Born in Lebanon, Dr. Patricia Maalouli has always loved children and thought a career combining medicine and working with children would make a great choice. “During medical school when I was on a charity mission I learned you could combine the compassion of being a doctor while enjoying working with kids at the same time,” she explains. “That was the beauty of pediatrics – you could do both.”

Dr. Maalouli came to the United States to do her residency in pediatrics and didn’t really expect to stay long. “I just wanted to see how they practiced medicine in the U.S. and learn as much as I could. However, after I met my husband we decided that the United States was a great place to live and raise children and now we’ve made our home here.”

According to Dr. Maalouli, building good relationships is a very important part of her practice. “I like to get to know my patients, I think it’s very important to build a relationship with them as well as their parents. I like to make my patients feel that they’re not just seeing a doctor, but a friend and advisor. That’s the way I like to practice.”

One of the things Dr. Maalouli likes about being a pediatrician is that it allows her to focus on different age groups and areas of the body. “In many ways, being a pediatrician is like being a primary care doctor and a specialist at the same time. You diagnose kidney problems, lung ailments, different infections…because there aren’t a lot of subspecialists for children you have to do a lot on your own, but I enjoy it.”

In her free time Dr. Maalouli enjoys traveling with her husband and children. She has been to Europe, the Middle East and many places across America. She also enjoys ballet and classical music and teaching her children new languages.