TWO of Swan Hill’s newest doctors have settled into the region after a whirlwind career path that has taken them around the globe.
Dr Mohammed Sayeed Ahmed Khan and his wife Dr Sangeetha Krishna Rajah came to Swan Hill with an international background but hope to make the Central Murray region their long-term home.
While the road to Swan Hill was not always easy for the couple, they are excited about the chance to leave their mark on the town and its people.
Malaysia-born Sangeetha worked hard to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.
She accepted an offer to study medicine in Ukraine in 2001 with the view of returning to Malaysia to practice.
Sayeed was born in India into a small close-knit family. His father and mother were both doctors and his older brother also went on to study medicine in Ukraine.
Sayeed said he was not always clear about his future growing up. He enjoyed learning but was not a perfect student.
His parents ran a clinic in his home town and he would spend many hours there watching his parents provide care to the community.
“They were the sort of doctors who gave themselves to patients,” Sayeed said.
“It was common that people would knock on our door at 10pm with a medical problem and my father would attend to them and he always did a degree of work for no charge.”
Sayeed met Sangeetha in Ukraine and a friendship developed, later blossoming into romance.
The pair were faced with the challenge of learning a new language while also studying for their medical degrees.
Sayeed now speaks seven languages while Sangeetha speaks four.
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