Cardiologist Dr. Salima Shariff: On the heart beat

For cardiologist Dr. Salima Shariff, the body’s pump is the most important organ

by Sheila Reynolds

Salima was barely five when she started tagging along with her mom at work. Instead of playing with friends after school, she would take the 10-minute bus ride from her elementary school to the seniors home where trusty Stan would greet her. Her mother was the matron of a residence for the elderly in London, England. She had become a nurse a few years earlier after emigrating from Tanzania. The British government had offered immigrants visas and passports if they trained in nursing. Eager to flee the political turmoil in east Africa, the mom-of-three traded her teaching career for one as a nurse.

With her father working out of town, Salima would be escorted daily by Stan, a highly functional patient, through the doors of the nursing home where her mom was working the night shift. For several years, little Salima spent the hours before bedtime following her mother from room to room, bed to bed, watching her monitor patients and administer medication.

More: http://www.smhfoundation.com/cms/File/Surrey_Leader_-_Dr_Salima_Shariff_cover%281%29.pdf
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