Family Medicine Physician Goes Above and Beyond

Jean Philippe Abraham, M.D., a second-year resident physician with Arrowhead Regional Medical Center’s Department of Family Medicine, recently took healthcare services to the next level during his shift at Westside Family Health Center (FHC) in Rialto. “A woman brought her sick child into FHC and doctors determined that the child would benefit from being seen at the hospital,” said Virada Souvanlasy, clinic operations supervisor at Westside, which offers a patient-centered medical home model of care that seeks to foster a relationship between patients and their health care providers. It was a hot day and the woman started out the door to push her child’s stroller more than two miles to ARMC, recalls Souvanlasy. Dr. Abraham and his team intervened and sprang into action. “I decided to get the mom a taxi and our team chipped in to pay the fare,” said Dr. Abraham. “Everyone from the clinic assistant, to the attending physician, was happy to help the patient, who was in a difficult situation.” Dr. Abraham learned early in his life that he enjoyed helping people and working hard. During his youth in Carmel (California), Dr. Abraham worked in his family’s Italian restaurant and also excelled as a student. “I was a nerd,” said Dr. Abraham. “My grandmother was a physician in Montreal, Canada, so medicine runs in the family.” Dr. Abraham took all the necessary classes in college in order to pursue medicine. As for next steps, he says, “I would like to be an attending physician at a facility like ARMC, because physicians can do hospital work and work at clinics.”