Dr. Saleh Saleh (middle) with his award winners Drs. James W. Davis, Jr. (left) and Darryl Y. Sue (right)
Dr. Saleh Saleh, as he was colloquially known, could be found roaming the halls of UCLA Hospital at odd hours – consulting on difficult cases with his own wide-ranging style of multi-disciplinary inquiry. Something I experienced first hand as we tried to save my mother using some of UCLA’s top physicians in their respective fields.
Unlike other specialists, Dr. Saleh Saleh did not believe in one-size fits all and conventional wisdom. He was unafraid to let his mind wander far and wide in seeking solutions to life’s major problems.
I had known of his reputation long before my mother was hospitalized, as my sister and her co-workers at UCLA Hospital used to speak of him in reverent tones when he saved another life by unraveling mysteries that remained opaque to other clinicians.
I had gotten into a pissing match with the Chief of Surgery over an issue regarding my mother’s treatment – something I backed with medical literature, but the doctor remained unwilling to order. I told him that I was going to approach Dr. Saleh Saleh and would he abide by his decision. His respect for Dr. Saleh Saleh was evident as he agreed without further discussion, and questioned how I managed to find the hospital’s top troubleshooter. Not so surprising considering my sister’s experience and that my mother’s primary care physician and world-class gerontologist, Dr.James Davis, Jr, was one of the recipients of the clinical teaching awards honoring Dr. Saleh Saleh.
I returned to the hospital the next morning at 7:30 a.m. when I ran into the Chief who was just arriving. We went to the chart area together and he noted that Dr. Saleh Saleh had “dropped by” at 3:20 a.m. and wrote notes agreeing with my request. We tried the new protocol, and unfortunately it did not work. Dr. Saleh Saleh dropped by to follow-up and suggested options – one of which led to an additional two months with my mother and a peaceful death. Having dealt with a large number of doctors, many arrogant assholes, it was readily apparent that this was an exceptional man as well as a doctor.
Here is the UCLA announcement …
Dr. Saleh Salehmoghaddam died on Sept. 11, in Los Angeles. He was 66. For more than 30 years, he served as an exceptionally devoted physician and teacher. In recognition of his skills as a clinician and educator, a clinical teaching award was established in 2009 in his name.
A native of Iraq, Salehmoghaddam completed his secondary education in Europe. He received a B.S. degree in pharmacy from Northern Ohio University, followed by graduate studies in pharmacology at McGill University in Canada, where he also received an M.D. degree in 1977. Salehmoghaddam then completed training in internal medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, a fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Vancouver General Hospital and chief residency in medicine at Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver.
He came to UCLA in 1981 for a fellowship in nephrology and joined the clinical voluntary faculty in 1984. He served as co-director of the Renal Transplant Service in 1985-86 and subsequently became a consultant nephrologist to the transplant and other services at the Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
“The consummate clinician with unfailing devotion to patient care and teaching, he could be found in the hospital at any hour of the day and night, always willing to be of help with a complicated case, and always ready to share his vast fund of knowledge and experience that extended far beyond his specialty of nephrology,” said Dr. Alan Fogelman, executive chair of the Department of Medicine, and Dr. Jonathan Hiatt, professor of surgery and vice dean for faculty, in an announcement of Salehmoghaddam’s death.
Salehmoghaddam was nominated for the Department of Medicine Housestaff Teaching Award almost every year and was selected as its recipient on multiple occasions. To reward excellence in clinical teaching, clinical care and scholarship, the Serge and Yvette Dadone Clinical Teaching Award in Honor of Saleh Salehmoghaddam, M.D. was established.
”It is indeed sad to know that Saleh has left us,” Fogelman and Hiatt said in their announcement. “We should be inspired by his example. We should aspire to the standard of excellence to which he held himself in the practice of medicine, and we should emulate the kind, warm, and generous spirit in which he treated everyone with whom he came into contact.”
A memorial service on campus will be planned for the near future.
Source: In memoriam: Dr. Saleh Salehmoghaddam, a ‘consummate clinician’ | UCLA
Bottom line …
I find it ironic that Dr. Saleh Saleh was born in Iraq, died on 9/11, and will be buried close to where both of my parents are buried. His life and teaching have inspired a number of outstanding clinicians who are not afraid to step outside their individual specialties and consider alternative drugs and protocols. I will remember him fondly every time I visit my parent’s graves.
— Steve
