit someone at home. “I had a terminally ill man who was on hospice. I knew he was not handling his illness well and he had not left his house in a long time. When I went on this home visit, he broke down in tears. Later, when his wife had her next appointment in my office, he was motivated enough to come with her to say thank you. It was the first time he was out of his house in a month.”

When not working or parenting, Dr. Raj enjoys physical fitness and expresses his passion for learning by delving into functional, integrative and nutritional medicine. Even his hobbies circle back to expanding his medical acumen with holistic options. “Treating patients and families brings me great joy. I look forward to doing this as long as I can.”