FSP Member Spotlight | Get to Know Khaled Algashaamy, MD

Welcome to this edition of the FSP member spotlight. Every month we will highlight a different FSP member who is doing exciting things in the field of pathology. This month we are featuring Khaled Algashaamy, MD. Dr. Algashaamy was recently appointed in February as the Resident Liaison to the FSP Board of Directors. He is also the Chair of the Resident Committee and the Co-Chair of the Communications Committee.

    Khaled Algashaamy, MD
    Resident, Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami
        Miller School of Medicine
    Miami, Florida

What is your current role?  
I am currently the resident liaison, chair of the resident-fellow committee and co-chair of the communications committee.   

What is the best part of your occupation?
The best part about being a pathologist in training is having the opportunity to practice medicine in un-conventional ways. My clinic takes place at a stage where the patient is under the spot light, examined under high magnification, telling me a story to which I have to listen carefully as his or her complaints may manifest themselves in the subtlest of ways. My patients have trusted me with an important part of their body, which I have the privilege to examine grossly and under the scope. I advocate on their behalf at tumor boards, and I make sure their anxiously awaited results are as accurate and comprehensible as can be. I am the healing hand that helps them see “the dragon they are slaying”. 

How did you become interested in pathology?
I came to a point in my life where clinical medicine started to feel like putting a band-aid on and hope it won’t come off, well, guess what!! It almost always comes off. So, I set out to find a different approach to practicing medicine, one that is concerned with diagnostic medicine. I wanted to be able to satisfy my intellectual curiosity by being at the cutting edge of medical sciences, help raise the next generation of physicians through medical education, and most importantly provide a precious service for my patients by diagnosing their ailments and help in guiding the therapy that will hopefully bring them back to safe shores.      
 
How did you become involved with the FSP?
My attending Dr.Carmen Gomez and our current Breast/GYN fellow Dr. Sara Alghamdi, are always enthusiastic about the FSP and they constantly encourage the residents in our program to attend the FSP meetings, so, in light of their contagious enthusiasm I agreed to attend the 2018 summer meeting in West Palm Beach. I was fascinated by the amount of educational content that a conference set-up in our back yard  provided, I was blown away by how friendly and easily approachable faculty members and staff were. I felt that  they really cared about the residents, appreciated their attendance, and gave heart felt advice when asked. Therefore, I made it a mission to be as active of a member as can be in this society as I truly felt that its mission, vision and goals were aligned with mine.
 
How do you benefit from being a member of FSP?
FSP has provided a platform through which I can share my passion and voice my concerns. The society provides blooming pathologists with easy access to and the ability to network with all the movers and shakers of the field of pathology in and out of state in efforts to help each and every member in landing the job of their dreams.
 
What would you like to see occur in the field of pathology (i.e., scientific advances, greater awareness of the field, etc.) during your career?
There are a few things I would like to see during my time as a pathologist which include the following:

1. I would like to see a generation of pathologists who are out-spoken, actively involved in their patient care, take pride in their work as a physician and a pivotal member of the healthcare team and not limit themselves to signing out cases in a small office or settle for hiding behind the scope.
2. I would like to see pathologists being able to provide consults to patients through assisting in the interpretation of the reports and explanation of the pathophysiology of the disease from which our patients suffer.

What are your hobbies outside of the office?
I am a competitive strength athlete, focused on the sport of strongman, I am the strongest 200lbs male athlete in the state of Florida for the year of 2018 and ranked 13^th in the nation for that same year.
 
I was recently able to pick up on an old hobby which I neglected for some time, and that is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

What is something surprising that most people do not know about you?
I travel with my food. I also listen to Adele on heavy lifting days, because sometimes the heaviest things we lift are our feelings.