Even before Dr. Kaveh Karandish takes over ownership of Fountain Hills Pediatric & Internal Medicine on Jan. 1, he has been planning to expand services of the practice.

An urgent care, walk-in clinic six days a week will be created. He is considering allergy testing, weight loss counseling, hair restoration and transplant, cosmetic procedures, degenerative stem cell procedures and preventative medicine for diabetes. Lab services will be provided onsite.

He is retaining current providers Christine Sikorski and John McGuire as well as the rest of the support staff for a smooth transition.

Dr. Jyoti Patel will handle pediatrician cases for 60 days until Karandish can acquire a family doctor or pediatrician.

“I am flexible to meet whatever this community needs,” said Karandish.

His research interests include rheumatology, sarcoidosis and lupus; immunology, oncology, ophthalmology and molecular biology.

For the past three years Karandish, 42, has been medical director and cosmetic physician at Thumb Butte Medical Center in Prescott. Previously he was medical director and practitioner at Swiftcare Medical Inc. since 2011.

He was a hospitalist with the 4C Medical Group at Honor Health for about a year and worked six years in the medical field in Florida.

Karandish received his medical training at the University of Miami, Florida. He completed his residency at St. Vincent Hospital in Manhattan.

Born in Shiraz, Iran, he graduated from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. He immigrated to California, where his family still lives, at the age of 23. He moved at the end of 2014 to Arizona.

Along with his medical training, music has become a part-time career and avocation. He studied music composition and film music at California State University in Long Beach.

A pianist, he performs with a band and has recorded CDs. He describes the music as Mediterranean jazz fusion with some classical touches.

For him, music “clears your head,” said the single internist. “Music saved me,” he explained, by providing a mental balance during time of intense concentration of treating patients.

In addition to English, Karandish speaks Farsi and intermediate Spanish.

In his leisure time, he enjoys water sports and hiking. He was captain of his high school basketball team and played varsity basketball in college.

He is soliciting new patients and will accept Medicare and most health insurance plans.

Office hours will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturdays.

The practice’s telephone number is 480-837-6800.