Dr. Hely Shah and Dr. Ravleen Grewal: “Every day is a constant inspiration.”

The journey of life is never taken alone. Our lives are interconnected, if only for a moment, with those around us. From the family that surrounded us throughout our youth to the grocery clerks, baristas and healthcare workers we interact with briefly, we all walk alongside each other at some point. But sometimes, the journey of life takes a turn in a direction we never thought we’d be traveling in. When that happens, we depend on the people who walk with us.

The doctors at Stockton Hematology and Oncology Medical Group have dedicated their lives to walking alongside those whose life journeys have gone directions they never thought they’d go, empowering their patients to fight the battles set before them.

For 30 years, Stockton Hematology and Oncology Medical Group has served the community, treating patients with blood disorders and cancer. As an independent hematology and oncology practice founded by Dr. Prasad Dighe and Dr. Aminder Mehdi, they began small but have grown since their beginning, with eight physicians now dedicating their expertise to treating the community. The flagship location in Stockton is going strong, and the group has expanded to locations in Lodi, Manteca, Tracy and Modesto. Despite being an independent group, they work closely with other larger tertiary centers such as UCSF, Stanford University and UC Davis. “The collaboration, understanding and relationship are quite impressive for a group that’s independent,” said Dr. Ravleen Grewal, one of the talented physicians who works with Stockton Hematology and Oncology.

Priorities
The term “oncology” is one that frightens many people, but the physicians are quick to soothe their patients’ fears. “We do see a lot of benign hematology; if you’re referred to us, it may mean something as benign as your hemoglobin’s low or your white count’s low,” Dr. Grewal explained. Her colleague, Dr. Hely Shah, agreed. “A lot of what we do is earlier-stage oncology; we do so much prevention and screening and general care even before they walk into our office.”

The practice is a place of healing, not only for their patients, but also for the physicians who work there. “The senior doctors are very approachable, understanding, down-to-earth people,” Dr. Grewal said. “Everyone’s priority is A) patient care, and B) quality of life, including our quality of life. We take care of patients, but we also take care of each other.” Dr. Shah also spoke highly of the practice. “To have this kind of mentorship, not just in our professional but also in our personal lives, is really incredible and says a lot about the culture we have here.” Both Dr. Shah and Dr. Grewal joined Stockton Hematology and Oncology around the same time and became fast friends as well as colleagues. They are both quick to sing the other’s praises and consult with the other whenever they need advice or support, another example of the strength and camaraderie that surrounds the practice.

Dr. Hely Shah: “I care.”
Dr. Hely Shah was born in India and moved with her family to the Middle East for her father’s work when she was eight years old before going to Canada, where she went to school and received her training. She chose to study medicine, entering medical school when she was 20 years old. “I was good at biology and liked talking to people; seemed a good enough reason at the time,” she laughed, shaking her head at her younger self. But through her studies, she soon realized that medicine was not just a youthful career choice, but a vocation that fulfilled both her strongest interests and the approach to life her parents had engrained in her as a young child.

As she grew up, her family emphasized the value of working hard and caring for their community and the world around them. “Values and empathy. It was a way of life that was embodied by my parents. I know that way of being from having seen my parents practice that in their day-to-day lives,” Dr. Shah said. “We had to care about the world we left behind and care about the world around us.” From composting and other sustainable practices to volunteer work with her family, she grew up with these values shaping her worldview. “My time wasn’t just meant for myself; it was also to give back to the community. It felt like the right way to do life,” she said simply. “I didn’t realize that’s what I was being taught when I was growing up; those were the lessons my parents were trying to teach without calling them lessons, per se.”

Compassion
When she was choosing her specialty in medicine, she specifically looked for something that met her strong sense of intellectual curiosity and deep well of compassion for humanity. “It’s fascinating to me that human beings are like a constantly evolving machine, not just from a physical standpoint but also an emotional standpoint,” she said. “It’s a constantly evolving puzzle.” But she doesn’t reduce the practice to a mere problem to solve. “I appreciate the privilege that medicine offers of being with patients in critical moments and vulnerable moments when they’re looking for guidance,” Dr. Shah said sincerely. “Specifically in oncology we’re not just offering medical guidelines. There’s so much more of patients’ lives and goals that go into it.” She specifically focuses on collaborating with her patients; she wants to make sure they know that not only does she care, but she is interested in helping them in any way she can and hearing their concerns and ideas. “It’s nice to have patients bring in their experience. If I don’t have the answer for the questions, I will strive to find the answers. That’s my philosophy.”
Dr. Shah is tirelessly dedicated to her practice and an excellent physician, but she always makes sure she gives credit to the people who surround her and support her as she works. “Everyone I’ve worked with in medicine believes in those values of patient care and giving back to the community,” she said, expressing her gratitude for the mentors she’s had throughout her career and especially at Stockton Hematology and Oncology. “Every day, being around the people that I am, whether it’s my family or my colleagues, it’s a constant inspiration.” She also makes sure she credits her support system for enabling her to do the amazing work she does, refusing to accept all the accolades for herself. “The only reason I can be a very present and – occasionally patient – doctor is because I have an incredible support system behind me,” she laughed.

Dr. Ravleen Grewal: “There is room for hope.”
Dr. Ravleen Grewal grew up surrounded by doctorates. Her mother was a zoology professor; her father was a veterinarian and one grandfather held PhDs as well. In a way, she considered herself “bound to be a doctor,” she said with a laugh. She had looked into other options aside from medical school, such as PA school or pharmacy school, but medicine continued to call to her over all other career choices. When deciding on her specialty, hematology and oncology attracted her for a very personal reason. When Dr. Grewal was a child, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away.

“Going into oncology ended up being my own healing journey,” she said. “Even though that loss never disappeared, oncology gave me redirection; how to channel that grief into compassion, how to transform that sorrow into commitment.” She remembers her mother’s strength as she endured treatments and continued to show up for her family through the midst of it all. That experience and that grief greatly informed how she approaches medicine and her patients. “I know what it feels like when they go home, so I try to do my part,” she said. “I do understand some of what you might be going through. I want to try and understand it and help you look at the bright side.”

Validation
To Dr. Grewal, the most important part of her job is to bring hope into every room she enters. That hope can look different from patient to patient. Sometimes people need someone to encourage them to keep up the fight, reminding them of their strength and resilience and promising to be in their corner every step of the way. Cancer is commonly depicted as a battle, with patients being encouraged to fight and be strong, but sometimes, people need to hear their struggles validated, that this journey can be hard, and scary and painful.

Dr. Grewal shows up to give her patients what they need, whether that’s encouragement, companionship or merely a listening ear. She approaches each person she treats with the same genuine care and warmth, despite whatever fatigue or difficulties she might be grappling with personally. “You cannot be a robot and take care of your patients,” she noted. She also knows a large portion of fighting cancer is a mental journey as well as a physical journey, and she works to make her presence as healing as the treatments she prescribes. “There’s a lot of anxiety, stress, uncertainty, lack of hope, that comes with oncology, and we have to be able to deliver hope and walk with them through it,” she affirmed. “I see you as a person and not as a disease.”

Like her friend and colleague, Dr. Grewal emphasizes the importance of her unwavering communal and professional support whenever someone praises her accomplishments. “It’s definitely the people that you surround yourself with; it’s definitely the people that help influence who you are, what you do and how you view life,” she said emphatically. She also credits her mentors from medical school and at Stockton Hematology and Oncology Medical Group for its wholesome environment and how the practice holds strongly to its values. “That’s what we keep at the center of it: patient care. And I’m very, very happy that I’m a part of this group,” she said.

Community
Dr. Ravleen Grewal, Dr. Hely Shah and the rest of the talented physicians at Stockton Hematology and Oncology Medical Group are all dedicated to the same excellence of care, enabling their patients to keep hope and live to the fullest no matter where the journey of life has taken them. “There’s joy here too. There is room for hope. This is why I do what I do,” Dr. Grewal said. They all emphasize the importance of community, not only for their patients, but also within the practice itself, supporting their physicians so they can support their patients in turn.

“At the end of the day, all of us got into medicine because we wanted to help patients get through the worst days of their lives,” Dr. Shah affirmed. If life’s journey takes you through their doors, know that you will not be walking alone; the physicians at Stockton Hematology and Oncology Medical Group will be walking alongside you each step of the way.