Roya `86, Rod `88, Alana `97 Rezaee: Tradition of caring

Some kids take after their parents, some kids don`t. In a family where both mother and father were medical professionals, says Roya Rezaee `86, "I knew I wanted to be a doctor by the time I was 10 - when our friend down the street had a broken leg with a compound fracture, everyone else ran away and I tried to stop the bleeding." Her brother Rod `88 followed suit and is now an otolaryngology specialist for the Cleveland Metrohealth System. On the other hand, she laughs with just a little bit of big-sister glee, "Alana hates blood and guts!" Roya has been a practicing OB/GYN since 1999; before moving with her family to Cleveland, she was an instructor and private physician at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and ultimately became an Assistant Professor and founder of a multi-specialty holistic women`s health care group. Currently she provides general OB/GYN care in three Cleveland community hospitals as well as emergency-room coverage for Cleveland physicians who no longer provide ER care due to insurance rates, and commutes to Columbus to treat indigent patients. The work brings her in close contact with many mothers who have had little or no prenatal care and, Roya says, "I love being able to take care of part of the community that is disadvantaged and frequently ignored - many of these people have very sad stories, and they and their babies deserve good care." That passion for care is most evident at home; Roya works a series of 24-hour shifts to ensure ample time with her husband and young daughter. Rod Rezaee `88 is finishing his fourth year as the director of Head and Neck Oncologic Reconstructive Surgery at Metrohealth Medical Center, and though he confesses that he doesn`t like to talk about himself, his work speaks volumes. A cum laude graduate of the medical program at Ohio State, Rod continued his training at Mt. Sinai medical center in New York City, and has recently been tapped by University Hospital`s Ireland Cancer Center to help design the new UH Oncology hospital that has been chartered for Cleveland. His talent as a highly specialized and technical surgeon has a gentle heart, and he describes his biggest professional satisfaction to be the knowledge that "this work gives patients hope." On the outskirts of Cleveland, Alana `97 matches her siblings` dedication in the Lake County Prosecutor`s Office, with her own version of the people-centered Rezaee trademark. "Medicine is not for me," she smiles, "but law is extremely versatile, and criminal law is something I`ve always been interested in - why people choose to engage in criminal behavior, and the background and circumstances contributing to those choices." The intellectual and emotional challenges of achieving fair results for both crime victims and defendants, says Alana, make "criminal law as real as it gets. I don`t file anything until I believe it`s my best work because so many people are critically affected by the outcome." Medicine and community responsibility are clearly a family affair for the Rezaees, and the siblings are extremely vocal about the positive parental influence on their career paths. Of Dr. Hassan Rezaee, Rod says "my dad`s work ethic and principles centered around taking care of people regardless of their circumstances, and that helped me to choose medicine as a career." Roya and Alana describe their mother Diana, a former nurse and women`s health educator, as "a terrific example of what one can achieve as a woman both professionally and personally." And though the three children are carving out different niches for themselves professionally, they mirror their parents in one critical aspect: "They both love what they do," says Roya, "and they`ve always gone to bed happy knowing that what they do counts.