“I go by ‘Omid’ because it means ‘hope,’” explains Seyedmohammad Pourshahid, MD, MPH, Medical Director of Pulmonary Rehabilitation at TUH-Main Campus and Assistant Professor of Clinical Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.
“In a sense, that’s what pulmonary rehab is,” he continues. “It’s the hope that patients with chronic respiratory disease can fight back, because they can’t surrender and give up. It can be easy for patients to get discouraged, but disengaging is the worst thing for their condition. That’s why my name inspires me: I try to give people hope.”
It’s an approach that has earned his patients’ trust and his colleagues’ admiration—so much so that Dr. Pourshahid was named to the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED)’s 2025 Top Physicians Under 40 list.
“It was a humbling experience, because I was included among so many incredible physicians,” he says. “But none of this would have been possible without the collective effort of my mentors, colleagues, patients, and especially my wife, who is the co-founder of our pulmonary rehab initiative and a key part of my life and vision.”
Capitalizing on “a 95% Missed Opportunity”
This “mentorship, teamwork, and incredible support” have been essential for Dr. Pourshahid as he works to expand access to pulmonary rehab, which is “vastly underutilized” in the US and around the world, “even though it reduces mortality, improves quality of life, and reduces readmission.”
“There are fewer than 1,8000 pulmonary rehab programs across the United States—including Temple Health’s—while more than 15 million people live with chronic obstructive pulmonary lung disease (COPD) and other chronic respiratory conditions that urgently need rehab,” Dr. Pourshahid explains. “Studies show that only 5% of the people who qualify for pulmonary rehab in the US actually get it, which is a 95% missed opportunity.”
With the number of COPD patients expected to rise significantly in the coming years, improving access to pulmonary rehab is more important than ever. Dr. Pourshahid is especially dedicated to this effort because, as he puts it, “I don’t think breathing should be a privilege.”
He and the Temple Health team have taken multiple steps to make pulmonary rehab more accessible, including offering services at multiple locations, creating a variety of access points, working hard to minimize wait times, and proactively reaching out to eligible patients to inform them of our services.
At the same time, he also sees enormous potential in virtual pulmonary rehab. “I don’t think having someone to drive you to the hospital should be a privilege, either,” he says. “A lot of people have that, and a lot of people don’t. But if you don’t have that access, you shouldn’t be suffering, and virtual pulmonary rehab is another form of care delivery intended to address that problem.”
Breaking the Cycle with Care
For the past two years, Temple Health and Temple University have been developing a medical-grade virtual pulmonary rehab platform for patients. “It would deliver the same therapy we already provide, just in a virtual format,” Dr. Pourshahid explains.
“Pulmonary rehab involves some exercise, but it’s mostly a lot of education about chronic respiratory disease,” he continues. “We talk about nutrition, behavioral health, and the social connection they can find with other patients. It’s also very focused on self-efficacy: helping them motivate themselves to continue the therapy.”
“If someone with a chronic respiratory disease feels helpless and like they’ve lost all control, it’s the beginning of a vicious cycle,” Dr. Pourshahid says. “They get short of breath, anxious, and afraid. Their automatic reaction is that they’re going to stop doing whatever makes them have that feeling, which is exerting themselves. But the more they sit, the worse their condition becomes. That’s a very dangerous cycle that has to be stopped, and pulmonary rehab is the best way to do that.”
It's why providing this kind of care is so important, and why Dr. Pourshahid is so committed to ensuring that as many patients as possible can access it. Thanks to him and his team, Temple Health will continue leading the way in pulmonary rehab—because, as he puts it, “It’s about having a vision, seeing a need, and trying to address it.”