Start Year: 2023
Basics
Hometown
Houston, TX
Where did you attend university/college?
Duke University
Where did you attend medical school?
Yale School of Medicine
Where did you attend residency?
Yale School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Hospital
Fellow Perspective
Tell us briefly about your background before cardiology fellowship.
I was born in raised in Houston, TX before coming to Duke as an undergrad and then spent several years in New England for medical school and residency before returning to Duke for fellowship. I was initially interested in a surgical career during medical school, but, after completing a half dozen surgical sub-internships, I was drawn to cardiology for its emphasis on physiology and the breadth of complexity that one learns to manage as a cardiologist. Invasive subspecialties within cardiology balance my interest in technical procedures and physiology.
What are your career plans in cardiology?
Academic interventional cardiology with a focus on coronary and peripheral artery disease. Academic interests include data science, clinical trials, and device development.
Why did you choose Duke for your cardiology fellowship training?
Duke had the strongest balance of clinical training and academic/research opportunities that I could find. Duke is a quaternary referral center for a four-state radius and is one of, if not the, largest transplant and LVAD center in the world, and so the complexity and breadth of cases is unmatched. Fellows are the heart of the program and are given ample autonomy to manage these complex patients but with faculty support always within easy reach. We’re given a full year of fellowship to explore and develop academic interests, which can be spent at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (the largest clinical research institution in the world with ample resources and clinical trials) or in Duke’s robust biomedical engineering space or developing our careers with advanced imaging, etc.
What advice might you offer residents looking at fellowship programs?
Choose a program that has a strong clinical and academic experience so that you get the best of both worlds.
What do you enjoy doing in the Triangle area outside of work?
Exploring the many small and medium sized towns in the area, going to the coast in the summer and the mountains in the spring/fall, sailing on the coast or one of the local lakes, concerts at the NC Symphony, exploring the many restaurants/breweries, traveling (easy access airport with nonstop flights to Paris, London, etc), and running/biking on the Greenway.