Joseph P. Bast, MD

Joseph Bast, MD, knew from a young age that he wanted to be a doctor – a surgeon, he thought. But as an undergrad, he was inspired to take a closer look at a different specialty while working in a renal physiology lab.

“That’s where I met my mentor, essentially, and he was amazing,” Dr. Bast said. “His basic research on the physiology of the inside of the kidneys is what really spurred my interest.”

As a nephrologist at Methodist Physicians Clinic – Nephrology, Dr. Bast is particularly interested in helping patients navigate in-home dialysis.

“It gives them some autonomy into their treatments,” he said. “But also, I think it gives them a much better quality of life. For some people, even an extension of life.”

The most rewarding part of his job is providing hope to those facing a scary diagnosis.

“Especially our new patients,” he said. “Many of them are coming to us just hearing they have kidney disease and have never heard of this concept. They don’t know what it means or what’s going to happen to them. A lot of it is settling down their fear or nervousness, saying, ‘All right, many people live with kidney disease for 50 years. As long as we’re taking care of the reasons that you have kidney disease, you should be able to live well even with this disease.’”

When he’s not collaborating with other specialists and developing treatment plans with his patients, Dr. Bast enjoys cooking, traveling and playing golf with his family.