Khalid Shirif

Importance of Consent and Informed Decision-Making in Health Care

Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is a Mesa, Arizona health care practitioner who guides practices such as the Vanguard Physician Group and Traditions Hospice. Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif and his team provide palliative care that is holistically centered in elements such as cultural, social, and spiritual preferences, as well as medical and nursing needs.

One major aspect of the palliative care equation is the concept of consent. This is provided either by the patient, or those to whom medical decision-making responsibilities have been assigned. Consent is required to begin any course of treatment, and also to end it.

In practical terms, this means that the physician typically assesses treatment options and determines which are appropriate or inappropriate. Reasonable options, as well as those not recommended, are then discussed with the patient. While medical jargon may be used among highly informed patients, many will want assessment criterion and recommendations laid out in layman’s terms that are easy to follow.

In a majority of cases, patients who have been clearly and adequately informed will accept professional recommendations. That said, a majority of patients prefer to have a shared role in decision-making. This is an aspect of the consent concept that a significant number of medical practitioners neglect.

The Four Levels of Hospice Care

Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif possesses over 10 years of experience handling different medical practices such as Sunrise Health and Traditions Hospice, Anthem Hospice, and Vanguard Physician Group. Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is certified by the American College of Surgeons to practice palliative and hospice care.

Hospice care is a kind of healthcare that seeks to provide support, comfort, and dignity towards the end of a patient’s life, especially among senior citizens. According to Medicare, every caregiver offering hospice care should offer their patients four levels of care. They include:

1. Routine home care

This hospice care type is the primary form of hospice care that the caregiver provides in the nursing home, assisted living facility, or the patient’s home. It includes spiritual support, medication, bereavement counseling for the patient’s family, and medical social services.

2. Continuous home care

This type of hospice care involves a nurse staying in the patient’s house for a long time. It’s always required when the patient is experiencing a medical crisis, resulting in severe symptoms like shortness of breath or severe pain. However, if the medical emergency demands advanced care for the patient, the hospice caregiver may opt for general inpatient care.

3. General inpatient care

Depending on the level of symptoms a patient might display, the caregiver might decide on general inpatient hospice care. People with severe symptoms who cannot get proper treatment at home will also need to consider general inpatient care. At an inpatient facility, there are nurses available always to administer treatments and medications, while offering emotional support to the patients.

4. Respite care

This hospice care type offered only by Medicare-certified inpatient hospice care facilities is for unpaid family caregivers to relieve them of the caregiving work for a short period.

Differences Between Palliative and Hospice Care

Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is a medical director who leads various practices, including Vanguard Physician Group, Traditions Hospice, and Sunrise Health. Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif specializes in palliative and hospice care besides being a surgeon. Hospice and palliative care are often used interchangeably. However, both types of care differ in delivery.

Palliative care is a medical field that improves the quality of life of a patient. It includes treating symptoms such as nausea, sleep problems, or pain. It helps a patient understand their illness better, talk openly about how they feel, decide on a choice of treatment, and communicate better with their physician and nurse.

Palliative care is not dependent on the illness’ stage and is available when the patient is diagnosed, whether they are receiving life-prolonging or curative treatments. On the other hand, hospice care is only available towards the patient’s life end. It is usually recommended when the sickness is no longer curable or when the patient has decided to forego any life-prolonging treatment. For a patient to qualify for hospice care, they might have less than six months to live.

Palliative Care for Children – FAQ

An MD recipient who completed a surgical residency at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is the owner and medical director at Anthem Hospice in Mesa, Arizona. Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is board certified in general surgery with the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Khalid Shirif’s hospice care center, Anthem Hospice, provides palliative care for patients whose illnesses have progressed to the terminal stage.

Although some people tend to associate palliative care with older patients, it is not explicitly for adults. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a child with an illness could be an ideal patient for palliative care.

Palliative care for a child refers to the active total care of his or her body, spirit, and mind. It also includes giving support to the child’s family. Following are answers to some frequently asked questions regarding child palliative care:

1. Is it explicitly provided in hospitals?

Not necessarily; it can be delivered in tertiary healthcare facilities or the child’s home.

2. When is the best time to start?

As soon as a serious illness is diagnosed.

3. What benefits will it likely bring to a child?

Essentially, child palliative care aims to relieve the physical, social, and psychological distress resulting from an illness.

A Brief Look at Hospice Care

Board certified in general surgery with the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is the owner and medical director of Anthem Hospice in Mesa, Arizona. Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif draws on over a decade of experience in end-of-life care. In his role with Anthem Hospice, Dr. Khalid Shirif leads the center’s activity around its purpose, which is to provide accessible palliative and hospice care to terminally ill patients.

Hospice care is special care given to anyone suffering from a serious condition that does not improve with treatment and who is expected to die of the illness within six months, based on prognosis. When a patient seeks hospice care, they no longer rely on treatment, but instead intend to alleviate the symptoms of the illness in order to spend their remaining time more comfortably. Specialized health professionals in hospice care work along with the patient’s families, spiritual advisors, or trained volunteers to provide needed spiritual, emotional, and medical support.

The treatment can be received anywhere it is comfortable for the patient, including their home, a nursing home, a hospice facility, or a hospital. A member of the hospice team will regularly visit the patient. Also, their loved ones will be able to contact a member of the hospice team should an urgent need arise. Medicare may provide total coverage of hospice-related charges.

The Surgery Residency Program at the University at Buffalo

Board-certified in general surgery, palliative care, and hospice care by the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif serves as the medical director of several hospice facilities in Arizona, including Anthem Hospice and Traditions Hospice. In preparation for his career, Dr. Khalid Shirif completed a general surgery residency at SUNY’s University at Buffalo and was named administrative chief resident during that time.

A public research university, University of Buffalo belongs to the 64-campus SUNY system and is one of the United States’ top 40 public universities according to college rankings from the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News and World Report. The institution’s Department of Surgery’s general surgery residency is the only one of its kind in Buffalo. It exposes residents to the Department’s huge patient population, which exceeds one million individuals, and presents students with the chance to take on several types of surgical cases, including trauma and vascular procedures.

To ensure residents fully develop their leadership skills, clinical care abilities, and research expertise, the surgery residency program at the University of Buffalo lasts for up to five years. In the first year, trainees rotate through several hospitals as members of the surgical care team and are responsible for handling patient care on all floors at each facility. This includes planning patient treatment, attending hospital rounds, and gaining operating experience.

Once they go into year two of the program, trainees have greater clinical independence and integrate the knowledge of subspecialties, like breast or general surgery. Residents can also choose to pursue research during their second year. They subsequently transition to a team leader or supervisor as they move to the senior program in year three. This sees them enjoy an increasing amount of clinical independence and lets them take on more complex cases. Year four expands on this.

Finally, the fifth year of the University of Buffalo surgery residency program provides trainees with senior-level clinical experience. During this time, residents fine-tune their operative technique and decision-making skills. At the same time, they prepare and present at conferences and teach medical students and junior residents.

Strong for Surgery Interventions for Safer Surgeries

With many years of experience in medicine, Dr. Khalid Mahmoud Shirif is the founder and medical director of both Vanguard Physician Group and Anthem Hospice in Mesa, Arizona. With experience in palliative care and hospice care, Dr. Khalid Shirif is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

ACS is a nationwide organization formed to improve services for patients. To safeguard standards and ensure optimal and ethical service, ACS offers numerous programs, including Strong for Surgery. Through Strong for Surgery, ACS identifies and evaluates various practices that may improve the health of patients before they undergo surgery.

Strong for Surgery encourages medical facilities to include checklists in the preoperative stage. Checklists aim to uncover risk factors that could lead to complications during or after surgery.

These checklists focus on eight areas: medication management, nutrition, smoking cessation, glycemic control, medication use, delirium, prehabilitation, patient directives, and safe and effective pain control. All of these interventions contribute to lower-risk surgeries.