Dr. Anem Waheed, MD

My cardiologist requested that I see a hematologist during my most recent visit with her. I complied with Dr. Kontorovich's request and had an appointment with Dr. Waheed. Dr. Waheed gave the impression that she was knowledgeable about her subset of medicine. Where I take issue is that she made a comment that implied that I was looking for problems or over-medicalizing myself when it was, in fact, my cardiologist that instructed me to see a hematologist. Surely there was a good reason that Dr. Kontorovich wanted me to see a hematologist.I'm not sure if mitigating biases and communicating in effective (ie, not passive-aggressive) ways is part of the medical school or continuing education curriculum. If it's not, it should be to prevent comments like this from happening. There are also many career paths in life sciences and the medical field that don't involve interacting with as many people (accounting, research, engineering) if that's a part of the job that Dr. Waheed dislikes.

I was very disappointed with Dr. Waheed who now practices at Mass General in Boston and Danvers, Ma. It was important that my mom have a female oncologist because of prior traumatizing experiences with men, so this left us with very few options. The initial appointment was via phone because that was the doctor's requirement. Dr. Waheed wouldn't accept my mom as a patient because she was too challenging a case--she had cognitive impairment, needed a proxy, had complexities, and was end stages. aheed wasn't direct or transparent about her reasons for not taking on my mom as a patient, she just said she wouldn't. In addition, she approached the appointment from a completely intellectual standpoint, spouting information like a textbook, most of which was readily available online. There was no human, emotional, or compassionate side to her demeanor. She didn't provide us with any options or alternatives. She quickly diverted questions to stay on her agenda and schedule.