Anesthesiologist Dr. Nazek Shabayek has joined Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, providing medical evaluation and anesthesia for pain management to patients during their surgical experience.
A native of Egypt, Dr. Shabayek has practiced for the last 25 years in Tennessee and previously worked in Connecticut.
Dr. Shabayek earned a master’s degree in science in anesthesiology in Cairo and then her medical doctorate at the Kasr Al-Ainy Medical School, also in Cairo. She went on to residency at Cairo University. The daughter of a United Nations mathematician who traveled extensively, Dr. Shabayek came to the United States in 1981. She completed a second residency at Bay State Medical Center, an affiliate of Tufts University, in Springfield, Mass., and went on to work at Bradley Memorial Hospital in Southington, Conn.
“I know a little about the Northeast and snow. It’s nice to come back again,” says Dr. Shabayek.
In Tennessee, she worked at Metropolitan Nashville General Hospital, Rivergate Surgical Center in Madison, NorthCrest Medical Center in Springfield, and The Eye Surgery Center of Middle Tennessee in Nashville. Since 1995, she has served as a director of anesthesia in addition to her anesthesiologist role. She also worked as a clinical and academic instructor at the Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia for a time.
A mother of two now grown daughters, “I was ready for a change,” says a warm and caring Dr. Shabayek of her move to Gifford and Vermont. “I was at that age. My children are grown and I can do anything.”
“I’m just excited to be here,” she says, noting she’s finding both the Gifford and Randolph communities extremely welcoming.
In addition to surgical care, Dr. Shabayek provides pain management, including for obstetrical patients.
It is work she finds extremely gratifying. “Anesthesiologists take care of patients at their lowest,” Dr. Shabayek says. “They’re anxious about the outcome of their disease or need help with pain. We help them through it. It’s very rewarding.”
Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, Vt., is a community hospital with family health centers in Bethel, Chelsea and Rochester and specialty services throughout central Vermont. Named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the country, Gifford is a full-service hospital with a 24-hour emergency department, inpatient and rehabilitation units, a day care, an adult day care and a 30-bed nursing home, the Menig Extended Care Facility, which was named by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best 39 nursing home in the country in 2012. The Birthing Center, established in 1977, was the first in Vermont to offer an alternative to the traditional hospital-based deliveries and continues to be a leader in midwifery and family-centered care.
The hospital’s mission is to improve individuals’ and community health by providing and assuring access to affordable and high-quality health care in Gifford’s service.