Dr. Joseph Durandis

I’m Joseph Durandis, and I was born in 1979 in the heart of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I grew up in a hard-working family of 6 children. I am the oldest son of Jacques and Monique Durandis. 2 brothers and three sisters follow me. I attended St. Louis de Gonzague school for high school, a renowned catholic school in Haiti. There, I devoted a lot of time to my early passions: soccer and church. During that time, I learned about being compassionate towards people and working hard. Later, I got accepted to medical school at Université d’état d’Haïti, where I graduated with great honors as salutatorian of my class. My dream to complete a general surgery residency in Haiti was very short-lived because of the political turmoil. I moved to the United States in 2006 to complete my education and look for a better life. I got accepted into a residency program in family medicine at the state university of NY (Sunny Downstate) in 2008, where I finished my residency as chief resident. I am also board-certified in hospice and palliative care medicine. I married my lovely wife, Christine, in 2007. We have three children: Chloe(10), Julie (7), and Tristan(6). My young family adopted South Florida as our home.

I worked briefly for I&B medical associates; a Haitian owned medical group of primary care physicians in Miami before I started Excel Medical Associates, a medical group dedicated to primary care with the full scope of traditional family medicine. I took the odd step to open Excel Medical Associates when big corporations employ most primary care physicians with no focus on delivering individualized care for patients. In about 5 five years, Excel has established itself as a place where countless patients rely on their medical needs but also involved socially through cultural activities, sponsorships, supporting the South Florida community. I am the President of Excel Medical Associates, Excel Hospitalist Group, Excel Esthetics, three physicians and four nurse practitioners, and 12 support staff. In 2019 I joined the Borinquen Family medicine residency as a program director to help shape the new generation of primary care physicians in America. I have also enjoyed teaching medical students and NPs (especially Haitian NPs) from all over the country and abroad for the last eight years.

2020 – Covid 19

I’m one of the few Haitian American primary care physicians in South Florida who is involved in the hospitals ( 4), the nursing homes (5), and hospice fighting the invisible enemy, Covid19. Since the end of February, when we started seeing COVID 19 patients, I have not spent an entire day not taking care of patients with an average of 10-30 cases daily. A countless number of them don’t have the appropriate knowledge about the virus. I never hesitate to take part in as many fora as possible to help educate the community on protecting themselves and their loved ones. I participate every week on Haitian radio shows( 1320, 1700), regularly on Island TV, social media, and through the Haitian Coalition of South Florida, bringing awareness about the disease and preventive measures to stop its spread. During the pandemic, a few friends and I gathered equipment, PPE, and more than eight thousand (8) dollars to support Hospital Justinien in Cap Haïtien, Haïti.

Excel Medical associates have contributed to more than ten fundraising events and initiatives supporting the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic, including sponsoring the virtual concerts of Emmeline Michel, Tifane, JBeatz, Tropicana d’Haiti.