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Volume 17 • Issue 8 • $5.00 February 2021
THE REGION’S MONTHLY NEWSPAPER FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS & PHYSICIANS

CARDIOLOGY EDUCATION CARDIOLOGY

Anesthesiologist Assistant Master’s

Program: South University Educates

to Meet Practitioner Shortage

BY BARBARA R. FALLON

The indelible pandemic imprint on our sense of normalcy
during 2020 has not skipped the fields of higher education
and health care.
During the initial stages of COVID-19, most elective sur-
geries were postponed and many patients remained fearful Dr. Lourdes Prieto
Dr. Juan-Carlos Brenes and even delayed seeking vital medical/surgical care when
safe to do so. However, hospitals and physicians immediate-
ly committed to strict standards regarding care delivery Dr. Prieto
COVID-19 within COVID-19 protective guidelines including telehealth
visits to encourage patients to seek physician advice which
Shown to Affect resulted in a glut of postponed surgeries. Jeffrey Carroll Discusses
Nationwide there is a shortage of anesthesia providers.
The disruption of COVID-19, increasing health demands of baby boomers, improved Advancements
Cardiovascular access to surgi-centers and expanded health care access in rural areas, will undoubtedly
continue to outweigh the number of available anesthesia providers. There are only 12 in Pediatric
System in Short- educational programs across the U.S. preparing specialty anesthesiologist assistants. Cardiology
Forward thinking South University offers a Master’s program at the Savannah, Georgia
and Long-term Continued on page 16
BY LOIS THOMSON
BY VANESSA ORR COVID-19 UPDATE
According to Dr. Lourdes Prieto, "The
While COVID-19 is known for causing beauty of what happens in the world of
respiratory issues, it also can affect other The Road to Herd Immunity congenital cardiology is that as our
parts of the body, including the cardiovas- patients grow into adulthood – and that is
cular system. Even after symptoms go There is one road back to a happening more and more because we are
away, those who have had the virus may normal, pre-COVID American getting better at what we do – we, the
experience long-term effects, though the economy and society. We must pediatric cardiologists, can follow them,
full extent of the damage has yet to be vaccinate a large majority of because we understand the cardiac prob-
known. Americans as soon as possible. lems they have even as they age."
“What we are learning about the virus, Thirty million of the Pfizer and That can be for a long period of time,
we are learning the hard way, unfortunate- Moderna vaccines have been because as Dr. Prieto – interventional pedi-
ly,” explained Juan-Carlos Brenes, M.D., distributed, but as of a couple atric and adult congenital cardiologist, and
FACC, FASE, FACP, cardiologist at of weeks ago, only 10 million interim medical director of cardiology at
Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute. have made it into our arms. Far Nicklaus Children's Hospital – explained,
“The unique thing about this virus is that fewer have received the manda- some of those problems can start moments
while 40 percent of people who have it tory second shot. after birth. She gave an example of what
show no symptoms, others may have How are we as a nation going BY WAYNE BRACKIN AND she called "transposition of the great arter-
moderate or severe symptoms. In some to vaccinate the next 300 mil- TINA CARROLL-SCOTT, MD ies": The baby's heart develops in a way
cases, it can cause death. It can linger after lion of our fellow citizens? that the major arteries – the aorta, which
a person recovers, and while some just There have been admirable, even heroic efforts. Our hospitals have labored mightily to flows out to the body, and the pulmonary
lose their sense of smell or taste, others do their part, rightfully focusing first on the caregivers. The stadium-style approaches artery, which goes to the lungs – are
end up intubated with severe respiratory have had limited success, as have the chronically underfunded and underappreciated reversed. The result is that blood without
insufficiency. public health departments. The physical and economic health of our nation depends on oxygen is pumped to the body instead of
“Because this virus has so many differ- our engaging every bit of our communal knowledge and experience into this effort. to the lungs; whereas oxygenated blood
ent presentations, it can make the treat- In the Navy, there is a call to action in times of crisis, when the ship is under attack coming back from the lungs is pumped
ment approach quite challenging,” he and in trouble, as we are now. That call is for “All hands on deck”. President Biden back into the lungs instead of to the body.
adds announced a $20 billion allocation with a stated goal of administering 100 million vac- "When those babies are born their oxygen
According to Dr. Brenes, COVID-19 can cines in 100 days, and he’s assembled a top-notch experienced group to achieve it. level can be very low, and a procedure may
affect the cardiovascular system in three First, we must acknowledge that vaccine hesitancy exists, from the Black community’s need to be done immediately, sometimes
ways. The virus can go directly to the heart historical memory of medical experimentation and current racial health disparities to the within an hour of birth."
muscle, causing inflammation of the heart, poor folks who have gotten twisted up in the arguments between science and politics. Dr. Prieto discussed another problem
or myocarditis. It also can have an indirect Whom can a patient trust? that can occur in premature or very tiny
Continued on page 25 Continued on page 11 Continued on page 24