Anna Hazelwood/Dr. Evelyn Horn - Week 1

6/3/24 - 6/7/24 Week 1: This week began with a great introduction to what our summer plans will look like. It was great to meet Carly Skudin and Dr. Kelly Gillen at the start of the week and check in with our fellow classmates to see that everyone arrived safely. After this meeting on Monday, we were able to get our IDs, after which I headed over to my mentor Dr. Evelyn Horn's office on the 4th floor of the Starr pavilion to discuss the plans for the summer. We discussed that she has clinic days on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that many of the other doctors also see patients during the other days of the week. I was also able to shadow a clinic visit with cardiologist Dr. Udhay Krishnan to end the day. 

Tuesday morning we had a great morning meeting where we were able to meet Dr. Min and Dr. Sabuncu, as well as Dr. Wang virtually. They gave us great insight for what to expect this summer.

The remainder of the week consisted of many clinic visits where I observed cardiologists Dr. Horn and Dr. Maria Karas along with several nurse practitioners. I watched how they decided to diagnose certain patients, adjust their medications, and order certain functional and exploratory tests. They were able to discuss certain risks and benefits to taking action versus waiting to see if symptoms worsen. Also, I learned that they frequently suggest patients to complete genetic testing because this helps them to get a full picture of the disease they are struggling with. It was particularly interesting to meet a patient who had a LMNA mutation and learn about their treatment strategy because my research primarily focuses on this specific mutation.  

Overall, I think it was great to get a sense of common questions, symptoms, red flags, and treatment strategies that cardiologists take to treat patients with different forms of heart failure or cardiomyopathy. In future weeks I would love to see some catheterization procedures, MRIs or even open heart surgery to get a complete picture of how heart disease presents and is treated.

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