It is generally believed that anyone who wants to excel in a field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. However, there is also abundant evidence that people who embrace diverse experiences and perspectives and find their paths later are more likely to have impactful careers. As a late starter, I juggled many interests before deciding to pursue a career in cardiology. In the initial stages of my career, I enjoyed working as a clinician-educator, with efforts dedicated to teaching and mentoring medical students and residents. These efforts led to my nomination for teaching excellence awards for three consecutive years. At the same time, I was fortunate enough to attend the grand rounds …show more content…
I am very enthusiastic to continue my scholarly journey with a focus on exploring data on various traditional and non-traditional risk factors for better risk assessment, with the ultimate focus on disease prevention and early treatment to delay the downstream health consequences. I am also curious to understand and work on the complex interaction between the cardiovascular and nervous systems so that adequate preventive strategies can tackle the conditions affecting both organs. On the clinical side, I have been fortunate to work closely with the heart failure team to manage a broad category of patients, ranging from acute coronary syndromes and cardiac arrhythmias to advanced heart failure requiring a left ventricular assist device. The uniqueness of this field due to its interesting pathophysiology has made it challenging as well as an intellectually exciting career for me to pursue. The increasing focus on cardiovascular disease prevention, supported by high-quality research, and the advent of newer pharmacological agents offer another unique opportunity to have impactful interactions with patients in outpatient settings. As I aim for a general cardiology career, I believe these interactions will build trusting and lifelong relationships with the patients, which will be an ultimate source of fulfillment and the most rewarding part of this