2016-2017 Fellow Talk Bloggers

The Fellow Talk blog on TCTMD’s Fellows Forum offers the chance for current interventional cardiology fellows to share their thoughts on training, job searching, and other relevant topics. They each have unique perspectives and backgrounds, but all are passionate about the field of cardiology and becoming the best physicians they can be. Please take the time to read about our bloggers, but also check out their posts on the Fellow Talk blog.

Ankur Kalra, MD

Ankur Kalra, MD, is currently training in advanced interventional and structural cardiology at Houston Methodist Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College (Houston, TX). Educated at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (Shimla, India), he completed his medical and cardiology training at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi, India), Cooper University Hospital (Camden, NJ), and Hennepin County Medical Center and Minneapolis Heart Institute (Minneapolis, MN). Last year, he served as a clinical and research fellow in interventional cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA) and as a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA). Kalra is passionate about improving cardiology fellowship programs across the globe, but especially in his homeland of India. His career goals include working in an academic environment, where he can continue to establish and foster collaborations between the American and Indian healthcare systems while increasing the services and quality treatments accessible to Indian citizens. Interventional cardiology is “the archetype of the patient-centered care model, and it represents both evidence and art at their finest,” Kalra says. He loves food, landscape photography, and going to the movies, especially Hindi cinema.

 Tiffany Patterson, MBBS

Tiffany Patterson, MBBS, is a second-year interventional cardiology fellow at St. Thomas' Hospital, King's College London (England). Since graduating from the University of London, she has trained in cardiology in various hospitals in the National Health Service and has also been working toward a PhD examining invasive LV hemodynamics and the interaction with coronary circulation. As the national trainee representative for the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society, she is excited to share her thoughts and opinions with TCTMD readers, especially fellows. The most exciting things about interventional cardiology for her are its quick pace and the growing amount of practice-changing translational research. Patterson plans on continuing to conduct research throughout her career, either by pursuing an academic position or by collaborating on clinical research trials. In her free time, she dances for a street jazz group at Pineapple dance studios.

Jonathan Schwartz, MD

Jonathan Schwartz, MD, is currently an interventional cardiology fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford, CA), where he also completed his general cardiology training and served as chief fellow. He attended the University of Minnesota Medical School (Minneapolis, MN) and trained in internal medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine (Aurora, CO), where he served as chief medical resident. Schwartz previously blogged for the New England Journal of Medicine’s Journal Watch Insights on Residency website, chronicling his thoughts on residency training. He says he has “always been drawn to intervention because of its elegance. The ability to perform increasingly complex procedures via such small incisions is fascinating.” Following fellowship, he plans to seek an academic interventional faculty appointment that enables him to focus on innovation. He completed the Stanford Biodesign Innovation fellowship this past year and plans to use these skills throughout his professional career. In his free time, Schwartz enjoys alpine skiing, hiking, running, tennis, and cycling.

 Rahul Sharma, MD

Rahul Sharma, MD, is currently completing an advanced fellowship in structural heart interventions at Swedish Medical Center (Seattle, WA). He previously trained in interventional cardiology at University of Florida, Jacksonville, in cardiology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, NC), and in internal medicine at Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (Hershey, PA), where he served as chief resident. Sharma has a passion for physiology and hemodynamics, and sees a career in interventional cardiology as “an incredible privilege.” After fellowship, he hopes to transition to an academic career in structural interventions, but he is also open to starting a structural heart program within a private practice or hospital-employed environment. His great love is spending time with his wife and newborn child. Sharma enjoys traveling and memorizing road and transit maps so that he feels at home wherever he goes.