The Consummate Communicator

My primary care physician doesn't use capitalization or punctuation when he sends me texts or emails. But, the important point in that sentence is that he sends me texts and emails. It's impossible to feel more secure about how my medical needs are met that I feel about how Dr. Saman Lashkari attends to them. Like so many of my friends and relatives, I always had trouble remembering what was said at a doctor's visit, what the test results meant and why a medication was prescribed. Dr. Lashkari extinguished the problem before it ever arose between us. After every visit, he sends a brief summary of what we discussed, what needs attention and what went well in the testing. But, communicating about routine matters is the least demonstration of his communication efforts and skills. A few years ago my wife and I planned a trip to Morocco. We discussed with Dr. Lashkari what medical needs we might face and he provided us with prescriptions to be filled prophylactically before our trip. Our month long travels were medically uneventful until the last 3 days. I contracted terribly painful and debilitating abdominal symptoms. Though we were 9 hours ahead of our home time zone, we emailed to Dr. Lashkari about our predicament. Almost immediately, he responded with clear directions about which of the medications he had prescribed before we left should be used, what symptoms we should monitor and to stay in touch. Thousands of miles away, he tended to me and kept my wife assured that we had his support. I don't recall if his messages were grammatically correct or even punctuated at all, but as I've written, we cared not a wit about the grammar, what we cared about, and what he provided, was the security that comes from having a consummate communicator as a primary care physician.