In applying for this fellowship in cardiology, I am reminded of the expression we had on our unit that if you want to see how valuable a minute is, look at a man who missed a train, but we say go the chest pain unit. I will always remember that first day when as that day when my cardiology fellow got a pager from the ER physician that there was a patient with STEMI. He literally ran down the stairs because there was no time to use the elevator, ran in to the ER seeing the patient, checking the EKG and calling the attending physician all at the same time. He was not the only one who had that response, but rather everyone did, including the nurses, technicians, and transport staff. They all kept in mind that time is muscle and did their best to send the patient to the catheterization unit within fifteen minutes.
Of all my internal medicine rotations, cardiology was by far the most professionally satisfying. I have always believed in taking an interactive role with the patients and their families, and have been pleased to hear from my patients that I have an excellent bedside manner. Before I received the offer to work in the cardiology department of Cairo University, I had the opportunity to work in the oldest and largest hospital in the Middle East. Their cardiology department was by far one the busiest, including the ER, the cardiology wards and CCU units, and the five catheterization units. My class was the final one that went directly from medical school to the cardiology residency, and over time my affection for cardiology only increased. I learned many things there, such as how challenging the EKG is even for cardiology attending physicians, and how much details one can get from that strip.