By Lauren Saslow
Individuals suffering from chronic medical issues, musculoskeletal conditions and severe disabilities often require the services of multiple specialists for treatment. Establishing a doctor-patient relationship with each specialist can become an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, as the co-pays, travel expenses and prescriptions can add up quickly.
Mid-Florida Physical Medicine (located in the Cypress Ridge Professional Center off S.R. 56 between I-75 and Bruce B. Downs [BBD] Blvd. in Wesley Chapel) is a traditional, private practice with a unique specialty called Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation or PM&R.
Dr. Asma Syed — a Board-certified doctor of PM&R, also known as a “physiatrist” — is a specialist who is qualified in the art of restoring or maximizing an individual’s ability to function during normal daily activities from self-care to work and play.
Dr. Syed says that the field of PM&R quite literally combines two fields: physical medicine and rehabilitation. Physical medicine is the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical problems affecting movement and activity, while rehabilitation concentrates on achieving the highest possible degree of function after the physical problem has been treated or fixed.
Dr. Syed also maintains practice privileges at Florida Hospital Zephyrhills and Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel (FHWC), which allows her to admit and care for patients who require hospitalization. And, while the office is open every weekday, the doctor only sees patients on Mondays and Wednesdays. The rest of the week, the office is open for administrative tasks and specific types of appointments with Mid-Florida Physical Medicine’s phlebotomist Tina Schmahl.
The practice, which opened in January, is still growing and the suite is shared on alternate days with The Vein Center of Wesley Chapel. Mid-Florida Physical Medicine has two other staff members: office manager and Dr. Syed’s husband, Kal (formerly a software engineer), and Schmahl, a Medical Assistant (MA) who earned her MA degree at Ultimate Medical Academy of Tampa and also is a phlebotomist (qualifying her to draw blood in the office) certified through the National Healthcare Association. Schmahl assists Dr. Syed with front office duties and with medical procedures.
Dr. Syed, originally from India, moved to the U.S. to pursue her degree in this specialty because, “Nine out of ten doctors in the PM&R field practice here in the U.S.”
She completed a five-year medical degree in Hyderabad, India, at Deccan College of Medical Sciences, before moving to Chicago, IL, to complete her internship at Rush Westlake Medical Center. She then went on to earn her three-year specialty degree in PM&R at Case Western University, which is a combined program that allowed her to practice at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH, for two of those years.
Dr. Syed says that the appeal of the “weather and beaches” was enough to lure her and her husband to Florida, where she practiced in Leesburg for the past decade. When they decided to move their family and her practice to the Tampa area, they chose Wesley Chapel because, as Dr. Syed explains, “It is the perfect location, near a big city, to work and raise a family.”
She says they, “still love the people in Leesburg,” and evidently they love her, too; Dr. Syed built such an impressive reputation that patients like Deborah Brooks are willing to make the more-than-one-hour drive to continue seeing her!
Says Brooks of her physiatrist, “Dr. Syed is nice, caring and supportive.” She adds that sitting at a desk job for 35 years, coupled with many years of barrel racing (a rodeo event on horseback) have resulted in long-term pain, radiating from her sciatic nerve. “I am able to walk, but I have difficulty sitting for long periods of time. I retired (from work) six months ago, and I am now on disability because I could not work.”
Dr. Syed completed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) forms necessary for Brooks to receive full disability for her back and leg pain resulting from the sciatica. Brooks was able to avoid surgery altogether, and Dr. Syed has supported her traditional medical care (such as nerve block injections in the knee) with alternative therapies (such as acupuncture).
“Insurance companies often do not cover treatment by pain management specialists as easily as PM&R doctors,” Dr. Syed explains. “My specialty integrates orthopaedics, neurology and rheumatology.”
Other diagnostic and treatment methods available at Mid-Florida Physical Medicine may also include heat and cold therapy, hydrotherapy (a form of therapy that uses water to treat pain using temperature and pressure), electrotherapy, traction, prescription medication, massage therapy and therapeutic exercises — all in conjunction with patient counseling and education. Dr. Syed treats a wide range of medical problems such as arthritis, stroke, migraines, neuropathy, pinched nerves, balance disorders, post-polio syndrome, bursitis and tennis elbow.
Dr. Syed says that most of her patients are seniors, some of whom have suffered from polio, which is a contagious viral illness that can cause a variety of long-term medical problems such as muscle weakness, pain or paralysis. Since the creation of a polio vaccine in the 1950s, there have not been any naturally occurring cases documented in the U.S. since 1979, but those who contracted the virus in previous generations sometimes still suffer from long-term complications. When Dr. Syed lived in Leesburg, most of her patients came to her from The Villages, where she was even featured in The Villages Daily Sun (June 12, 2012), and founded a post-polio support group.
Dr. Syed also speaks at medical seminars and hopes to soon be a guest speaker at a Wesley Chapel Noon Rotary club meeting.
The website PatientFusion.com allows patients to review Dr. Syed and schedule appointments. Nearly every verified patient review gives her a full five-star rating. One patient, Nancy, describes Dr. Syed as “professional, knowledgeable and personable” and having “genuine concern for her patients.”
Mid-Florida Physical Medicine is located at 26827 Foggy Creek Rd. (off Cypress Ridge Blvd.), Suite 103. To schedule an appointment or to invite Dr. Syed to give an educational presentation to your club or organization, call 907-0033. The office is open Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m, and 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. on Friday. Dr. Syed sees patients by appointment only on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
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