Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 4, April 2003
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Fremont Medical & Dental is a family affair
By MATTHEW PREUSCH
It's rare that a family can live, work and play together while keeping the peace. Now imagine two in the family are doctors and another two are dentists, and you have a family dynamic of sitcom quality.None of that has discouraged the family at Fremont Medical and Dental, where Dr. David Harvey, his wife, Mahvash Khajavi, and her sister, Parivash Khajavi, recently opened up shop.
Harvey and the Khajavi sisters have been practicing for several years in Burien, but decided recently that they wanted to start a new practice closer to their respective homes.
Harvey, a family physician, and his wife, a dentist, live in Wallingford. Parivash Khajavi, also a dentist, lives with her husband, a pediatrician who has a separate practice near Green Lake.
"We certainly have a lot of knowledge too much schooling," Harvey said.
Harvey said in recent years his work in low-cost clinics had discouraged building close relationships with patients, something he plans to focus on by opening his own neighborhood practice.
"Over the years, doctors have been pushed and pushed to see more patients, and it's become very stressful for the doctors and the patients, he said. "If my patients call the clinic, they should be able to get a hold of me."
All three, Harvey and the Khajavi sisters, are anxious to connect with surrounding communities, where they have already been building their young families for some time. Aside from cutting down on commute times, working near where they live also allows for encounters with patients outside of the examination chair or table. That, he said, goes along way to building relationships with their patients.
"I think that all too often we tend to work in communities where we don't live. And I think that is one of the things that contributes to not having as strong of connections within the community," Harvey said.
For the Khajavi sisters, the connection has always been strong. They have made a tradition of doing things side by side. Mahvash, 30, moved to this country in 1989 at the age of 15. Her sister, Parivash,34, came in 1988.
In their native Iran, which is predominantly Shi'ite Muslim, the Khajavi family, as members of the Baha'i faith, suffered persecution. Mahvash said she could not go to school or be married legally, and her father and mother could not find a job
Landing in San Jose, Calif., in the 1980s presented its own set of challenges for a teenage Iranian immigrant, but Mahvash said she and her family generally met with a warm reception.
"There were so many changes, changes I was going through. It wasn't just being a teenager, it was coming to a different environment," Mahvash said.
Apparently she adapted fairly well. Not long after her arrival, at 16, Mahvash started college. She enrolled in medical school at Oregon Health Sciences University at 20, the youngest student in her class.
"I think I did pretty good, coming from the other side of the world," she said.
Parivash soon switched from technology studies to join her younger sister in dentistry at OHSU, and the two eventually graduated in the same class.
They then opened a dental clinic in Burien, which they plan to keep open. Mahvash currently spends three days a week in Fremont and one in Burien, while Parivash is spending all her time in Burien for the time being.
"We do everything at the same time," Mahvash said. Well, almost everything: Mahvash's son, Zachary, is 18 months old, while Parivash is expecting her first child this spring. One imagines both children can look forward to a lifetime of excellent medical and dental care.
Harvey and the Khajavi sisters are trying to build a patient base for their new clinic. Mahvash currently sees about four patients a day, a number she hopes to double. She also wants to add another dentist and a dental hygienist to the Fremont clinic's staff.
On the medical side, Harvey said he wants to be able to hire a full-time nurse. At presents the medical clinic employees three part-time workers.
Once financially stable, he also hopes to extend his practice to allow access to care for the uninsured. Harvey, who speaks Spanish, spent years working with low-income members of the Latino community in Burien. He wants to return to that work in Fremont.
Mahvash said for the time she's enjoying being able to spend more time in Wallingford, walking her son, Zachary, to the Wallingford Center shopping center or Asteroid Cafe.
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Fremont Medical and Dental is located at 4464 Fremont Ave. N.