The mission and vision of Modest Medix has been heavily influenced by its founders. They’ve infused their passion, expertise, and spirituality into the program, which is a major reason for its success. From donating the meaning of their names, to decades of experience, and compassionately using their strengths and passions, it’s the two owners that truly make this program the success that it is! Here’s the story of Dr. Saima W Khan and Shaistha M Zaheeruddin.
Dr. Saima W Khan (CCFP, IPM, ABOM)
Dr. Saima W Khan is the founder and medical director of Mavis Medix and now founder of Modest Medix Lifestyle Therapy. Dr. Khan completed her medical degree from Pakistan and her Family Medicine residency training from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. She holds Canadian Board Certification in the College of Family Physicians (CCFP) and has been practicing community Family Practice in Ontario for the last 13 years.
She has a change of scope practice by College of Physician and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in Intervention Pain Medicine (IPM), where she is a specialist in managing chronic back, neck, head and facial pain with interventions like nerve blocks, facet blocks, paravertebral blocks and caudal epidural. While working with patients with Chronic Pain, she realized that one of the biggest barriers in treating chronic pain is their weight. It motivated her to pursue this study further and she now holds a Diplomate in American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM). Now she spends more than half of her practice time managing patients with Obesity and Chronic Pain.
Other than medical interests Dr. Khan is an avid speaker and a social worker. She is a Board Member of DawaNet, non for profit organization that focuses on creative and effective methods of bridge-building, charity, and outreach in the community. Dr Khan leads its Health and Wellness Project.
Some of the strengths she brings to Modest Medix include:
– Dr. Eskay’s Style. Dr. Khan utilizes current evidence and guidelines for obesity care, blended it with her own style (education, experience, and culture) to deliver the high quality up-to-date treatment found in Modest Medix.
– Integration. Dr. Khan blends acceptance commitment therapy (ACT) with spirituality and mindfulness into her patients’ care.
– Complex care. Due to Dr. Khan’s expertise in chronic pain and mental health, she is able to address the most common root causes of obesity, hence providing personalized and holistic care to each of her patients.
Shaistha M Zaheeruddin (MS, RD)
Shaistha M Zaheeruddin is a Registered Dietitian (RD) with over ten years of experience in the field. She is the founder of Modest Nutrition and now co-founder of Modest Medix Lifestyle Therapy. She completed her Master’s in Nutrition and Food Science from Wayne State University, Michigan, USA and Coordinated Program in Dietetics. She is an active member of College of Dietitians of Ontario, and also holds registration by commission of dietetic registration in the USA. She is actively working in the community in the GTA and is passionate about debunking misinformation related to medical nutritional therapy.
She brings a lot of strengths to Modest Medix, including:
– Debunking information. She believes medical decisions should be based only on trusted, evidence-based facts that are relevant to personal needs. She makes sure no misinformation has slipped into Modest Medix.
– Non-diet approaches. While she’s a registered dietician, she’s also an expert on step-by-step, non-diet approaches to sustainable weight management.
– Integrated living. She excels at giving the patients seamless tools to integrate healthy living within their family and lifestyle, and helping to stay accountable to ensure success.
A Passion-Driven Program with Expertise at Its Core
Both Dr. Khan and Shaistha were running their respective practices independently, but they shared a passion for charitable work and empowering their community. They ran many projects together – thanks to time, circumstances, their friends, and dedication – they fused together. They took the name “Modest” from Modest Nutrition (Shaistha) and “Medix” from Mavis Medix (Dr. Khan) to create Modest Medix Lifestyle Therapy.
It was their shared commitment and vision for patient-centered holistic care that pulled them together as a magnet. They both believe in delivering high-quality, evidence-based approach to their patients. During the COVID-19 lockdown they collaborated on an eight-week virtual workshop ‘people combating obesity during the isolation’, which was a support platform to empower weight management using behavior and nutrition therapy. This collaboration was the stepping stone from which Modest Medix was born.
Today at Modest Medix, Saima and Shaistha are standing together under one vision helping their patients with obesity to connect with and reclaim their best inner self.
Here’s a message from them:
We want you to trust our experience and sincerity. We do not want you to Survive but to Thrive in all aspects of your life. We understand your desires, emotions and challenges, and are keen to assist you at each stage of your struggle. We’ll be with you at every step of your journey and make this program sustainable, enjoyable, realistic and successful.
Can’t wait to e-meet you!
Love,
Shaistha and Saima
