What is a Cardiovascular Specialist?

My sister is a nurse at Mercy Hospital and when our father had to have open heart surgery, it was comforting to know that he was in good hands.

My sister works on the Cardiology floor at the hospital and knew the doctors and staff. We knew he was getting very good care. I am thankful for the doctors who specialize in heart problems and for all the knowledge and expertise they have in this area.

One of my friends adopted a boy who had a congenital heart problem and they knew he would have heart surgery before he was 5 years old.

They had many visits with cardiologists and a cardiovascular surgeon before they performed his surgery just before his 5th birthday.

Even though they knew this had to be done, it was still a scary time for all of them. They felt confident in their doctors and surgeon though, and he came through the surgery just fine. He continues to do well and will proudly show you his scar if you ask to see it!

When my husband was having his annual physical done for his job, the doctor discovered that he had a heart murmur. He would not pass him for his physical until he saw a cardiologist and got it checked out.

He made an appointment with a heart doctor, but did not have to see any advanced cardiovascular specialists for this problem. The cardiologist ran some tests, and told him it was just something they would continue to watch and did not place him on any restrictions.

@KaBoom - I'm glad it turned out to be nothing. Like you, I tend to err on the side of caution so I'd rather go in and have it be nothing than delay and have it be a real problem.

I just wanted to say that if anyone is interested in this field and doesn't want to become a doctor, there are other jobs you can do. A friend of mine works as a cardiovascular technician. He performs EKGs and assists the doctor with other tests and procedures. A lot of community colleges have programs for cardiovascular technicians that take much, much less time than medical school!

My mom went to see a cardiovascular specialist about a year ago. She was having some symptoms like racing heart and shortness of breath, so her regular doctor referred her.

When she went to the specialist, they did a ton of tests. They did stress tests, blood pressure tests, and they even gave her this monitoring thing to wear around for a few days. Luckily it turned out to just be stress, but I'm glad she went and got it check out.

@speechie - There are places that specialize in cardiovascular issues. Often they may not be a separate building but rather within a larger medical facility.

Often times these places are called cardiovascular institutes, and you will find cardiovascular specialists work there, and just as you describe the doctors as being specialists you will find the nursing jobs here can be occupied by cardiovascular nurses who also have taken special courses to designate them as cardio nurses.

Specialists are very important, as are our general physicians!

There is so much detail to learn about the body and conditions affecting the body that it is important to have both your general physician to lead you in the right direction if it is a serious problem to narrow down what type of specialist you should see as well as important to have that specialist.

For example if you had cancer you would not seek treatment from your general physician, but your general physician might be able to tell from your symptoms that they need to refer you to a cancer specialist or oncologist.

I am curious as to if, just like how cancer treatment places can be just that - specific to cancer; if there are places specific to just cardiovascular issues?