I had the great pleasure of doing a 4 week long Rotation with Dr Usman Khan at HCA Houston Northwest and Epic Heart and Vascular Center. Dr Khan is an exceptional Interventional cardiologist, very professional, humble and a wonderful mentor. He is dedicated to providing exemplary care to his patients. He guides every extern, especially IMGs to get acquainted with patient approach, the hospital work environment, EMR and helps improve communication skills.
I had the chance to work in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. I had the opportunity of working with an exceptional team of healthcare providers and to learn from them. From the very first day, Dr Khan and his team made me feel welcomed and put in effort to make sure I got accustomed to the Healthcare system. His method of teaching was interactive and helped me approach and structure patient care tailored to each case, improving my analytical skills. He patiently answered all of my queries and explained complex concepts with examples. He took the time to acknowledge my efforts at understanding and interpreting EKGs. He helped to develop my EKG reading skills by going over several EKGs per day, deepening my knowledge.
I observed various diagnostic tests like Echocardiography, Ultrasonography of vessels, Nuclear Cardiac Test, Exercise Stress Test and Mobile Cardiac Telemetry. Additionally, I was able to witness many outpatient procedures like Varithena, Venaseal and Venous ablations.
In the Hospital, during my rotation I shadowed Dr Khan during rounds in the hospital, ER cardiology referrals, witnessed several procedures in the Cath Lab(Cardiac Catheterization, PCI, TTE, TEE). Dr Khan would advise us to study about the various procedures and then would discuss regarding the indications, procedures, outcome, contraindications and post op care of patients.
Dr Khan always motivated me to upkeep my knowledge and encouraged me to be well read. He frequently shared the latest updates and articles by AHA, JACC. I also presented an article “SGLT-2 inhibitors after acute myocardial infarction in patients with type 2 diabetes: A population based investigation” in the journal club.
On the first day of the rotation, Dr Khan took the time to talk to each of the observers regarding their plans, goals and interests, so that each of us got the best out of this experience. He discussed the importance of cleanliness and punctuality. He helped improve my communication skills, always encouraged me to be confident with my patient approach, citing “Don’t let the weakness in you affect the greatness in you”. I had a well-rounded experience. Not only did I strengthen my medical knowledge and clinical skills, but I was able to build my teamwork skills as well.