Rekha Suthar, MD

“The medical field involves a lifelong learning process. Every day you learn something new.”

Dr. Suthar grew up fascinated by doctors. “My grandmother had heart failure, and I saw how she improved after having medical treatment for it,” she says.

While she found her residency in anesthesia to be rewarding, she longed for more patient interaction, which led her to pain management. Her interest in interventional pain management was further spurred by news reports of increased deaths from opioid overdoses.

Approach
For Dr. Suthar, communication is critical to an accurate diagnosis. “I must pay close attention to the patient and let the patient talk,” she says. “For example, sometimes, there is more than one pain generators contributing to chronic pain and through history and physical exam is essential to to diagnose the patient well and tailor the treatment according to the diagnosis.”
Dr. Suthar’s focus at Synovation has been spine-related cases. She has found lumbar epidural injections helpful for disc herniation, and for arthritis-related spine pain, nerve blocks followed by radiofrequency ablations have been successful. “In addition to injections, I also have used spinal cord stimulators,” she says. “I’m excited for the new technologies.”

Credentials
Dr. Suthar completed medical school in India and came to the US for a master’s in public health at Florida International University in Miami. After a residency in general surgery and anesthesiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, she completed a fellowship in interventional pain management at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. After working in pain management for the Lakeland Regional Medical Center and Interventional Pain and Wellness Center in florida, Dr. Suthar joined Synovation.

Personal
Dr. Suthar enjoys spending time with her family and traveling, and she looks forward to working with underprivileged children in the future.