Making the Rounds with Dr. Mary Beth Fisher
For this edition of Making the Rounds, we interviewed Dr. Mary Beth Fisher, director of the Women’s Heart Program at the UK Gill Heart & Vascular Institute.
We spoke with Dr. Fisher about the resources available to patients through and the goals of the Women’s Heart Program.
What’s the primary mission of the Women’s Heart Program?
Our focus in the Women's Heart Health program is to educate and to prevent disease. When we identify patients, we're really looking at making those disease lifestyle modifications, because I think that goes a long way. We have multi-modalities to be able to choose the right imaging test for you. We also have wonderful procedures that can give us the diagnosis we need.
What resources are available to help?
We can use the support of our additional staff, like our nutritionists, our pharmacists, our cardiac rehab people, to really tailor (treatment) going forward. The number one cause of death for women in the United States is heart disease. So, to have more women promoting that, from a provider standpoint, I think is extremely important and that's certainly one of the reasons why I believe in our message at the Women's Heart program.
Another goal … is to build a robust cardio-obstetrics program. Unfortunately, the mortality in our pregnant patient population is going the wrong direction. It takes a whole team to try and reduce that risk, and we're a big part of that team. I think the thing that gets me out of bed every day are the people and the people's stories and their drive to improve their lives. And if I can facilitate that in any way, that's what I want to do.
Watch our entire interview with Dr. Fisher:
