Looking for Dr. Rahmani at UChicago Medicine’s Ingalls Memorial Hospital? That’s a bit more complicated these days since Dr. Akbar Rahmani has been joined by his son, Dr. Kaveh Rahmani, and daughter, Dr. Solmaz Rahmani.
Looking for Dr. Rahmani at UChicago Medicine’s Ingalls Memorial Hospital?
That’s a bit more complicated these days since Dr. Akbar Rahmani has been joined by his son, Dr. Kaveh Rahmani, and daughter, Dr. Solmaz Rahmani.
alongside his children, Dr.
Solmaz Rahmani, seated,
and Dr. Kaveh Rahmani
at UChicago Medicine Ingalls
Memorial Hospital. (Provided
photo)
Solmaz, 33, started as a general practice physician at the Ingalls Family Care Center in Flossmoor last month. Kaveh, 34, who came on the Ingalls staff three years ago, is also a general practice physician. He works primarily at Ingalls’ Care Center in Crestwood, a day at the Ingalls Family Care Center in Tinley Park and a weekend a month at Flossmoor.
Akbar, an endocrinologist, has been on staff at Ingalls since 1980. He came to the U.S. as an exchange student from the University of Tabriz in Iran. When he started his fellowship in endocrinology and internal medicine in 1977 at Cook County Hospital, he was a “fill in” physician at Ingalls making $12 an hour.
For many years, he chaired the Primary Care Associates network of 17 doctors practicing at Ingalls. Five years ago the group merged with Ingalls.
What the children remember of their father’s decades-long career is the relationships he established with his patients. That is what they want to emulate in their practices.
“Even though my dad is a specialist, he did a lot of primary care as well,” said Kaveh. “He had some patients for 30 years and he knew their families. Some of them would come to our house in one way or another. You become part of these people’s families. That’s part of the draw.”
Akbar crosses paths regularly with his children doctors. Solmaz sits next to him in his office at Flossmoor. She is answering any question that comes her way in the family practice and will be adding a women’s health component to her practice. He sees Kaveh at the Crestwood office.
With a 40-year career at Ingalls, it’s obvious that his love of medicine and the relationships he’s established rubbed off on his children.
“I told them when they were growing up, that I don’t know anything about you being an anchor woman, football player. The only thing I know is medicine. I’d be happy to give you that advice. If they want to go and open a business, I have no idea what to do,” he said.
The siblings did set their own paths. After graduating from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in 2000, Kaveh went to Indiana University as a business major, but half way through he switched to biology.
Solmaz, a 2003 graduate of H-F, attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in sociology with a minor in chemistry. With a love of science and math, Solmaz admits “medicine was always in the back of my mind.”
They are both graduates of Midwestern University having earned master of science degrees in biomedical sciences and then earning their doctor of osteopathy degrees. In all, it was nine years of preparation for their work at Ingalls.
Kaveh says there was “no turning back” once he got into the program. Solmaz calls it “a marathon” between the master’s, doctorate and residency work. She appreciated that her brother was at Midwestern at the same time. He was part of her support system.
“I pretty much called him every day and asked him a question about something,” she recalled.
These days Akbar jokes that he’ll cut back on his hours when his youngest son, Rodd, a 2007 graduate of H-F, finishes medical school in a few years. Solmaz isn’t so sure because “he’d be bored.”
Akbar and his wife, Goli, a 1978 graduate of H-F, have lived in Flossmoor for 34 years. Akbar recalls making it to every H-F soccer game Kaveh and Solmaz played in. The brother and sister are both Chicago residents, but they know their parents’ home is open to them. Solmaz stops by for dinner once a week.
The Flossmoor Rahmani doctors are part of an extended family of doctors. Akbar’s brother is a doctor, Goli’s brother and sister-in-law are doctors, and the three children of his sister are doctors.