Born and raised in a small ranching community in the Oregon, Dr. Tequa Salehi-rad, D.O. has always had a strong affinity and respect for nature and water. She enjoys hiking, running, swimming-especially in the ocean, boogie boarding, gardening, yoga, reading, and playing the flute. If she is not engaged in patient care, she can likely be found cooking nutritious homemade meals from scratch or otherwise supporting her husband and children in their academic and extracurricular activities. Borne from her childhood experiences observing incredible doctors in her home town impact the health of individuals and their community through their tireless commitment to caring for others, Dr. Tequa has always resonated with the whole-person Osteopathic Philosophy that emphasizes integration of body, mind, and spirit, acknowledging our bodies have inherent mechanisms to heal and regulate, and any treatments applied should support these processes. This pragmatic philosophy is the foundation of how she diagnoses and treats her patients, focusing not only on symptoms but also on the root cause and overall goal of the simplest path to optimal well-being for each client.
Dr. Tequa Salehi-rad, D.O., attended Oregon State University Honors College as a Daly Fund Scholar and earned an Honors Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a Minor in Chemistry in 2001. During that time she completed an Honors College Undergraduate thesis research project in the Virology/Immunology lab of Dr. Jo-Ann Leong which involved two years of research investigating the Mx-protein mediated immune response of tilapia to various fish viruses that infect hatcheries of the Pacific-Northwest. She was the first to clone and sequence the Mx protein in Tilapia; early research that has contributed to novel pharmaceuticals for fish, animals and humans.
She then studied medicine as a Collins-McDonald Scholar at Western University of the Pacific in Pomona, California, earning her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005. During the next four years, she completed a combined MD/DO residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Christiana Care in Delaware. In her first year of residency she also completed the requirements for the Osteopathic Traditional Rotating Internship with the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
She was recognized for her work during residency with multiple honors including The John W. Maroney Award for Excellence in Ambulatory Pediatrics for the graduating pediatric residency class from Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children/Thomas Jefferson University. She was also recognized as the American College of Physicians Delaware Chapter poster presentation 1st place winner for her case report "Occam's Razor Not Always Right: In HIV Keep Hickam's Dictum in Sight: A case of multi-organism esophagitis in a middle aged AIDS patient". In April of 2009 she presented her poster detailing two years of work researching researching the "Long Term Morbidity Among Children with Perinatal Exposure to HIV Who Remain Uninfected" at the prestigious Pediatric Academic Society meeting in Baltimore MD. Further, in 2009 she was a platform presenter for the Eastern Society Pediatric Research Meeting in Philadelphia PA detailing the important results of this research. She won the Christiana Care Medical Dental Staff Best Resident Abstract in 2009 for this research, and was invited to present her research at both the pediatric and internal medicine grand rounds that year.
After completing her training, she began working as a hospitalist, eventually making her way to Arizona where she has provided excellent healthcare in a variety of settings for over 15 years including teaching medical students and residents, working as an adult and pediatric hospitalist, an acute rehab and skilled nursing facility doctor helping geriatric patients, and a primary care doctor for all ages including specifically unique populations with extreme medically complexity.
Realizing the limitations of the current medical system in truly meeting the needs of many medically complex individuals or those with unique pressures that place limits on their time, she has advocated for improvements through work with various coorporate, state, insurance and patient advocacy initiatives. She has led initiatives to improve transition of medically complex children to the adult healthcare system in Arizona. As a lifelong learner and toward broadening the tools she has available to help her clients, she has completed additional coursework and certifications in nutrition, spiritual and life coaching, the care of elite athletes and professionals across a lifespan, including those with medical complexity.
She is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics and keeps current on all maintenance of certification and continuing medical education requirements in both disciplines, a practice that drives better patient outcomes.
In founding Tequa Internal Medicine she aims to help people find greater health and well being and therefore freedom without the limitations of the status quo present within larger health institutes, centers, and organizations. She brings decades of combined experience working within these types of organizations to a model designed to help each client experience healthcare in a way that always feels personal, customized and uniquely you.
