Dr. Megan Saifi joins Oaklawn Medical Group
Dr. Megan Saifi has joined Oaklawn Medical Group’s Marshall Internal and Family Medicine office located at 720 US Highway 27 N. in Marshall. The office can be reached at 269-781-6600.
Saifi (pronounced SAFE-EE) relocated to Marshall in recent weeks following her residency training in Internal Medicine in York, Pa. and brings with her a strong science background having also earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 2012. She also worked as a post-doctoral research scientist at Columbia University in New York City.
Saifi said it was a bit of an adjustment moving from the Big Apple to York, but she liked the differences that came with living in a smaller city.
“York had a smaller town vibe that I really loved; it was a great experience for me,” she said. “It was the first time I went deer hunting with some of the local hunters there. And I also went fishing for the first time. I really enjoyed getting back to nature. After living in the city, I had missed that bond with nature. I really loved it. The people there were so nice. Compare that to New York where everyone was always in a rush, and nobody smiled.”
Saifi added that she feels that similar vibe from Oaklawn and the Marshall community.
“My sister is a dermatologist and moved to Ann Arbor from Boston and said she loved Michigan,” said Saifi. “She encouraged me to also move to Michigan. I had checked out some jobs in Battle Creek first and then I found Oaklawn and right away, I loved Oaklawn. It had a family vibe, and everyone was so friendly. Oaklawn, and Marshall, feels like home.”
Saifi comes from a family of doctors.
Along with her sister the dermatologist in Ann Arbor, her father is a retired cardiologist, her mother is a retired neurologist, and her grandfather was also a primary care physician.
“Since I come from a doctor family, from early on, I felt we had enough doctors in the family and I thought about doing something else, like being a scientist or lawyer,” said Saifi.
In fact, Saifi noted that she wanted to do so many different things, that she also was a high school science teacher back in her native Iran.
“I think of myself as a well-rounded person,” she said. “I did a lot of things to find my passion in my life. I wanted to be a teacher, an astronaut and scientist. I tried them all, basically. But it was when I was doing research during my Ph.D. thesis, I was studying so many blood samples of stroke victims, and I thought it would be so interesting to meet those people and know their stories. I have always felt a need to communicate with people – I consider myself a people person. I love to be around people, and I needed that part in my life.”
Saifi saw many types of different patients during her clinical rotations, having worked in New York, Miami, and Fla. Nashville and Knoxville, Tenn.
“As a doctor, I believe I can help make positive changes in people’s lives,” she said. “I want to have that connection with people. I enjoy taking care of my patients from head to toe.”
In her spare time, Saifi said she enjoys reading and exercising.
“I am a real bookworm,” she said. “I have a big library at home, and I also listen to audiobooks when I am in the car. I also like to jog and lift weights.”
Despite the distance from her parents and sisters (another sister is an architect in Iran), Saifi said she and family members talk several times a day.
“We are always talking to each other; we don’t feel like we are separated,” she said. “We have plans to all get together at Thanksgiving.”
And even though she said it has been a while since her extended family have all gotten together, she said her new employer and the people of Marshall have made her feel very welcome.
“That feeling of warmness that family and home can give you, I felt like Oaklawn and Marshall offers that,” she said. “Everything and everybody is so nice.”
