administrator of the Department of Surgery , says that adding heart transplant and VAD programs to an already strong Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery will help pave the way for a new cardiothoracic surgery fellowship program and possible training opportunities in cardiovascular surgery research . Early research efforts may focus on VADs .
The Advanced Heart Failure Clinic and heart transplant program place Scott & White among the top educational hospitals in the nation . But those who built the program agree that its highest purpose is to serve cardiac patients .
“ Everybody has worked together to try to make this happen ,” Dr . Gongora says . “ The Departments of Surgery and Cardiology have come together to make sure we can get all these things done to take care of these patients .”
Dr . Nair anticipates that the Advanced Heart Failure Clinic will become a major referral center for Central Texas . “ We ’ re raising the overall level of care for patients with advanced heart failure , right here at Scott & White ,” she says . “ We ’ re proud to be a leader doing this .” ■
Dr . Anderson also is an assistant professor of medicine , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Dr . Gongora also is an assistant professor of surgery , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Dr . Houck also is an assistant professor of medicine , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Dr . Nair also is an assistant professor of medicine , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Dr . Scott also is an associate professor of medicine , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Dr . Smythe also is a professor of surgery , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Dr . Zehr also is a professor of surgery , the Texas A & M Health Science Center College of Medicine .
Find out if you are at risk of developing heart disease and what you can do if you are . Take Scott & White ’ s HeartAware online assessment to determine if you could be a candidate for a free health screening : www . heartaware . sw . org www . sw . org | Winter 11 THE CATALYST 9