Parallax by Ankur Kalra

In the latest episode of Parallax, Dr. Ankur Kalra invites Dr. Vijay Rao, the Governor of the Indiana Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, to share his experience and insights with the audience.

Dr. Rao, who also serves as the Director of Heart Failure, Cardio-oncology, and Co-Director of Anticoagulation at Franciscan St. Francis Health, discusses what initially drew him to the Indiana State Chapter of ACC.

As Dr. Kalra asks Dr. Rao about the ways in which early career faculty members can get involved with the organization at a state level. Dr. Rao shares his insider tips and highlights key events where individuals can further their participation.

Dr. Rao also sheds light on the governorship election process and shares his learnings from his new role. He emphasizes the importance of advocacy and describes the chapter’s efforts to amplify the voice of cardiologists in relation to Roe v. Wade. Dr. Rao encourages healthcare professionals to reframe their perspectives and get involved with advocacy. Dr Rao shares his future plans as a governor and previews the upcoming annual event of the Indiana Chapter.

Join Dr. Kalra and Dr. Rao in this engaging and thought-provoking episode of Parallax.

How can you get involved with your local ACC chapter? How can you improve your leadership skills? What is Dr Rao’s advice for our listeners?

“We're providing about 20,000 different ingredients in our diet to a gut microbiome that has 4 million genes. And they're processing these 20,000 ingredients at a flood of chemicals.”

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra speaks with Dr. Momchilo Vuyisich, co-founder and chief science officer of Viome Life Sciences.

Dr Vuyisich shares his personal journey with rheumatoid arthritis and how it led him to explore the intersection of nutrition and the gut microbiome function.

He explains how the complexity of nutrition and the compounds generated by the gut microbiome can impact our health. We learn more about three compounds produced by our gut microbiome that have a strong connection with heart disease.

Through this conversation, Dr Vuyisich invites us to reframe our approach to nutrition and prevention as a question of food education and data-driven science.

What is the effect of red meat and processed food on our gut biome? What can we learn about prevention through understanding gut biome function? How can data-driven science help us make informed choices about nutrition and health?

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guest: Dr Momo Vuyisich, host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

In this week’s Parallax Dr Kalra welcomes back Dr Nijjer for their annual review of the most impactful and controversial cardiovascular trials of 2022.

Dr Sukh Nijjer is a Consultant Cardiologist in the UK, he is President of the Royal Society of Medicine and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College of London.

The coronary physiology trial FLAVOUR was presented at ACC.22 by Dr Bon Kwon Koo. This South-Korean study compared the safety and efficacy of FFR and IVUS-guided stenting. Dr Nijjer interprets the findings and outlines the take-home messages by describing his practice.

Following this, Dr Kalra and Dr Nijjer look at REVIVED-BCIS2 presented at ESC 2022 by Dr Divaka Perera. Dr Nijjer talks about the complexity of running this study that evaluated whether revascularization by PCI can improve outcomes in patients with ischemic left ventricular systolic dysfunction compared with optimal medical therapy. They distill some of the nuances for practice.

Dr Nijjer summarises the all-comers PROTECTED TAVR trial that assessed the use of Sentinel® Cerebral Protection System in patients undergoing TAVR. We learn more about the secondary outcomes and the reception of the results. Dr Kalra shares how the new data impacted his approach.

Last, they discuss the implications of Chinese CTS-AMI trial presented at AHA 22 by Dr Yuejin Yang. The trial showed that a traditional remedy, Tongxinluo improved the clinical outcomes of patients with STEMI. Dr Nijjer and Dr Kalra consider the meaning and impact of these trials such as CTS-AMI on Western medicine.

How can we interpret some of the controversies from REVIVED? What can we learn from traditional medicinal remedies? What are the key takeaways for clinical practice from the reviewed trials?

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guest: @SukhNijjer, host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

Parallax features a guest episode from the new podcast Neurophilia by Nupur Goel.

Do you think and act with your mind or heart? How about both?

Neurocardiology refers to the intersection between the fields of neurology and cardiology. The mind and heart are deeply interconnected in terms of anatomy, physiology, and various pathologic states.

This episode features a vascular neurologist and an interventional cardiologist who will discuss the relationship between their two fields of medicine.

Dr. Blake Buletko is a vascular neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic. He completed his residency and fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic and was the former medical director of their mobile stroke program. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Buletko serves as an Assistant Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and is the current Program Director of the Adult Neurology Residency program for the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Ankur Kalra is an interventional cardiologist, and founder of the non-profit startup, makeadent.org. He is director of Barry J. Maron Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center in New Delhi, India. He is also the host of the cardiology podcast show, Parallax. He has presented late-breaking science at national and international scientific cardiovascular meetings, and has published over 250 scientific manuscripts in various peer-reviewed journals. His past appointments include interventional cardiologist, associate professor, and medical director of clinical research for regional cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Check out the Neurophilia podcast by Dr Nupur Goel: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/neurophilia/id1654775116

“Medical school cannot, and should not, feel easy—but it should feel worthwhile” – these are the opening words of Dr Kittleson’s book, Mastering the Art of Patient Care. Dr Kittleson’s book is not only a great resource for patient care, but a heartful companion to early career faculty as well.

Dr Kalra’s guest on Parallax this week is Dr Michelle Kittleson, Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, Director of Education in Heart Failure and Transplantation and Director of Heart Failure Research at the Smidt Heart Institute.

Coming from generations of doctors, Dr Kittleson describes herself first and foremost a dedicated clinician. With her new book, Dr Kittleson offers her mentorship and shares her advice on how to make patient care fulfilling for both clinicians and patients.

In this rich and insightful discussion, Dr Kittleson talks about the origins of famous #kittlesonrules, a collection of tips for doctors shared on Twitter, and her thoughts on mentorship. We learn more about Mastering the Art of Patient Care. Dr Kalra and Dr Kittleson discuss strategies for managing difficult situations in patient care.

You can find out more about Mastering the Art of Patient Care here: https://t.co/zdJT2MWl6J

How do you pick a medical programme? How can you define your medical style? What can you learn from Mastering the Art of Patient Care?

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guest: @MKIttlesonMD, host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

“The hospitals like things just the way they are. It gives them almost complete immunity for any peer reviews, good faith, or bad faith, that they conduct against a physician.”

The Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 considers accused physicians to be guilty of the charges unless and until they can prove their innocence. Over the years many hospitals abused the peer review system to extort and silence competent physicians.

Dr Lawrence Huntoon, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, returns for a deep dive into the topic of the hospital peer review system.

In this second episode of our medico-legal series, Dr Kalra invites Dr Huntoon for an overview of the key terminologies and processes of the hospital peer review system.

Dr Huntoon summarises some of key actions you can take as a physician to prepare and defend yourself. We learn more about different sham peer review tactics through recent cases. Dr Huntoon shares his thoughts on what we can do to create a just system and better future for practicing physicians.

What do you need to know about hospital investigations? What is the difference between OPPE and FPPE? How can you get educated on hospital bylaws and processes?

Get involved with the work of AAPS and access more free-to-access resources on this topic: https://aapsonline.org

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guest: Dr Lawrence R Huntoon Host: @AnkurKalraMD Produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

“Sham peer review or malicious peer review is defined as the abuse of a medical peer review process to attack a doctor for personal or other non-medical reasons.”

“Most doctors — warns Dr Kaki — do not understand that ultimately your privileges are not dictated by your colleagues through a fair process, but hospital administration controls our destiny”. In 2018, Dr Kaki was subject to a campaign of retaliation that set out to revoke the well-respected cardiologist’s privileges. Today, Dr Kaki is Director of Mechanical Circulatory Support at Ascension and Clinical Associate Professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

In this week’s Parallax Dr Kalra’s guests are the team that fought for justice in Dr Kaki’s case: Dr Lawrence R Huntoon, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and Deborah Gordon, employment attorney.

Dr Kaki walks us through his Kafkaesque experience and the knowledge he acquired during his battle with his former hospital. We get insight into the stages of a peer review process and the role of key stakeholders. Dr Huntoon, expert in this field, helps us put Dr Kaki’s experience in context and talks about the prevalence of sham peer reviews through shocking cases. Ms Gordon supports the discussions with practical tips and insights on the role of an attorney. Join Ankur and his guests for a must listen show on your rights as a physician.

What do you need to know about the hospital peer review process and your rights? What can you do if targeted? What is Dr Kaki’s advice to physicians?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Parallax’s Medico-Legal series with Dr Kalra and Dr Huntoon.

Resource: https://shmpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jhm.12903

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guests: @DrAmirKaki, Dr Lawrence R Huntoon and Deborah Gordon host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

In 2017, Rohin Francis AKA Medlife Crisis uploaded a YouTube video titled “Leonardo da Vinci's theory about the heart was right”. This first video about how the heart valves close was watched by 412K people, garnering more than 700 comments from a diverse audience who connected to the subject with fascination, curiosity and humour.

This week’s guest on Parallax is Dr Rohin Francis, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and prolific YouTuber.

Rohin believes that authenticity is one of the keys of his videos’ success. When asked about his journey to medicine he summarises: “I was being rebellious and ended up doing the most cliché job for an Indian possible.” He turns the table and asks Ankur what he think is behind the stereotype of the Indian cardiologist.

Rohin shares an advice that he received at the beginning of his career: “If you can deal with an average day, the exciting day will take care of itself.”

Ankur asks Rohin about Medlife Crisis and the work that goes into producing a show followed by 500K people. Rohin reiterates his passion for research and science communication. Ankur and Rohin discuss what it means to be yourself on social media and what is Rohin’s advice to our early-career listeners.

What is Rohin’s advice for aspiring creators? How does he balance his work and personal life?

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guest: @MedCrisis, host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

This week’s episode is dedicated to one of the biggest cardiovascular meetings, AHA’s Scientific Sessions. Dr Ankur Kalra’s guest is Dr Manesh Patel, chair of the AHA Committee on Scientific Sessions and Chief of the Division of Cardiology and Co-Director of the Heart Center at Duke University.

Year on year, the organisers of the Scientific Sessions aim to give platform to cardiovascular science at its best: innovative, impactful, and collaborative.

In this information-packed episode, Dr Patel takes us behind the scenes and talks about the work that goes into the curation of the programme and the considerations that shape the event. Dr Kalra asks Dr Patel about his highlights over the years and the movement and changes that he observed as vice chair and chair of the event. Dr Patel elaborates on the key late-breaking science trials in 2022. Dr Kalra and Dr Patel discuss the grading system of the award applications and share some useful information with our listeners.

What does Dr Patel think about the function of the Scientific Sessions? What happens after you submit your application to an award? How do the organisers concert a balance between the scientific and the social need of a global community?

Questions and comments can be sent to “[email protected]” and may be answered by Ankur in the next episode.

Guest: @manesh_patelMD, host: @AnkurKalraMD and produced by: @RadcliffeCARDIO.

This week's Parallax is hosting a guest episode recorded for Internal Medicine & Beyond. Tune in to this new podcast from Dr Varun Aitharaju.

Exploring Art & Advancement Within Medicine - A Conversation with an Interventional Cardiologist

Dr. Ankur Kalra MD is an interventional cardiologist, entrepreneur, poet, and podcaster. In this episode, he discusses his journey in cardiology. He shares his non-clinical passions, including leading a non-profit organization and publishing a poetry book, and provides advice to future physicians on how to balance clinical medicine with other passions. Tune in for an extremely inspirational episode!