MEMBERS
GETTING TO KNOW A SURGEON FRIEND WITH 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN KENTUCKIANA
M . Saleem Seyal , MD , FACC , FACP
I
have known Dr . Waheed Ahmad for over 30 years as a colleague and a friend . He is one of the the most senior , experienced and renowned vascular surgeons in the Kentuckiana area . Despite his age of 78 years , he is a full-time vascular surgeon who relishes his surgical prowess and still enjoys working .
The youngest of six siblings , Waheed was born in Lahore , Pakistan in 1940 . His oldest brother , 13 years his senior , was a well-known professor of chemistry at Emerson College in Multan and was an author of a chemistry textbook ; he subsequently worked with the Atomic Energy Commission . One sister was also a chemist .
At the age of six months , Waheed came close to dying with failure to thrive , called marasmus , which is a state of protein deficiency and under-nourishment . When preparing for burial after several quacks tried various unconventional remedies and declared him dead . While he was lowered in the tiny grave , his breathing returned and he started to improve and survived the marasmus . During childhood and adolescence , he was physically very active and participated in sports and was , in fact , captain of the cricket team in high school . In college during his pre-medical years , he was one of the top students and gained admission to the prestigious King Edward Medical Collegewhere he graduated with an MBBS degree ( MD equivalent ) in 1963 . He did house job ( internship ) in ENT but his heart was not in that specialty . After one of his brothers underwent an appendectomy with gratifying surgical results , Waheed had the itch to go to England to do his post-graduate education in surgery .
At age 23 with his medical degree , he landed in London in May 1964 . His cousin and a friend helped him get settled and he was later introduced to a surgeon , Dr . Stringer in Hemel Hampstead , about 20 miles from London , who was a very friendly individual and used to refer to Waheed as “ a guy coming from many oceans away .” Waheed assisted him in his first witnessed caotid endarterectomy , and it was a thrilling experience for him .
A Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons was the ultimate goal that would eventually open doors for professional advancement . Requirements included one year of residency , six months in medicine and six months in surgery to get the license , and another year and half to practice the chosen specialty under observation . He moved to HarefordShire in a small hospital for his Medicine residency with Dr . Basil Miles and surgery with Dr . Ross . People were very friendly and Dr . Ross took a special interest in the “ foreign ” doctor and taught him well . He was exposed to all kinds of pathologies and honed his surgical craft . He was taught that to become an excellent surgeon one has to have deep knowledge of anatomy , cultivate manual dexterity and have foresight . He has adhered to two other important dictums including “ First : do no harm ” and “ Don ’ t be aftraid of blood .” His second year surgery residency was at the Bristol Royal Infirmary University Teaching Hospital where he learned surgical techniques from some highly experienced individuals including Dr . Capper and Dr . Belsey . Waheed spent six months at the Stoke-on-Trent Trauma Center and became much more confident as a surgeon . Following a six month course to take the requisite FRCS examinations , he passed the written and oral tests and received his much coveted FRCS Certificate from Edinburgh in September 1967 and was designated as the sugeon , “ Dr . Waheed Ahmad .” After a brief stint in Pakistan where he found the job prospects to be very few , he flew back to England and did some locum jobs as a surgical registrar . To become a consultant in England was next to impossible , and he needed to have an alternative for his future professional growth . America beckoned !
He arrived in the United States in December 1967 , and started working at the Veterans Administration Hospital on Huron street in Chicago , affiliated with Northwestern University , in an experimental intestinal transplant program on dogs . After five months in Chicago , the young and ambitious surgeon moved to Louisville , Ky . in 1968 . He had been referred to Dr . Rudy Noer , a Louisville surgeon , at the Western Surgical Association meeting , who in turn introduced him to Drs . Alan Lansing and Dr . Mohammad Atiq at UofL who offered him a residency slot in their four-year general surgery program . During his surgery residency , he worked with Dr . Kleinert and Dr . Norton Waterman . Dr . Hiram Polk arrived as a new Chairman of the department of surgery at the UofL in 1971 . Waheed was paid $ 2,500 annually as a first year resident . He moonlighted in the emergency department at SS Mary and Elizabeth
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