It’s not always common for a child to know what they want to spend their adulthood pursuing. But that was the case for Dr. Tamam Mohamad, who had known he wanted to be a cardiologist since he was six years old, after his grandfather died from a heart attack. 

Dr. Tamam Mohamad is a fellowship-trained interventional cardiologist from Wayne State University. He received his medical degree from Damascus University School of Medicine in 2003 before coming to the U.S to do his internship and residency. He currently practices at the Detroit Medical Center, where he is the Director of the Cardiac Care Unit and certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine for six different specialties.

Being in Syria at the time, Dr. Mohamad proceded to spend his entire childhood taking his education seriously. During high school, he graduated with honors, being one of the ten best performers there.  It was this accomplishment that got him accepted into the Damascus University School of Medicine, where he ended up being one of the top five in his class after receiving his medical degree.

Despite all of these accomplishments, Dr. Mohamad had his eyes set on leaving Syria during his last year in medical school. He had just gotten married and felt that it was necessary to try to move to the United States in order to further his career as a cardiologist.  In 2003, immediately after graduating from Damascus University, he finally made the move with his new bride. 

“It’s every physician’s dream to come to the U.S,” stated Dr. Mohamad. “I could really pursue my profession with all of the advancements available here.”

When he came to Michigan, he immediately began doing research at Wayne State University and doing his internship and residency at Wayne State University’s Detroit Medical Center. He had begun to adjust to the American system.

“It wasn’t hard, but the system here is a little different than it was in Syria,” Dr. Mohamad stated. “Syria follows the French system, but I was able to adjust quickly.”

His fast adjustment is no exaggeration. After doing just one year of internship, he was selected as “Intern of the Year” at the Detroit Medical Center.  He stayed put at the center, where he began his cardiology fellowship. 

From 2004-2009, Dr. Mohamad would have two sons with his wife, who are now ages 6 and 3. But starting a family certainly didn’t distract him from excelling as a cardiologist. In 2008, he received his first position with the research department at Wayne State University. Then in 2009, he was awarded “Fellow of the Year” by the Detroit Medical Center.

His presence at the Detroit Medical Center has been strong since, practicing until he eventually became the Director of the Cardiac Care Unit, where he deals with patients who have severe heart issues.  He is also part of the Cardio Team 1 unit, which includes select cardiologists who have to take turns being at the hospital on 24 hour call.  

Dr. Mohamad spends at least 4-5 days out of the month sleeping at the hospital, in case a patient with a severe heart problem needs immediate help. And when he is not sleeping there, he is spending 12 hours a day dealing with patients who have cardiovascular problems, among other things.  

“Time is very sensitive when it comes to the heart,” added Dr. Mohamad. “You could lose a patient within seconds.”

Overall, Dr. Mohamad has six board certifications: Internal medicine, which deals with prevention, diagnosis and treatment of patients; cardiovascular medicine, which gives him expertise on the heart and heart vessels; adult echo, which allows him to analyze the function and structure of the heart through ultrasound;  nuclear cardiology, which allows him to take pictures of the heart after an injection into a vein; interventional cardiology, which allows him to repair cardiac problems;; and vascular ultrasounds, where he is able to image blood vessels, including arteries and veins. 

His strong areas of expertise has also resulted in over 20 published articles in medical journals. He also is a regular at national medical conferences, where he does presentations for internal medicine and cardiology. 

It is hard to believe that when Dr. Mohamad is not busy performing all of these tasks on a daily basis, he can find other things to do. But he is a big fan of soccer and loves to listen to music on his down time. But even then, his “heart” goes right back to cardiology. 

 “It’s a lot of stress, but I want to work until the very last minute of my life,” Dr. Mohamad stated. “Saving people’s lives outweighs any stressful situation I have come across.”