Precision is essential in the operating room, but for Dr. Sanjay Razdan and his daughter, Dr. Shirin Razdan, there’s something even more powerful guiding their work: family.
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The father-daughter duo has built a remarkable partnership rooted in trust, admiration and a shared passion for medicine.
Today, they lead two of the hospital’s premier robotic surgery programs, working just steps away from each other while carrying on a bond that began long before either stepped into an operating room.
Dr. Sanjay Razdan, a nationally recognized urologist and director of HCA Florida Kendall Hospital’s Robotic Prostate Cancer Program, admits he never imagined his daughter would choose to follow him into the same specialty.
“I never wanted her to get into urology,” he said. “It’s too much. I thought she should go into something like cardiology or dermatology. There are a lot of men’s health problems in urology, and I wasn’t too keen on it.”
But growing up around medicine, Dr. Shirin Razdan always knew she wanted to become a physician. What she didn’t expect was that her path would mirror her father’s so closely.
“When I told him, ‘Dad, I think I’m going to do urology. I’m going to apply for urology,’ he was devastated,” she recalled with a laugh. “He said, ‘Why would you do that? Why not dermatology? Do something nice. Why do you want to stress yourself out?’ But I was adamant.”
Not only did she choose urology, she also became a robotic surgeon.
Today, Dr. Shirin Razdan serves as director of the Robotic Kidney Program at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, creating a unique father-daughter leadership team in South Florida healthcare.
Her father says watching her work is one of the proudest experiences of his life.
“The complex cases that she does, I’m fascinated,” he said. “It’s not because she’s my daughter. She’s just amazing with the robot. Walking in there and seeing how she does these things, I get teary-eyed.”
Despite decades of experience teaching patients and training surgeons, Dr. Sanjay Razdan says, learning now goes both ways.
“I’ve learned a lot from her just watching her and seeing what she does,” he said.
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For Dr. Shirin Razdan, the lessons from her father extend far beyond surgical technique.
“He’s the original girl dad,” she said. “He’s never once made me feel that I was any less than any other doctor out there just because I’m a woman. He knows what I’m capable of, and that’s been since day one.”
She credits her father for setting the standard she strives to meet every day.
“He’s pushed me to do well academically. He’s pushed me to study hard, work hard and put in the hours because he sets that example,” she said. “I am what I am because he set the example. There’s no reason for me to be any less because he is the best that he can be.”
Their collaboration continues long after surgery ends. The two often review surgical videos together, discuss challenging cases and check in on one another throughout the day.
“We’re typically in different cases, but our rooms are side by side,” Dr. Shirin Razdan said. “I like to pop into his room and be like, ‘What’s up? Hi, it’s me.’ Sometimes I even try to distract him, but he’s very focused.”
And after a day spent caring for patients, the surgeons often reunite as father and daughter around the family dinner table.
For Dr. Shirin Razdan, her father remains one of the most important people in her life.
“He’s my dad. He’s my partner. He is my shining star,” she said. “He’s always got my back.”
As accomplished as she has become, Dr. Sanjay Razdan says one title will always matter most.
“She’ll always be my princess,” he said.
For this father-daughter team, medicine may be the profession that brought them together, but family is what continues to inspire them every day.
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