Dr. Rajnish Dhawan loves the sense of community found in small-town America. He first experienced it after completing his residency in Pittsburgh, when he and his wife, Dr. Vandana Dhawan, settled down in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a general practitioner.

"I really enjoyed the feel of the small medical community that we found there," he remembers fondly. The pace of life in Uniontown also allowed him to take the time needed to care for his patients. "It was so rewarding," he says. "We got to know everyone in town. It was a great place to raise our two young children."

Dr. Dhawan's love of community and patient connection eventually led him to Hampton Roads. Last December, it led him to open his own practice-Tidewater Lung and Sleep Center in Suffolk.

The center provides comprehensive outpatient care for pulmonary and sleep medicine. Pulmonary care treats COPD, asthma, and lung scarring-all chronic debilitating diseases that require lifetime follow-ups. "Such continuity of care allows me to really get to know my patients," Dr. Dhawan explains with a smile. "That's such a rewarding part of my job. My patients send me cards, celebrate their anniversaries with me, and share pictures of children and grandchildren. It makes my job fun. This has been a wonderful experience. I truly love my work."

Suffolk, Virginia, is a long way from New Delhi, India, where Dr. Dhawan was born and raised, and his journey began 27 years ago. After graduating from India's premier medical college, Maulana Azad, he came to the States in 1994 with his wife, Vandana, whom he met in medical school, settling in Pittsburgh for a residency in internal medicine.

Six years in, Dr. Dhawan noticed that patients' needs were changing, and many were requiring specialists. Always desiring to grow, he began to entertain the idea of becoming a specialist himself. After extensive research, Dr. Dhawan found an opportunity for a fellowship in pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine in Shreveport, Louisiana.

"I completed four years at LSU Health Sciences Center and worked as an attending physician at the local veterans' hospital while my wife finished her studies.  We have a great partnership of supporting one another," he says smiling. "She subsidized me when I was studying, and I subsidized her when she was studying."

Once they completed their studies, Dr. Dhawan and Vandana began looking for the ideal place to settle. At the recommendation of a colleague that made Hampton Roads a big contender. "I heard about this area through a colleague who had interviewed at the Hampton VA hospital as a pulmonologist," Dr. Dhawan recalls. He told us that Hampton Roads was a beautiful area surrounded by water and that it was close to DC with the added benefit of having a large Indian medical community."

Dr. Dhawan applied for a critical care physician position at Chesapeake Regional and was offered the job. In 2006, he and Vandana put down roots in Chesapeake.  

For 14 years, Dr. Dhawan served as Chesapeake Regional's medical director of the ICU, pulmonary services director, and pulmonary rehab director. "I had a great time!" he says. "My wife became sleep director and ran the sleep lab at Chesapeake Regional." Eventually, desiring to be closer to the waterfront and friends, Dr. Dhawan and his wife decided to move to Suffolk: "We loved the area, so we made the move."

In his peaceful new surroundings, Dr. Dhawan began reflecting on his career. As much as he enjoyed his job, his work-life balance was suffering. "I was working long hours, on-call every other week, and it took a bit of a toll," he shares candidly. "After a long debate with myself, I decided to step back and focus on the part of medicine I have always enjoyed, which is outpatient practice because it gave me time to get to know my patients."

Leaving his busy job at Chesapeake Regional, he briefly worked with a local neurologist before opening his own practice in Suffolk-Tidewater Lung and Sleep Center

Besides offering pulmonary care, the center also treats acute sleep conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, hypersomnia, and narcolepsy and offers convenient at-home sleep studies.  Although his wife is also a sleep disorder physician, Dr. Dhawan graciously takes it in stride. "My wife is my competitor in Chesapeake," he chuckles. "I have no shame in saying she's the best sleep doctor, and we keep it that way."