March is Blood Clot Awareness Month (BCAM), a national observance led by the National Blood Clot Alliance to educate the public about deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), serious but often preventable conditions where clots form in deep veins and can travel to the lungs. The initiative highlights signs, risks, and prevention, as many people don't recognize the symptoms despite blood clots affecting hundreds of thousands yearly. Today we discuss this condition with a pulmonologist with Eisenhower Health - Mehul Patel, MD
Mehul Patel, MD, is board certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine and sees patients at the Eisenhower Pulmonary and Critical Care Clinic in Rancho Mirage.
Dr. Patel completed his residency program in Internal Medicine at Eisenhower Health and then a fellowship program in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, CO, where he served as chief fellow.
Dr. Patel was born in India and raised in the United States. During visits to India, he saw the lack of basic health care for people who were very sick. "Seeing the high cost and lack of health care for very poor and sick people had a significant impact on my decision to become a physician," states Dr. Patel. In addition, a family friend and mentor inspired Dr. Patel to pursue medicine as a career and calling.
During a critical care rotation in his fourth year of medical school, Dr. Patel became interested in pursuing pulmonology and critical care as a specialty. "I loved the fast-paced, hands-on nature of caring for people who were critically ill and in the ICU."
Dr. Patel strives to maximize outcomes for his patients with chronic pulmonary diseases. "Often these diseases are not curable, so my job -with input from my patients - is to hone a treatment plan that affords them with the best quality of life possible."
