"Good doctor-patient communication is key, especially in neurology. I try to be as direct with my patients as possible and hope they do the same with me."

On August 1, MIT Medical welcomed neurologist Cyrus Akbarian, M.D., to the neurology service. He sees patients on Monday and Friday afternoons at MIT Medical in Cambridge.

A native of the Boston area, Akbarian studied psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn. "I hope people at MIT won't hold it against me," he laughs, adding that he is enjoying the MIT community. "It's totally different from the other places I practice," he explains. Citing the unique mix of students, staff, faculty, and retirees, he says he enjoys the variety of patients he sees here.

After returning to Boston to attend medical school at Tufts, Akbarian went on to complete his internship at Mount Auburn Hospital. When it came time to choose a specialty, Akbarian had to make a difficult decision. "I was initially drawn to mental health," he explains, "but psychiatry really wasn't for me."

Instead Akbarian turned his attention to neurology, a field closely related to psychiatry. He was particularly intrigued by the amount of research in the field at the time. "So often, advances in research lead to advances in clinical treatment and I was looking forward to being a part of that," he explains. After his residency in neurology at Boston Medical Center, he went on to complete a fellowship in movement disorders and research on treatments for Parkinson's disease at the University of Massachusetts, Worcester.

In his spare time, Akbarian enjoys competitive ball room dancing, specializing in the cha cha.

"I would like to consider myself approachable by colleagues and patients. I especially want to hear what my patients have to say."

MIT Medical welcomed dermatologist Davis Farvolden, M.D., to the staff in mid-September. So far, he says the patients are "awesome" and his colleagues couldn't be more welcoming.

Medical dermatology is interesting for a number of reasons, explains Farvolden. "I enjoy seeing patients of all ages." He also says he enjoys working in a specialty where he has so many treatment options to offer his patients.

Farvolden comes from a medical family. His mother has what he describes as a booming family practice in his native Calgary, Alberta. "Medicine was always in the back of my mind as a career," he says. "But I also really wanted to see the world."

So far, Farvolden has done a good job accomplishing both. After two years at university in Canada, he decided to transfer to the University of Montana in Missoula where his sister was studying. He earned his bachelor's degree in cellular and molecular biology and applied to medical schools throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. He chose perhaps the farthest away in Flinders University of South Australia. For his internship he moved back to the States to Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife who is also a physician. After finishing his internship at Good Samaritan Hospital he completed a fellowship in dermatoimmunology at Johns Hopkins.

"I was really interested in the dermatology residency program at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester," he explains. He had completed a rotation there as an intern and was anxious to return. "I can't say enough about the dermatology program there," he says. Farvolden says he is glad to still be in close proximity to his colleagues there.

After all that travel and moving, Farvolden says he's ready to stay put for a while. Even though the last move was only within Massachusetts, after so many other moves, it seemed like the hardest, he says.

In his spare time, Farvolden enjoys spending time with his wife and playing golf.

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"Working in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine is incredibly rewarding--I like helping my patients be as active as they want to be."

MIT Medical's Orthopedic Service welcomed sports medicine family practitioner Shawn Ferullo, M.D., in August. As a board-certified family practitioner, Ferullo sees patients of all ages for a range of orthopedic injuries.

An athlete himself, Ferullo started playing ice hockey at age five and went on to play for Boston University while he was an undergrad. "During my four years on the BU ice hockey team, we went to the final "frozen" four every year and won the national championship once," he says with pride. The BU Terriers also won the local "Bean Pot" championship three out of four years he was with the team.

Ferullo earned his bachelor's degree and his medical degree at Boston University where he also completed his residency in family practice. "After I finished my residency, I took a faculty position at Boston University where my assignment was to design and build a sports medicine fellowship program," Ferullo explains. He went on to become the first fellow in the new program.

"Historically, sports medicine has been driven by orthopedic surgery," he says. But in recent years, there has been a movement to expand the focus to performance issues, eating disorders, and other areas like exercise and asthma, he adds. "While I work closely with orthopedic surgeons on musculoskeletal injuries, I enjoy looking at other issues my patients face from a primary care perspective." His family practice background is particularly helpful here, he says.

Ferullo says he loves the atmosphere here at MIT. "The diversity of patients is wonderful and the organization at MIT Medical is terrific." Ferullo sees patients in the Surgical Specialties area on the first floor of MIT Medical in Cambridge all day on Tuesdays and on Thursday afternoons.

When not working at MIT Medical, Ferullo sees patients at the South Boston Community Health Center. He also works with residents and fellows at Boston University Medical School's Department of Family Practice. In his time away from medicine, he enjoys playing ice hockey and golf and spending time with his wife and two young children.

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"I enjoy the full spectrum of family practice from newborn to geriatric care."

Family physician Brian Marriott, M.D., joined the staff at MIT Medical in Lexington on September 5. Marriott, who is board certified in family practice, joins nurse practitioner Deborah Sigman, A.P.R.N., B.C., in seeing both children and adults in the Lexington practice.

Marriott says he enjoys the diversity of the patient population in family practice. "My youngest patients are newborns and my oldest patient ever was 104," he says with pride. He adds that it's nice getting to know and treating an entire family.

A graduate of Wright State University in Ohio with a B.S. in biomedical engineering, Marriott attended medical school at Ohio State University on an Air Force Scholarship. He completed his residency in family practice at the Carilion Health System in Roanoke, Virginia.

For four years he was on active duty with the U. S. Air Force, initially stationed for three years at the Yokota Air Base in Japan as acting emergency services medical director. During his last year with the Air Force he served as senior physician and chief medical officer at Peterson Air Force Base and the Cheyenne Mountain Air Station. Since October 2004, he has been in private practice in Newburyport, Mass., working as a community-based family practice physician.

Marriott says he is thrilled to be at MIT. "I've always been fascinated with engineering and I'm enjoying getting to know the community in Lexington." He also says he's a huge fan of the MIT Museum.

When not at work, Marriott enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, tinkering with computers, hiking, and skiing.

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