Hetal Brahmbhatt, MD

Psychiatrist, internal medicine physician

“Throughout my childhood, I heard my mother say that helping others, especially those who are in pain, is the greatest thing you can do,” says Dr. Hetal Brahmbhatt. “That is what I wanted to do, and why I became a doctor.”

It was just as easy to decide where he wanted to practice medicine. On trips to see his in-laws in East Tennessee, Dr. Brahmbhatt says he was struck with the beauty of the region.

“I prayed to God that if I could live anywhere, that he would bless me with a residency in this area and let me practice here. Now, I thank God every day when I‘m driving around and I see the beautiful mountains and scenery– it’s almost like heaven to live here.”

Dr. Brahmbhatt has the chance to do a lot of driving around as he visits patients at Woodridge Hospital, Johnson City Medical Center, Sycamore Shoals and Franklin Woods Community Hospital, many times working 18-hour days.

“But it’s not a burden,” he points out. “I think, ‘You get paid to help others and the blessing of knowing you made a difference in someone’s life,’”

"...I heard my mother say that helping others, especially those who are in pain, is the greatest thing you can do. That is what I wanted to do, and why I became a doctor.”

As he prays for his patients each night, Dr. Brahmbhatt says that he seeks ways to help them in practical ways as well. He recalls the difference that practical care made for one man:

“I remember one patient who was living under a bridge. He had given up. He was found standing on the train tracks waiting for the train to smash him when someone pulled him away. I helped him get disability, took him to rehab. I had a nurse give him a shave. We gave him clothes and simple basic care – what anyone could give him, not just a doctor. After 60 days, he had a sparkle in his eye and he said, ‘You saved my life.’ This is my reward.

“That’s what we should all do, not just doctors. Compassion and care – that’s what a doctor delivers. Every patient, no matter where they come from, I feel genuinely from my heart they are God’s child before me and I will care for them.”