IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT OFFICE VISITS
NO PATIENTS (WITHOUT EXCEPTION)
WILL BE SEEN AT BMA
UNTIL 06/22/2020
In light of the current world crisis, insurance companies in the United States are allowing telephone virtual visits to occur.
We can put you on the schedule for a phone consultation and with your permission your insurance company can be billed and I will call you at a designated time.
WILL BE SEEN AT BMA
UNTIL 06/22/2020
In light of the current world crisis, insurance companies in the United States are allowing telephone virtual visits to occur.
We can put you on the schedule for a phone consultation and with your permission your insurance company can be billed and I will call you at a designated time.
Think you may have, or have been exposed to, the Corona Virus?
Symptoms associated with COVID-19
- Fever (>100.4) or feverish
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Shortness of breath
- Unusual fatigue
- Chills
- Body aches
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Chest pain
- Abdominal pain
- Loss of smell or taste
- As OUR office does NOT have test kits, there is NO point in coming to the office to be evaluated. Have us call you back about your concerns.
- Testing sites are opening up and will become more easily available. Fortunately the criteria for testing have been loosened up so more folks can get tested. Remember that testing positive does not change any treatment as no current anti-viral agent that we have is effective.
- At Mount Auburn Hospital they are currently only testing: patients with symptoms (Cough, SOB, Sore throat, fever or feverishness, unusual fatigue, body aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or abdominal pain.) AND with other high-risk conditions:
- Chronic lung (such as asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis
- Endocrine (such as diabetes mellitus)
- Cardiac disease (such as congenital heart disease, CHF, CAD)
- Hematologic malignancy Immunosuppression (due to disease or medication)
- Liver disease
- Chronic kidney disease
For patients who do not fall into these testing categories, but their provider or patient still wants to be tested, please click on link below for alternative testing sites in MA. Please note that supplies are limited in some locations and these sites also have priorities for testing.
https://www.mass.gov/doc/ma-covid-19-testing-sites/download
HOW TO SET UP TESTING AT MAH :
How the COVID 19 HOTLINE Works
If a PCP or patient has concerns for Covid-19 infection, their PCP should first evaluate the patient by telemedicine or phone.
If the PCP then feels a patient cannot remain at home without an evaluation then the clinician should call the Covid-19 Hotline themselves.
The Hotline staff then contacts the patient, orients patient to drive-up process, and collect some basic information from patient.
Patient then presents for a CAR-side evaluation which includes an oxygen saturation, heart rate and temperature along with an in person visual evaluation by physician on site - with the possibility of transfer to the ED.
If the PCP thinks the patient is too sick to be seen curbside then they should either have the patient call 911 or again call the hotline and explain this to RN staff on phone. The hotline will alert the ED front desk for patient arrival
ANTIBODY TESTING:
At this time, we are not recommending that patients get COVID-19 antibody testing. None of these tests have been FDA approved, and we do not know how often these tests give a false result about whether someone was infected or not. It is also not clear that the antibodies being measured in these tests actually give you immunity to COVID-19 infection. Eventually, when we have a better understanding of these tests and have guidelines from the FDA and our infectious disease specialists, we will know when and how to order antibody testing for COVID-19.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE SICK
- Stay at home and do not go to work if you are sick.
- Avoid socializing. Maintain social distancing. Take this seriously.
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water often.
- Use an alcohol based hand sanitizer like Purell often.
- Keep your hands away from your face (mouth, nose and eyes).
- Cough into your elbow.
- Wear a mask if you are coughing and around others.
- Avoid shaking hands. Use a fist or elbow bump!
- Try to maintain a 6 foot distance from others if you are sick.
- Wipe down surfaces using Chlorox (or equivalent) wipes.
- AVOID USING IBUPROFEN for fever or body aches. Tylenol is safe and effective.
- SYMPTOMS THAT REQUIRE OUR ATTENTION:
- shortness of breath; wheezing, difficulty breathing
- persistent pain, tightness or pressure in your chest
- Persistent significant fevers of over 100 and heart rate over 100
- persistent cough especially if productive of thick yellow or green phlegm.
- new confusion or inability to arouse
- bluish lips or face.
- Inability to hydrate or eat appropriately, decreased urine output
- Inability to care for oneself at home
Steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19
If you are sick with COVID-19 or suspect you are infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, follow the steps below to help prevent the disease from spreading to people in your home and community. Older adults and people with severe medical conditions such as heart, lung or kidney disease are advised to ‘‘stay home as much as possible’’ and avoid crowds especially in poorly ventilated spaces.
Stay home except to get medical care
You should restrict activities outside your home, except for getting medical care. Do not go to work, school, or public areas. Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.
Separate yourself from other people and animals in your home
People: As much as possible, you should stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home. Also, you should use a separate bathroom, if available.
Animals: You should restrict contact with pets and other animals while you are sick with COVID-19, just like you would around other people. Although there have not been reports of pets or other animals becoming sick with COVID-19, it is still recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known about the virus. When possible, have another member of your household care for your animals while you are sick. If you are sick with COVID-19, avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with pets and wear a facemask.
Call ahead before visiting your doctor
If you plan on making a medical appointment, CALL the healthcare provider FIRST and tell them that you have or may have COVID-19. This will help the healthcare provider’s office take steps to keep other people from getting infected or exposed.
Wear a facemask
You should wear a facemask when you are around other people (e.g., sharing a room or vehicle) or pets and before you enter a healthcare provider’s office. If you are not able to wear a facemask (for example, because it causes trouble breathing), then people who live with you should not stay in the same room with you, or they should wear a facemask if they enter your room.
Cover your coughs and sneezes
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw used tissues in a lined trash can; immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95% alcohol, covering all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty.
Clean your hands often
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60 to 95% alcohol, covering all surfaces of your hands and rubbing them together until they feel dry. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid sharing personal household items
You should not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people or pets in your home. After using these items, they should be washed thoroughly with soap and water.
Clean all “high-touch” surfaces everyday
High touch surfaces include counters, tabletops, doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and bedside tables. Also, clean any surfaces that may have blood, stool, or body fluids on them. Use a household cleaning spray or wipe, according to the label instructions. Labels contain instructions for safe and effective use of the cleaning product including precautions you should take when applying the product, such as wearing gloves and making sure you have good ventilation during use of the product.
Monitor your symptoms
Seek prompt medical attention if your illness is worsening (e.g., difficulty breathing). Before seeking care, call your healthcare provider and tell them that you have, or are being evaluated for, COVID-19. Put on a facemask before you enter the facility. These steps will help the healthcare provider’s office to keep other people in the office or waiting room from getting infected or exposed. Ask your healthcare provider to call the local or state health department. Persons who are placed under active monitoring or facilitated self-monitoring should follow instructions provided by their local health department or occupational health professionals, as appropriate.
If you have a medical emergency and need to call 911, notify the dispatch personnel that you have, or are being evaluated for COVID-19. If possible, put on a facemask before emergency medical services arrive.
Discontinuing home isolation
Patients with confirmed COVID-19 should remain under home isolation precautions until the risk of secondary transmission to others is thought to be low. The decision to discontinue home isolation precautions should be made on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with healthcare providers and state and local health departments.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
I HAVE MOVED UPSTAIRS TO THE 6TH FLOOR.
AND AM NOW SEEING PATIENTS IN SUITE 6100
Thank you for visiting my website
A little about me..........
"It isn’t real work unless you would rather be doing something else"
"It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do, that is the secret of happiness"
James M. Barrie
I hope you will find this a convenient way to communicate and consult with me regarding non-urgent matters. As your primary care physician, I am the doctor with whom you will probably spend the most time and whose style and philosophy will help guide your overall health care choices and medical treatments. This is the reason it's important to find someone you are comfortable with personally, and whose experience, education and training make you feel confident. When choosing a PCP you will want to make sure that they have a broad knowledge of medicine and the resources to recommend specialists when needed. Make sure the doctor you have chosen, encourages you to ask questions, explains things clearly and treats you with respect. I sincerely hope I am functioning as that doctor and am meeting your needs.
For the past 6 years my regular practice has been closed to new patients, but my group has some excellent physicians who do have open practices, so please ask for a referral.
I do have a limited number of openings in my Priority Care Practice. You can read up on this by checking the link on the left.
I have been asked by patients if I'm considering retirement. My standard answer is:
Some background information:
I graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa in 1973 and completed my internship at Groote Schuur Hospital, the site of the world's first heart transplant.
I then spent 6 months doing a pediatric senior internship at The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town.
From September 1975 until July 1976 I did postgraduate studies in London and traveled extensively in Europe.
In 1976 I became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and then came to the US where I completed my Internal Medicine residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now known as the Brigham and Womens Hospital) in 1976 -1978. This was the site of the world's first kidney transplant.
The American Board of Internal Medicine certified me in 1978.
Since 1979 I have practiced primary care Internal Medicine in the Watertown-Belmont-Cambridge area and for the same period have been a Harvard Medical School Clinical Instructor in Medicine and on the active staff at Mount Auburn Hospital, a H.M.S. affiliated community teaching hospital.
Practicing medicine is my passion. I am dedicated to providing my patients with the best possible care, within a warm and supportive environment. I believe that getting to know my patients as individuals is an integral part of treatment. Its hard to believe that I have now done this for 40 years and despite the stresses of practicing as a primary care physician at this time, I would do it again in a heart beat. This website may, at times, be lighthearted and my patients know that I like to hear a good joke or about a good book or movie, so although I don't take myself too seriously, I take the privilege and responsibility of practicing medicine very seriously.
"When I close the door to the exam room and it’s just the patient and me, with all the bureaucracy safely barricaded outside, the power of human connection becomes palpable. I can’t always make my patients feel better, but the opportunity to try cannot be underestimated."
This quote by Danielle Ofri, MD describes exactly how I feel about what I do.
"I think the joy of medicine is really the relationship with the patients over a long period of time".
Nitin S. Damle, president of the American College
My family and interests:
I have four sons: Greg, Spencer, Dylan and Ian. They range in age from 39 through 20. They are all terrific guys and I am really proud of each of them. I consider myself truly blessed and very fortunate to be their dad. My grandchildren, Jonah, Levi and Talia, live in San Francisco. I'm also very grateful to have my two siblings and their families living in this area. They are a tremendous source of support. My father at age almost 92 passed away peacefully in his own bed, in his own home with dignity on July 31, 2014. In January 2010, after 64 years, he finally stopped practicing medicine as a general practitioner after he had a mild stroke. He was a tremendous role model and is missed.
For the past 6 years my regular practice has been closed to new patients, but my group has some excellent physicians who do have open practices, so please ask for a referral.
I do have a limited number of openings in my Priority Care Practice. You can read up on this by checking the link on the left.
I have been asked by patients if I'm considering retirement. My standard answer is:
- My dad worked until he was 86 as a family physician
- I still love what I do every day
- My youngest son is 20 and is in his junior year at college, my one son has just started medical school and another is in his last year of law school......I will leave it at that!
Some background information:
I graduated from the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa in 1973 and completed my internship at Groote Schuur Hospital, the site of the world's first heart transplant.
I then spent 6 months doing a pediatric senior internship at The Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town.
From September 1975 until July 1976 I did postgraduate studies in London and traveled extensively in Europe.
In 1976 I became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and then came to the US where I completed my Internal Medicine residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now known as the Brigham and Womens Hospital) in 1976 -1978. This was the site of the world's first kidney transplant.
The American Board of Internal Medicine certified me in 1978.
Since 1979 I have practiced primary care Internal Medicine in the Watertown-Belmont-Cambridge area and for the same period have been a Harvard Medical School Clinical Instructor in Medicine and on the active staff at Mount Auburn Hospital, a H.M.S. affiliated community teaching hospital.
Practicing medicine is my passion. I am dedicated to providing my patients with the best possible care, within a warm and supportive environment. I believe that getting to know my patients as individuals is an integral part of treatment. Its hard to believe that I have now done this for 40 years and despite the stresses of practicing as a primary care physician at this time, I would do it again in a heart beat. This website may, at times, be lighthearted and my patients know that I like to hear a good joke or about a good book or movie, so although I don't take myself too seriously, I take the privilege and responsibility of practicing medicine very seriously.
"When I close the door to the exam room and it’s just the patient and me, with all the bureaucracy safely barricaded outside, the power of human connection becomes palpable. I can’t always make my patients feel better, but the opportunity to try cannot be underestimated."
This quote by Danielle Ofri, MD describes exactly how I feel about what I do.
"I think the joy of medicine is really the relationship with the patients over a long period of time".
Nitin S. Damle, president of the American College
My family and interests:
I have four sons: Greg, Spencer, Dylan and Ian. They range in age from 39 through 20. They are all terrific guys and I am really proud of each of them. I consider myself truly blessed and very fortunate to be their dad. My grandchildren, Jonah, Levi and Talia, live in San Francisco. I'm also very grateful to have my two siblings and their families living in this area. They are a tremendous source of support. My father at age almost 92 passed away peacefully in his own bed, in his own home with dignity on July 31, 2014. In January 2010, after 64 years, he finally stopped practicing medicine as a general practitioner after he had a mild stroke. He was a tremendous role model and is missed.
- Travel: Love to travel: Visited Budapest in October 2015 and London at the end of March 2016. Aruba in Feb 2017; Charleston and Savannah in April 2017; Poland in Oct 2017 and Mexico City to watch the Patriots play! Had a memorable trip to Italy (Rome and the Amalfi coast) in early October 2018 and visited Australia (Sydney, Great Barrier Reef and Melbourne) in late March of this year. It was a great experience. I met up with guys that I was at school with >50 years ago! This month (Feb) I am going back to visit Cape Town after an almost 5 year interval.
- Sports: Almost all, but especially the Patriots. I still occasionally follow rugby and cricket.
- Reading: Especially spy genre, but less fun since the end of the cold war! [Love John LeCarre]
Family genealogy is an interest.
Keeping this site and the Belmont Medical website current and meaningful is also something I enjoy doing. - Movies: [but with a few exceptions usually not horror, sci-fi or martial arts] and some of my favorites include: Casablanca (which I saw on the "BIG" screen on its 70th. anniversary); The Godfather.1+2 [but not 3]; When Harry Met Sally; Annie Hall; Goodfellas; Apocalypse Now; Dr Zhivago; The Big Chill; Pulp Fiction; Gloomy Sunday; Out of Africa; Love Actually; and others I have seen and enjoyed include: The Departed; The Lives of Others; The Namesake; The Black Book; Eastern Promises; Michael Clayton; American Gangster; Atonement; No Country for Old Men; Charlie Wilson's War; The Kite Runner; The Counterfeiters; The Visitor; Slumdog Millionaire; Milk; The Reader; Doubt; The Wrestler; The Hangover; The Hurt Locker; Winter's Bone; Julie and Julia; Invictus; Up in the Air; Its Complicated; An Education; A Single Man; Crazy Heart; The Town; Today's Special; The Social Network; True Grit; The King's Speech; Black Swan; The Fighter; Win Win; Bridesmaids; The Help; Moneyball; Stupid Crazy Love; Hugo (in 3D); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Midnight in Paris; War Horse; The Artist; A Separation; The Descendants; The Hunger Games; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; The Intouchables; Argo; Skyfall; The Silver Lining Playbook; The Sessions; Django - Unchained; Zero Dark Thirty; Searching for Sugar Man; The Way, Way Back; Fruitvale Station; Captain Phillips; Gravity; American Hustle; 12 Years a Slave; The Butler; August: Osage County; Dallas Buyers Club; Philomena; Chef; The 100 foot Journey; Gone Girl; The Judge; Unbroken; The Imitation Game; The Theory of Everything; Whiplash; Spy; Wild; The Martian: Bridge of Spies; Spotlight; Creed; Brooklyn; Come Hell or High Water; Allied; Nocturnal Animals; Arrival; Manchester By The Sea; Fences; Hacksaw Ridge; The Big Sick; Baby Driver; Dunkirk; Darkest Hour; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MI; Get Out; The Shape of Water; A Star is Born; Bohemian Rhapsody; Blackkklansman; The Green Book; Once upon a time in Hollywood; The Irishman; Knives Out; Richard Jewell; Parasite; 1917; The Two Popes; Chernobyl (series on HBO); Jack Ryan (series 1+2 on Amazon Prime); Shtisel (series on Netflix); Ozark (series on Netflix); Bodyguard (series on Netflix); The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (series 1+2 on Amazon Prime); A Place To Call Home (series on AcornTV); Peaky Blinders (series on Netflix); Goliath (series 1 on Amazon Prime); Sneaky Pete (series on Amazon Prime); The Crown (series on Netflix); The Night Of (series on HBO); The Night Manager (series on AMC); Outlander (series on Starz); Fargo (series on FX); Narcos - Mexico (series on Netflix); House of Cards (series on Netflix); Downton Abbey (series on Masterpiece Theater and more recently the movie); Homeland (series on Showtime).
- Music: [especially classic R&R (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin), Motown (Smokey, Aretha, Gladys, Temps, Tops) and Soul (Sam, Otis, Marvin, Wilson)
- People I Admired: Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela......
- People I got emotional about when I saw them: Muhammad Ali...
- Things I can't stand: racism, bigotry, extremism, bullies, people who take themselves too seriously (and that includes some doctors!).....
"Money is honey, but health is wealth"
Patricia Salber
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