Rashid Massumi

Professor Rashid A. Massumi, M.D., born Rashid Abdol Massumi January 21, 1926 (1296-01-21) (age 84) in Naeen, Iran. Occupation: Cardiologist, clinical and academic professor known for early contributions to the field of cardiology.

General

Rashid Abdol Massumi (born January 21, 1926) is an Iranian-American cardiologist and clinical professor, known for his significant and pioneering contributions to the field of electrophysiology in its early stages in the seventies. He has made a multitude of contributions published in peer-reviewed journals, and was the cardiologist to the Shah of Iran and his family and later to Ayatollah Khomeini until 1980.

Education

Massumi was born in Naeen, Iran and left Naeen for Tehran, Iran at the age of 20 to study medicine at the Tehran University School of Medicine. As valedictorian of his 1950 graduation class, he was rewarded with a government-sponsored 5-year period of postgraduate education in the United States. He completed his internship and residency training at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He then completed a two-year fellowship in cardiology at the Institute for Medical Research, Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, under the famed Dr. Myron Prinzmetal.

Early Career in America

After serving as an Instructor in Cardiology at Yale School of Medicine from 1957-1960, he was invited to establish a modern cardiology laboratory at District of Columbia General Hospital, George Washington University section. During Massumi's tenure as associate professor of Medicine at George Washington University and Head of Cardiology at D.C. General Hospital from 1960-1970, there were over 50 scientific contributions published in the field of cardiology.

From 1970-1974, as Professor of Cardiology at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Massumi continued his research, focusing on the new field of electrophysiology, and contributed over 40 original papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

Return to Iran

From 1974-1980, Massumi returned to Iran by invitation from the Shah's Court to bring modern cardiology to Iran and establish modern techniques in the 350-bed cardiology center being constructed at the time.

Simultaneously, as Professor and Chief of the Department of Cardiology at Tehran University, Massumi laid the groundwork for an up-to-date teaching center which, to this day, continues to produce qualified cardiologists.

The tumult of the 1979 Iranian Revolution led Massumi to decide to take his family back to the United States, where he has continued his career as a preeminent cardiologist since 1980.

Impact on Cardiology

During his career, Massumi has contributed to great strides in cardiological research, authoring over 200 manuscripts, 130 of which he was senior author, and authoring a chapter in the textbook "Cardiac Arrhythmias" and co-authoring "Complex Electrocardiography". He was a driving force behind the field's understanding of Prinzmetal-Massumi syndrome , a rare form of angina pectoris. Massumi has been accorded the respect of numerous hospitals nationwide which have sought his services as their chief executive or chief of cardiology.

Despite his numerous achievements in academic medicine, much of Massumi's legacy may be attributed to his unparalleled commitment to superior patient service and trailblazing advocacy of empathic care that brought him virtual celebrity status in Iran and the U.S. Massumi is widely regarded as having integrated a profound regard for the "human touch" in patient care into an otherwise often perfunctory approach to medical practice, as evidenced by countless patients who have remained loyal to Massumi through decades.

Current

Massumi currently practices out of Beverly Hills, California and is a member of the staffs of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he lectures regularly, UCLA Medical Center (where he serves as a Clinical Professor of Medicine) and Brotman Medical Center. Into his 80s he has continued to publish articles, as recently as October 2010 at the age of 84, making him a successful contributor to the academic body of knowledge in the field for seven decades.

Publications

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