For over two decades, Dr. Aftab Chishti cares for children with compassion

This week, we met Dr. Aftab Chishti, a member of the pediatric nephrology team. As a pediatric nephrologist, he sees young patients who are dealing with kidney disease and who may need a kidney transplant. He has been practicing medicine for more than 20 years and has spent more than 10 of those years practicing at UK HealthCare. In this week's Making the Rounds, Dr. Chishti tells us about his path to medicine and what has kept him going for over two decades.

When did you become interested in medicine?

Medicine was my passion from very early on. That was one career I wanted to pursue. I was lucky enough to be mentored by a number of physicians who were very compassionate and guided me to my passion.

Why did you decide to specialize in pediatric nephrology?

Nephrology is an interesting field that requires a lot of calculations, and I’ve always been fond of mathematics. This was one field where I would combine my medicine with mathematics.

I like to take care of children with chronic kidney disease. That is a complex process. Multiple diseases get you to that point, but you have to take care of all the aspects of kidney function that are deranged. It is challenging, but it is very rewarding as well once you get a patient to kidney transplantation eventually, which is the final common goal we have for all children with chronic kidney disease.

Describe your patient care philosophy.

My mentors always taught me to be human. It is very important in medicine to relate to your patients and feel for them. There are lots of things physicians do, but the results of those are not entirely in their hands. That keeps physicians human. The aim is to take care of patients the best way you can.

My personal take on disease process is everybody has a method, a path to cope with it. I try to keep it very light. Patients and families are already very stressed with various complicated diseases that we tell them they have, but the best thing to do is to take it as they come and deal with it in the stride and in a manner where one can be happy.

Watch our interview with Dr. Aftab Chishti to learn more about what inspires him to practice medicine and care for the kids of Kentucky.