About Me

Hello, my name is Dr. Rahal. I’m a Kaiser Permanente hospitalist and a part of the Kaiser Permanente physician hospital team serving both Antelope Valley Hospital and Palmdale Regional Medical Center. I work closely with your primary care physician and other members of the Kaiser Permanente medical team to diagnose and resolve your illness or injury.

Biography

I was born in Syria in a small Christian town to a well-known and well-educated family. I excelled in school, even at a very young age. I decided upon medicine as the path I wanted to follow as it provided a way to contribute back to the community. I scored very well in my exams and was accepted at all medical schools in Syria, but I chose to attend the University of Aleppo’s medical school where medicine was taught in English. After medical school, I came to the United States to pursue my postgraduate training and found that I enjoyed the challenges of working in a hospital setting. In Baltimore where I did my residency, I often handled an entire ICU ward on my own and learned to perform even the most complex procedures. Upon completing my training, family and friends drew me to California where I joined a private practice in Palm Springs. In 1999, I joined Kaiser Permanente in the Antelope Valley to form the core of a future hospitalist program with a colleague of mine.

About my practice

“The patient is always right” is part of my philosophy. Therefore, I always try to put myself into my members' shoes and attempt to determine what they would want to know. I review all their records and am well informed on their condition and history before I meet with them. By greeting members with a friendly smile and conveying confidence in the proper course of treatment, both members and their families are put at ease. I welcome their questions and am always available to address concerns in simple words as they arise.

How I thrive

I thrive on members' wellness and satisfaction. Also, over the years I have built many lasting friendships in the community. These strong social ties give me a chance to relax and enjoy my time away from the hospital with friends from many different professions. We play golf together, laugh together and find new ways to contribute to the community we serve. Back in Syria, I’ve established a scholarship program for deserving students who show real academic promise. Each year we present a prize designed to help young adults reach their dreams of furthering their education in college. It is one more way I can give back to a society that helped a young and determined student from a small village in Syria achieve so much.