At Atlanta Allergy & Asthma, our physicians are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic, asthmatic, and immunologic diseases. Our Physician Spotlights showcase our doctors and let you learn a little bit more about them and what they like to do when they are not seeing patients. Dr. Keith Lenchner is a board-certified allergist who sees patients at our Buckhead and Stockbridge locations. Learn more about Dr. Lenchner below.
Q: How long have you been an allergist with Atlanta Allergy & Asthma?
A: I completed my Allergy & Immunology fellowship at Northwestern in 2004 and have been with Atlanta Allergy & Asthma since 2008.
Q: What inspired you to become a physician?
A: As a little boy, I greatly admired my grandfather who was a wise, kind, soft-spoken pediatrician in New York. While I was in high school, I asked him whether he thought I should be a doctor and he said, “If you have to ask . . .” The implication was that it’s a tough, long road in medicine and if you have any doubts, think about something else. I knew then I was going to be a doctor.
Q: If you hadn’t chosen medicine, what else might you have done?
A: I love baseball and wanted to be a Major League baseball player on the weekends and a doctor during the week! I also might have turned to my love of critters, reptiles, and fish and probably would have been searching the shore of a beach somewhere studying crabs and writing in a journal.
Q: What made you choose your specialty?
A: I did my residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern. They had a great Allergy & Immunology fellowship program with charismatic allergists who served as my mentors during training. I never considered allergy before Northwestern, but it just felt right.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job?
A: Helping others feel better and helping them get a better understanding of what their bodies are trying to say. I also enjoy a diagnostic challenge thrown at me on occasion. On the administrative side, I enjoy helping Atlanta Allergy & Asthma thrive while maintaining the highest possible levels of patient care and satisfaction. Our leadership team takes pride in maintaining a cohesive, family-friendly environment for our employees, which pervades everything we do.
Q: What is the most challenging part of your job or in practicing medicine today?
A: Aside from dealing with the usual roadblocks placed by insurers and the daily task of clicking through and thoroughly documenting in a not-always-cooperative electronic medical record system, my biggest challenge is to make sure I spend enough time with patients to accurately understand their symptoms and to answer all their questions in a mutually satisfying way.
Q: What makes you look forward to work every day?
A: I enjoy going to work in the morning because I know I’ll get to see my Atlanta Allergy family every day and will get to meet new folks from all walks of life who have chosen me to help them.
Q: What have you learned from your patients?
A: That I don’t know everything. My wife teaches me that as well!
Q: Tell us about a patient who had a profound impact on your life and work.
A: As I was examining one little boy, he peered up at me with his big eyes and said, “You have a big forehead.” I have been proud of my forehead ever since.
Q: What do you like to do for fun outside of work?
A: I used to say that I love to fly fish and exercise and play baseball — but more and more I just want to spend quality time with my beautiful, little daughter and my family and close friends.
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Atlanta Allergy & Asthma, the largest allergy practice in Georgia, has been the premier provider of quality care and research in the field of allergies, asthma, and immunology for more than 45 years. The practice’s board-certified allergists and specially trained nurse practitioners are experts in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic, asthmatic, and immunologic diseases. Atlanta Allergy & Asthma is the only National Allergy Bureau certified pollen counting station in the Atlanta area.