I rotated with Dr. Usman Khan in May 2023 for 4 weeks at Epic heart and vascular institute and HCA hospital. The experience was very well-rounded and comprehensive, and I became very confident in my approach towards taking history of cardiac patients by the end of it. Not only did I strengthen my medical knowledge and clinical skills, but I was able to build my teamwork skills.
I got to observe various procedures in clinic and hospital like Left and Right heart cath for STEMI, nuclear stress testing, transthoracic echocardiography, angiography, arterial and venous ultrasounds. Dr. Khan showed us implantable cardiac link placement on a patient after which as a part of my homework assignment I presented a topic of different cardiac event devices used in outpatient department, I got praised for being enthusiastic and attentive. I learned how to place Mobile cardiac telemetry, ECG, use EMR, and prepare patients before procedures like varithena, radio frequency ablations, venaseal with the help of nurse practitioner who was also very keen and interested to teach us. Dr. Khan discussed an interesting case of transient global amnesia and after which I saw Transesophageal echo on the same patient in hospital , he also told me to read more on causes of cardiac embolism.
I was able to learn how Electronic medical record and US medical system works, he showed us how to write HPI, social history, and diagnosis and discuss the treatments. We were also given chance to take patient history and give diagnosis and possible treatment options under his guidance in clinic. Dr. Khan is a great mentor, he discussed 100+ ECGs and explained how to analyse them in 10sec, after which I became very confident in interpreting ECGs. We had weekly presentations on cardiovascular topics from recent ACC/AHA guidelines, England journels on peripheral vascular diseases, lipid managements, hypertension or any recent development in CVD, so I was also chosen to give presentation on one of the research article of JACC Journel on topic of premature menopause associated with clonal hematopoesis, increase risk of coronary artery diseases as I found this topic very interesting after which we had a discussion on how they are interraleted and one leads to the other. He praised me for the presentation which encouraged me to learn more. He asked me read on different topics like cardiac stress testing, DUKE treadmill score, statin intolerance causes, CEAP classification for varicose veins. Dr. Khan also discussed an interesting case with me about a patient having mass in right atrium, the possible causes of mass and after which i saw the procedure in cath lab on the same patient. Not only this but he also took me on hospital rounds and I learned the bedside patient care with him. He also taught us how it is very important to be empathetic and have good communication skills with patients.
This rotation is not only good for cardiac patient care exposure but also helps to brush up our cardiology knowledge in general. In the end of rotation Dr. Khan praised me for being keen, hardworking and good teamwork skills. To sum it up this rotation was a good combination of outpatient and inpatient exposure.