Oak Tree Primary Care

About

Subscription-based. Direct Access. Preventative Care

It's simple. The way healthcare should be.

Meet

Dr. Zaheer

Dr. Sarah Zaheer is a Board-Certified Family Physician with additional board-certification in Lifestyle Medicine. Her professional background includes extensive experience in diverse healthcare settings, such as urgent cares, free clinics, academic centers, federally qualified healthcare centers, and corporate clinics. Recognized for her expertise, Dr. Zaheer has been featured in National Geographic and quoted on NPR.

Her commitment extends beyond medical practice, as she actively addresses healthcare inequities and social injustice, driven by a strong sense of responsibility to contribute to positive change.

In her role as a physician and mother, Dr. Zaheer prioritizes balance by incorporating rest and recreational activities into her busy schedule. Often found exploring the various trails in Howard County, she appreciates the beauty of the community firsthand.

Dr. Zaheer's passion for Primary Care was solidified during an away-rotation at Emory in Atlanta, GA, where she worked with multispecialty teams in diverse hospital settings. Witnessing the crucial role of primary care doctors in patient health navigation, she decided to pursue primary care. Her Family Medicine residency at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City provided a solid foundation, and she subsequently practiced medicine in Texas for several years before relocating to Maryland in 2018. This move was motivated by her desire to be closer to both her immediate and extended family.

“There was a point in late 2019, when | realized that despite all the amazing innovations In medicine, the healthcare experience itself had not caught up with the times.”

On a daily basis, the convenience afforded by mobile technology enables us to seamlessly manage various aspects of our lives. As a busy working mom, I can effortlessly order food, groceries, access same-day delivery, enjoy unlimited entertainment, handle banking, taxes, and even hire services such as a plumber—all at my fingertips. However, the process of seeking medical attention proved to be a time-consuming ordeal, incongruent with the efficiency offered by other daily tasks.

Simultaneously, I became acutely aware of the inefficiencies within the healthcare system, particularly for my patients who endured lengthy waits in lobbies or on hold to connect with their doctor. Despite my efforts to navigate from one exam room to another, I found it challenging to provide comprehensive, root-cause-focused care within the imposed time constraints. While I desired to prioritize my patients, the prevailing fee-for-service insurance-driven model hindered meaningful doctor-patient connections, creating a disconnect in addressing their diverse needs effectively.

It was a painful realization that, despite my altruistic intentions, I was contending with a system not inherently designed to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship—the cornerstone of primary care. The pandemic further underscored the system's vulnerabilities, as healthcare providers scrambled to adapt while still being bound by insurance reimbursement dynamics. This profit-centric mindset often conflicts with our mission as healers.

Fortunately, during that time frame, I became aware of family doctors at the grassroots level who were spearheading change by providing care through the direct primary care model. The transition from fee-for-service to a flat monthly rate offered a solution to some of the ethical and financial dilemmas prevalent in modern medicine. Directly contracting with patients shifted the focus back to patient-centered care, an approach unattainable within the fee-for-service framework. While acknowledging the existing flaws in healthcare, I find myself challenging conventional norms, committed to making a difference because we've experienced the limitations of the existing system—and change is the right course of action.