Miracle Workers at Shifa

The Cyber Clinic, Shifa, started a year ago with Dr. Saeed Jaffer (visit his home on Chowk) single-handedly doling out information and guidance to all "on all things medical".

Today Shifa has a Dermatologist (Saeed Jaffer - MS MIT; MD Harvard; Residency BU/Tufts)), a Neurologist (Saad Shafqat - PhD Duke; Residency Harvard; Fellowship Harvard), a Psychiatrist (Aliya Saeed - Residency Johns Hopkins; Fellowship Columbia University), a Brain Surgeon (Zoher Ghogawala - MD Harvard, Residency MGH ), a Cardiologist (Javed Butler - Residency Yale; Fellowship Vanderbilt; MPH Harvard), a Dentist (Rashid Simjee - DMD Harvard; Residency USC), a General Surgeon (Saleem Islam - Residency U. of Massacusetts; Fellowship Harvard), a Nephrologist (Tazeen Jafar - MPH Harvard), an Opthamologist (Deeba Husain - MBBS Aligarh Med School, Residency Harvard ), an Internal Medicine Expert (Shehla Islam, Residency/fellowship University of Massachusetts), and an Infectious Disease Expert/Pediatrician (Anita Zaidi - Residency Duke; Fellowship Harvard). Its a cyber clinic unlike any other in existence: Free guidance and information to anyone in need from the world's best.


There is social service and then there is social service. There are so many taboos in our society which restrict people from getting medical help. Infertility (from sperm counts to adoption procedures), Male and Female Sexuality (impotency, oral sex, clitoral orgasms, masturbation, premature ejaculation), and Psychological Disorders (depression, personality disorders, anxiety) are a few. While Shifa covers all aspects of disease and treatment, it is in these largely unmentionable areas that its service is at its height.


I list here the types of topics/issues being broached in Shifa queries in just 3 or 4 categories at Shifa (there are 109 total). I chose these categories because they best represent Shifa's victory over ignorance and social taboos.



Male Sexuality


What is the average sexual age of a male? How do you prolong it....
Frequent masturbation unhealthy for men?
How often should one have intercourse with their wife?
How safe (medically) is Oral Sex... is it a satisfying experience for a woman.
What is the pinch technique used in intercourse
Problem with premature ejaculation... can Viagara etc. help?
Normal to take special interest in sexual scenes in a movie?
Unable to have sex even though can achieve erection otherwise
Normal size of genitalia for a Pakistani male?


Pregnancy, Female Sexuality

Time taken for an average couple to conceive?
When during pregnancy should intercourse be stopped?
Want to know more about the hazards of cousin marriages
Normal to have darker hair around the nipple?


Psychiatric Consultations

Effective treatment for Panic Disorder?
How to deal with the death of a loved one?
Can anxiety lead to physical pain?
How to cope with academic burnt out...



Shifa Clinic confounds me. Having created it (with my friend Mansoor Jafri), helped staff it, publicize it, and run it with Saeed and the medical staff, I still find its existence and growth overwhelming. How does a neurologist doing 9 to 5 twice over, married to a full-time doctor, and bringing up a kid in urban USA get the time and stamina to demystify strangers (for free) on such socially taboo topics as Male and female sexuality. How do doctors doing this guidance counselling for free manage to find the time and commitment to convince others to join the adventure? Why do doctors send us unsolicited emails to join the Shifa Staff? How have we managed to keep current with all the questions we have gotten over the months (to date, over 330). Where will the human and financial resources come from for the inevitable expansion in size and scope?

It is not for me to comprehend the past and prophesize the future of Shifa. For now I simply want to say, with deep sincerity, that Shifa and its miracle workers - Saeed, Saad, Aliya, Javed, Saleem, Rashid, Tazeen, Deeba, Anita, Shehla, Zoher - are the gems of Chowk.


The Internet is full of wondrous links, people, and possibilities; also of drivel, obscene garbage, glamorously presented inanities - an imperfect creature much like its inhabitants. I have always envisioned Chowk as the Soul of the Internet. Chowk's Soul is Shifa. May it ever remain in good health.