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On an ordinary Tuesday in September, Dr. John Dooley placed a stent in the leg of a patient to improve blood flow to his toes and avoid amputation. He provided dialysis access to a patient with kidney failure. By the end of the day, he had cared for many other patients similarly, as he does every day at Atlanta Vascular Specialists, with one goal in mind: to help people continue their lives as normally as possible, despite having vascular disease.

“People we take care of often have other illnesses and are sick in other ways,” Dr. Dooley says. “Whether it’s leg pain from varicose veins that are debilitating and hard to deal with on a daily basis or dealing with arterial wounds to prevent amputation, a lot of patients come to us in dire straits and we are able to offer them hope for the future.”

“Taking care of a patient whose at a low point in their life either due to chronic pain or after they’ve had a stroke or an aneurysm, and being able to offer them a procedure that can change their life for the better… that’s the biggest thing for me,” Dr. Dooley says.

A board-certified vascular surgeon, Dr. Dooley uses the latest advances in technology to treat vascular conditions with minimally invasive procedures that are generally easier on the patient and require less downtime. For instance, he recently began using a new catheter device, approved for use less than a year ago, which removes blood clots with less procedural risk, no hospital stay, and without blood clot medications that can have harsh side effects. Dr. Dooley and his partners, Dr. Eric Wellons and Dr. Jim Combs, are all committed to keeping up with the newest approaches in their field.

“As a group, we’re pretty cohesive in the way we take care of patients,” Dr. Dooley says. “ We may have different opinions about the best way to tackle a problem but it’s great to be able to bounce ideas off of each other. Each patient is getting the advantage of having three surgeons weigh-in on treatment options. There’s a lot of cohesiveness and camaraderie and our patients benefit.”

Dr. Dooley is a graduate of Georgia Tech and Mercer University School of Medicine. He completed his General Surgery Residency at Atlanta Medical Center and his Vascular Fellowship at Greenville Health System, Greenville, South Carolina.

In addition to improving patients' daily lives, he enjoys developing relationships with families.

“When you bond with these families, it helps them get through hard times,” Dr. Dooley says.

“Being able to make a connection with the family is just as important as helping the patient themselves.”

Because of the genetic aspect of some vascular diseases, Dr. Dooley has had the privilege of treating multiple members of a family.

“It makes me feel like I'm doing something right when they send their mom to me when I'm taking care of them as a patient too,” he says.

Learn more at vascularspecialistofga.com/ or call 404-524-0095.