Dr. David Areias completed medical school at Nelson R. Mandela school of medicine (UKZN) in 2005. After completing his Community service in Mpumalanga he continued on as a Senior medical officer for Middleburg provincial hospitals accident and emergency unit, also working as a research trial investigator for international clinical antibiotic drug trials, and was invited to join the infectious diseases unit at Steve Biko Academic Hospital under Professor Anton Stolz. This was following a successful international trial where is his site gained special commendation for achieving highest number of sample patients for its skin soft tissue sepsis trial which led to intravenous Tigecycline’s new availability in the country. Following that he headed a state HIV clinic for a year before moving into private practice in Johannesburg in 2009 where he quickly gained popularity in a GP & Aesthetics center.
Due to a growing belief in a more Holistic approach in the management of patients as well as personal losses in his family he developed an interest in treating patients suffering mental health Related issues and has a passion for The management of patients suffering acute and complex trauma, depression, addiction, anxiety , ASD & ADD. As a result He moved back into the kzn state health care system as a registrar in family medicine after working in various trauma units across the country. The last decade has seen him managing the accident and emergency department at Wentworth hospital and mentoring junior doctors through the state healthcare system.
He relocated to Hillcrest and into private practice the weekend of South Africa’s Covid Lockdown to head up the newly relocated Hillcrest Surgical Unit Urgent Care & endoscopic center where his duties included administration of ketamine infusions and performing conscious sedation on scope patients for several surgeons and gastroenterologists.
Concurrently he was also the Resident Doctor of Highway Subacute & Rehabilitation Hospital and was fortunate to be part of a Dedicated multidisciplinary team committed to the physical rehabilitation of Patients with varied conditions who required step-down care before being discharged. The work included geriatric and palliative medicine and terminal end of life care. apart from gaining experience in those areas it was also highly beneficial in further development of his compassion and empathy towards A holistic patient driven care approach.
Then at the height of Covid’s second wave, a patient called in and asked to be seen at home because his family was sick.
“I volunteered and arrived to treat them with covid. It struck me that these people were sick, scared, and stuck. They were ill, isolated, and alone in their home not being able to leave. And I wondered- how many other families were experiencing this?
Years of emergency medicine training, 2 years of working in geriatric and palliative medicine coupled with a personal ability to connect and empathise and be more compassionate to patients mental health concerns – That night – treating that family was the catalyst to starting “TheHouseCallDoctor initiative”
The House Call Doctor is a primary patient-centered Healthcare initiative aimed at providing a personal touch and prioritising patients who require medical assistance in the comfort of their homes for various reasons. Some requiring more in-depth holistic care rather than being part of “the modern “conveyor belt consultation” system – something I do not believe in.
Our aim is not only to treat the patient holistically but also to treat the family taking care of the patient and I’ve found a need for not only a doctor but also specialist
allied health professionals able to assist in selected patients.
“A lot of patients don’t want to go to the doctor’s room fearing infection amongst other reason. and I’ve noticed that some patients have a view of doctors as being superior and unapproachable. A goal of The House Call Doctor initiative is to see a perception shift in the way people see doctors. For them to be seen as more approachable, down-to-earth grass root level individuals, who together with paramedics and Allied health professionals are all equal members of a team of people committed to patient-driven care.
The House Call Doctor is a primary patient-centered Healthcare initiative aimed at providing a personal touch and prioritising patients who require medical assistance in the comfort of their homes for various reasons.
Our aim is not only to treat the patient holistically but also to treat the family taking care of the patient and I’ve found a need for not only a doctor but also allied health professionals able to assist in selected patients.