While I’ve always known that heart disease, heart failure,
and hypertension (as well as congenital heart problems) are enormous societal
problems in our society, my first week seeing these problems firsthand in the Cardiology
Department with my mentor Dr. Robert Kim has left me floored. Above all, my
first week here has been a true wake-up call for both paying close attention to
my own health and the health of my loved ones, with emphasis on controlling
weight, high blood pressure, and cholesterol.
One of my main activities early this week was observing Dr.
Kim’s patient clinics. It was fascinating to me to see the vast array of patients,
and one of the main conclusions that I have drawn is that heart problems seem
to have no limit in who they reach. Young, seemingly healthy and old, skinny
and fat. A father of young children, a sculptor, a lawyer. Patient conditions
ranged from a young, female runner suffering from fainting attacks being
scanned for any heart conditions, to a young man with congenital valve defect, to
middle-aged patients who have had several stents put in and coronary bypass, or
to older patients verging on heart failure or suffering the consequences of
long-term hypertension, such as a dilated aorta. In observing all of these
patient visits, I learned the basics of reading EKGs, echocardiograms, and
angiographs for diagnosis of some of these conditions, and I even got to listen
to a few hearts to hear valves that couldn’t seal properly and a valve
replacement! (I find hearts absolutely fascinating, so this may have been the highlight
of my week 😊)
In addition to observing Dr. Kim’s clinics, I was able to get
out into different diagnostic and surgical wings in the hospital to observe. I watched
a few treadmill stress tests and echocardiograms (ultrasounds of the heart) to
get an inside view on how conditions can be clinically recognized, and I even
got to see a patient’s heart with an open hole between the two atria (a patent
foramen ovale, or PFO as I learned). I observed a few surgeries in which a
catheter to deliver radiofrequency could be used to treat arrhythmias, which,
from a biomedical engineering standpoint, was particularly interesting due to
the advanced technologies used: some
surgeries even use robotic catheters for performing the ablations! And probably
the second coolest things that I saw this week were in the cardiac catheter
labs. I was able to observe the catheter angiograph for an emergency patient
complaining of chest pains and possible heart attack (the urgency of the
procedure and the way the all of the surgical team works together to be prompt
was incredible), and was able to see a plug inserted for a leaky artificial
aortic valve via catheter.
Even just this first week in the clinic gave me great
insight into the many sides of clinical cardiology, and I am amazed by the
amount of anatomy and physiology that I’ve been able to pick up from observing
(and studying). I never imagined that I’d be able to recognize certain heart
defects from an EKG, or that I’d be observing surgeries to zap arrhythmias out
of the heart. I am extremely excited to continue exploring the many aspects of
cardiology in the coming weeks, and am particularly looking forward to
(hopefully) being able to observe some real surgeries in the OR soon.
On a more fun note, NYC has been a blast to explore and eat
my way through so far! I’ve been able to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis
Island, Wall Street, Times Square, the Public Library, and several parks
(Central, Washington Square, and Bryant), as well as see my first Broadway
Play! My favorite restaurant, by far, has been Taco Mahal, where they serve
naan or roti tacos with your choice of delectable curries. And for dessert, The
Sweet Shop (ice cream sandwiches with your choice of homemade cookies and ice
cream flavors) and DO (raw cookie dough) are excellent choices.
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