Finding a doctor who speaks your language is more than a convenience — for many families it is what makes good care possible. Montgomery County is home to one of the largest Ethiopian communities in the country, and for Amharic-speaking patients, seeing a physician who can discuss symptoms, test results, and treatment plans directly in Amharic removes a real barrier between you and the care you need.

Below is our curated, regularly updated list of Amharic-speaking doctors across Montgomery County — from the Rockville and North Bethesda corridor to Silver Spring, the heart of the area’s Ethiopian community. We will keep adding profiles as we verify more Ethiopian and Amharic-speaking providers across specialties.

Why language-concordant care matters

“Language-concordant” care — when patient and physician share a language — is consistently linked to better outcomes: patients understand their diagnoses more clearly, follow treatment plans more reliably, ask more questions, and report higher satisfaction. For conditions that depend on careful follow-up, like liver disease, reflux, or colon cancer screening, that clarity can directly affect your health. Choosing an Amharic-speaking doctor is one practical way to make sure nothing is lost in translation.

Amharic-speaking gastroenterology & hepatology

Digestive and liver care often involves preparation instructions, procedures, and long-term management plans — exactly the kind of detailed conversations where speaking the same language helps most.

  • Dr. Belen A. Tesfaye, MD — an Amharic-speaking gastroenterologist and hepatologist at the Bethesda Endo Center in Rockville. Jimma University–trained with fellowship training at Howard University Hospital and focused liver training at Johns Hopkins, she is board certified in both gastroenterology and internal medicine, accepts new patients, and offers virtual visits. She cares for the full range of digestive and liver conditions, from colon cancer screening and endoscopy to hepatology and motility disorders.

Amharic-speaking internal medicine

Internists are adult primary-care and inpatient specialists who manage everything from high blood pressure to complex, multi-system illness — a relationship where speaking the same language pays off across years of care. (New to choosing an internist? See our guide on how to choose a primary care doctor in Bethesda.)

  • Dr. Melaku B. Tesfaye, MD — an Amharic-speaking internist and hospital-medicine physician in Bethesda with more than 20 years of experience. Trained at Addis Ababa University Faculty of Medicine and affiliated with Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, he has particular expertise in stroke care, hypertension, and pancreatitis. (No relation to Dr. Belen Tesfaye above — they share a surname but are different physicians in different specialties.)
  • Dr. Yared T. Tadesse, MD — a trilingual (English/Amharic/Spanish) internist in Silver Spring with four decades of experience and board certification in internal medicine, affiliated with Holy Cross Hospital and Adventist HealthCare White Oak. A longtime primary-care doctor for the Silver Spring Ethiopian community, he offers telehealth visits.

Amharic-speaking family medicine

Family physicians care for the whole family, from children to grandparents — a natural fit for multigenerational, Amharic-speaking households.

  • Dr. Bethlehem A. Kassaye, DO — an Amharic-speaking osteopathic family physician at CCI Health Services in Silver Spring, fluent in English, Amharic, and medical Spanish. Touro-trained with a Duke / Southern Regional AHEC residency, she provides whole-person primary care for patients of all ages.
  • Dr. Kahsu A. Tsehay, MD, MPH — an Amharic-speaking family physician in downtown Silver Spring with a public-health background and more than 20 years of experience, caring for all ages with a prevention-first approach.

Amharic-speaking pediatrics

For children’s care, clear communication with parents about development, immunizations, and day-to-day health matters as much as the medicine itself.

  • Dr. Meaza T. Bekele, MD — an Ethiopian, Amharic-speaking pediatrician in Silver Spring with more than 20 years of experience, Addis Ababa University–trained and affiliated with Holy Cross Hospital and Adventist HealthCare White Oak. A trusted choice for Ethiopian families who want a children’s doctor who shares their language. (Choosing a pediatrician? See our guide on choosing a pediatrician in Montgomery County.)

Amharic-speaking pulmonology & sleep medicine

For breathing problems and sleep disorders — asthma, COPD, chronic cough, and especially sleep apnea — clear communication about symptoms, testing, and CPAP or other therapy makes a real difference in how well treatment works.

  • Dr. Asefa J. Mekonnen, MD, FCCP, FAASM — an Amharic-speaking pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine specialist who directs the Premier Sleep Center in Rockville. Addis Ababa University–trained with a pulmonary/critical care fellowship at Northwestern and a sleep medicine fellowship at Stanford, he is a former Chief of Pulmonary Medicine at Suburban/Johns Hopkins and a Georgetown associate professor. He accepts new patients and offers virtual visits.

How to choose

Once you have a shortlist, the same fundamentals apply as for any doctor: confirm board certification, check that the practice participates in your insurance plan, verify they are accepting new patients, and make sure the location and hours fit your life. Reviewing each doctor’s full profile — credentials, hospital affiliations, and languages spoken — will help you compare candidates side by side.

To browse more options, see our primary care & internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, and gastroenterology directories, plus our Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Rockville doctors pages. If you also need bilingual primary care, our guide to Spanish-speaking doctors in Bethesda covers another large language community in the area.

We update this guide as we verify more Amharic-speaking and Ethiopian doctors across Bethesda, Rockville, and Montgomery County. If you are an Amharic-speaking provider who should be included, or a patient with a recommendation, we would love to hear about it.