Cath Lab Digest - September 2007 - (Page 44)

44 SICP: PROFESSIONALS OUT IN FRONT SEPTEMBER 2007 The Ten-Minute Interview with… Paul Pinsker, RCIS Parker Adventist Hospital, Parker, Colorado I ’ve been actively involved in healthcare since 1976. Currently, I am the senior staff cardiovascular specialist and cardiac clinical educator at Centura Health’s Parker Adventist Hospital in Parker, Colorado. My journey in healthcare has taken me from southwest Florida to Oklahoma and Colorado. I am married, with 5 grown children and 2 grandchildren. It is truly a humbling experience to be selected for this interview. Why did you choose to work in the invasive cardiology field? I perceive myself as one of the pioneers in the field of diagnostic and interventional cardiology, having begun as a respiratory therapist who found a whole world of excitement and challenges in the cardiac cath lab. I had the opportunity early on in my career to help design and implement the staffing, training and opening of cath labs at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Florida and Charlotte Regional Medical Center (formally known as Medical Center Hospital) in Punta Gorda, Florida. With the tremendous growth in southwest Florida and the proliferation of cardiac programs throughout the state, there was a shortage of trained professionals to staff the cath labs. With the help of local hospitals, soft funding of a start-up cardiovascular technology program at Edison College was made possible. I had the pleasure of instructing the first year’s class and was chair of the program advisory board for the next 5 years. Edison’s Cardiovascular Technology Program is one of the nation’s top training facilities, under the direction of Dr. Jeff Elsberry and Mr. Jeff Davis, friends and colleagues of many years. It should be apparent why I chose to work in the invasive cardiology field: personal growth, opportunity in a fast-paced, ever-changing profession and a real way of making a difference in the delivery of healthcare while dealing with the #1 killer in the U.S. Can you describe your role in the cath lab? My role is primarily direct patient care. I love the “hands on” approach in working with patients and their families. When I am not involved in the CV lab, I do patient teaching, staff mentoring and teach the hospital EKG classes. I also play an active role in maintaining the PCI registry for the American College of Cardiology database at our hospital. What is the biggest challenge you see regarding your role in the lab? My biggest challenge is how to maintain cost effectiveness and still provide safe, quality patient outcomes. With the myriad of tools and supplies available, choosing the right options for the best end result can be tricky. We also have to look at how staff utilization can be best optimized. What motivates you to continue working in the cath lab? First, my love of medicine and how quickly we can impact a patient’s life. Since the inception of the Cardiac Alert Program, we are saving more lives, minimizing myocardial damage and reducing healthcare costs for future hospitalizations. Second, I am intrigued by the technology we have at our disposal. Years ago, it used to be that we could only diagnose the disease and treat the patient medically or by surgery. Since the beginning of interventional cardiology, the thrill of diagnosing a coronary lesion and then fixing it, all in the same setting, has been the driving force to keep me on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what lies just ahead. Is there a bizarre case you have been involved with? The most bizarre case I remember goes back a few years to the late 1980s. I remember the sequence of events as if it were yesterday. Part of our protocol was to visit patients the day before their cath if they were inpatients. When I walked into our first scheduled patient’s room, I saw an elderly woman, 78 years old, sitting up in bed, knitting needles in hand. She appeared in no distress and at first I thought I had the wrong room. During our discussion, she stated that she was experiencing pain in her left earlobe and that was her only symptom. After a visit to her primary care physician, a new onset left bundle branch block was found on her EKG. A cardiologist was consulted and she was placed on the cath schedule. We started with a ventriculogram and when the contrast filled the left ventricle, it appeared to just swirl for a moment and then she arrested. Her ejection fraction was 10% to 15% and we were unable to resuscitate her. She had obviously adjusted her level of activity to her failing heart, and this is one of those cases where the outcome didn’t match the patient’s general presentation. When work gets stressful and you experience low moments (as we all do), what do you do to keep your morale high? I have many outlets to keep my morale high. Living in beautiful Colorado, I’m never short on things to do. I enjoy hiking and biking in the canyons and mountains. I have recently taken up the martial art of Aikido, which has given my mind/ body connection a boost. I love spending time with my two grandchildren I am an active member of the SICP and I am working hard with several colleagues to charter the “Rocky Mountain Chapter” in the Denver area.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cath Lab Digest - September 2007

St. Dominic Hospital The Genous Bio-engineered R Stent Percutaneous Treatment of Peripheral Arterial Chronic Total Occlusions: Device Options and Clinical Outcomes Contents Clinical Editor’s Corner Percutaneous Revascularization of Peripheral Chronic Total Occlusion — Which Patients, Why, and How? Myocardial Infarction and Syncope: A Manifestation of the “Raynaud-Prinzmetal Syndrome”? Essential Technical Components of the Transradial Approach If You Build It, Will They Come? Evidence-Based Medicine with Drug-Eluting Stents Back to School: The Value of Education in Cardiovascular Services The ACVP Standards and Competencies: Are You Using Them Effectively? What Do You Think? My Experience with Fibromuscular Dysplasia and Stroke A Brief Review of Fibromuscular Dysplasia Letter to the Editor A Look at On-the-Job Training: Perceptions, Reality and Our Profession Doing the Wave: Inventory Management with RFID The Ten-Minute Interview with… Paul Pinsker, RCIS CLD’s Annual Salary Survey Harrisburg Area Community College Volunteer Survey CEU Education Center SICP* Section Ask the Clinical Instructor: A Q&A Column for Those New to the Cath Lab Clinical & Industry News

Cath Lab Digest - September 2007

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