Dr. Eli Gelfand MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Section Chief, General Cardiology, BIDMC
What inspired you to pursue the field of cardiology?
I became interested in cardiology (and the human heart in general) in high school, while growing up in the Soviet Union. A family friend was a cardiologist and she allowed me to shadow her in clinic and during overnight call. I because fascinated with the combination of high-acuity problems faced by cardiologists and the longitudinal nature of the relationship between the patient and the cardiologist, because most cardiac problems are chronic.
What are some methods of maintaining cardiovascular health that people may overlook?
Many of these ‘methods’ are well-publicized and include a healthy diet, low in saturated fats and sugars/simple carbohydrates, as well as regular exercise, maintenance of healthy weight and avoidance of smoking. A frequently-overlooked recommendations are to 1) maintain a healthy sleep schedule and 2) maintain social interactions. Lack of sleep has been associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes, among others. Loneliness, especially in later years has also been correlated with worse cardiovascular (and other health) outcomes.
Have there been any notable innovations in the last few years that have altered how research is conducted in cardiology?
With regards to research in cardiology specifically, the availability of wearable technology (e.g., smart watches) has allowed us to conduct very large-scale clinical trials, which would have not been feasible previously. For example, the Apple Heart study was able to enroll about 500,000 subjects remotely over the course of approximately 6 months. Such large clinical trials are otherwise extremely expensive to conduct and would have required significantly more resources prior to the advent of wearable technology.
For people interested in pursuing the field of cardiology, are there any specific topics that you would recommend as potentially interesting?
I would say that at the high school level, my advice for the students would be to focus not on a specific field of medicine, but on the broader question of WHY you want to go into Medicine. Is it to be able to conduct research? Work in the hospital or clinic? Advance public health? Pursue health policy on the government level? A little bit of everything? The choice of specialty is frankly less important and usually comes naturally with more training, as you get clinical exposure to different fields of medicine in medical school. That being said, it doesn’t hurt to start getting involved in clinical or basic science research during your high school and college years. You could start by contacting a scientist or a physician at your local university hospital or clinical center and asking about a volunteer research opportunity. Often, larger medical centers offer summer programs for high school upperclassmen and college students, which combine some degree of clinical observation, research and ancillary experience.
Has your career been affected in any way due to the COVID-19 Pandemic? If so, how?
Absolutely. We took care of hundreds of COVID patients throughout the pandemic and had to adapt rapidly to the shifting profile of infections in the community. We have transitioned to telemedicine (remote) visits for some of our most vulnerable patients, have incorporated extensive infection control practices and much more. Of course, as the work continued, the home and community life has shifted dramatically in the past year and maintaining this balance has been very difficult for many health care providers.