COOKEVILLE – Dr. Qurrat Shamim has had a full year to settle into her new role at Cookeville Regional Medical Center (CRMC), and it appears that she’s in it for the long haul.
Shamim, a nephrologist, a physician who specializes in kidney diseases and care, joined Cookeville Regional Medical Group, the hospital’s team of multi-specialty physicians, last September. She sees inpatients and outpatients, performs consultations and offers treatments like dialysis and more.
Originally from Pakistan, Shamim moved stateside after completing medical school at DOW University Hospital in the metropolitan of Karachi. While it’s common for foreign-born physicians to train and work in the United States, Shamim said she was particularly drawn to more “systematic and evidence- based” teaching methods.
And quite the teaching it was.
Shamim did her residency in internal medicine at the University of West Virginia in Charleston, and completed two separate fellowships: one in nephrology at the University of Florida in Jacksonville and a another in geriatrics at Indiana University/ Purdue University in Indianapolis. She’s board certified in three areas: nephrology, geriatric medicine and internal medicine.
“That combination is certainly unique,” Shamim said. “There’s a very small field of medicine called geriatric nephrology, and that’s kind of considered my sub-specialty. Usually the patients I see here are older than 65 years old, but I’m also trained to see others.”
Shamim developed an interest in medicine early on. She chose nephrology as her main specialty for a variety of reasons.
“There’s a lot of decision making involved, and there are several ways to address a patient’s problem,” she said. “Usually there’s always a solution in nephrology. It’s very seldom that we have to tell a patient that there’s nothing we can do.” Nephrologists commonly see
cases of kidney disease, diabetes and hypertension. Shamim said the number of people affected by kidney disease as a result of diabetes is on an upward trend.
“Unfortunately by the time a patient comes to us, it’s usually when the kidneys are already affected,” Shamim said. “The good news is that we have medication nowadays that can prolong the life of the kidneys and slow the (need for) dialysis. I’m optimistic that the medication will continue to improve in the future to further prolong the life of the kidneys. That’s not always been the case in the past; it’s good news that it’s improving over time.”
Outside of work, Shamim says she likes to paint and travel, time permitting. She continues to build her patient volume; her office is located in the CRMC Professional Office Building, located at 145 W. Fourth St., Suite 201.
“The hospital administrating is very friendly and the patient population is very nice,” she said. “I interviewed many places, and Cookeville has all the amenities of a bigger city. I like everything about the job and the town. I think once my patient numbers build up, there is no harm in staying for the long term.”
Dr. Qurrat Shamim is a nephrologist with Cookeville Regional Medical Center. Her office is located in the hospital’s Professional Office Building at 145 W. Fourth St., Suite 201. For more information, call (931) 783-5848.