Samir Kapadia, MBBS, FACC, is the Chair of Cardiology at the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Kapadia has more than 800 peer reviewed publications and is currently the principal investigator in various clinical research trials on percutaneous methods to treat aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation. He has been involved in several guidelines and position papers on percutaneous treatment of valvular heart disease. Kapadia is also an innovator, with more than 15 issued patents for devices to treat valvular heart diseases.

You originally studied technology, but then switched careers to pursue medicine. What inspired your career change and pursuit of cardiology?

My dad is a cardiologist, and when you are growing up, sometimes you want to do something different. I went to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to study aeronautics engineering. In my first year, I became very close to one of the professors in mathematics. He frequently asked me why I didn't want to do medicine. As I kept thinking about it, I realized that medicine is a great profession. If you do a lot of research and innovate, you can have the same excitement in medicine as you would in engineering or research. In addition, you help patients and make a direct impact in their lives. That's why I switched and pursued medicine.

When I entered the field of cardiology, I was fascinated by auscultation because it was an interesting challenge to find out the exact type of valvular lesions prior to echocardiography. Very soon, valvular heart disease became my passion.

When I was a resident, I did some research in TNF-alpha, pressure overload, and aortic stenosis with Dr. Douglas Mann.  He was a great mentor and helped me with my career. When I joined the Cleveland Clinic, in 1995, I wanted to be a part of the interventional valvular heart disease care team. At that time, the only interventional treatment for valvular heart disease was balloon mitral valvuloplasty for rheumatic heart disease. We treated about 40 patients a year at the Cleveland Clinic with balloon valvulopasty. I joined Dr. Murat Tuzcu in his clinic as he was performing these procedures and very soon he became my mentor. When Dr. Alain G. Cribier performed the first case of aortic valve replacement, Dr. Tuzcu and I met with Dr. Toby Cosgrove, and said, “Let us get this technology to Cleveland Clinic with your support.” He heled us get this technology to Cleveland Clinic and since then this incredible program has provided us excitement every single day!

What led you to explore, research and be at the forefront of valvular heart disease in particular?

First of all, it is not only me. It's the whole Cleveland Clinic and the whole team because Cleveland Clinic is the center for valvular heart disease, from diagnosis to treatment. Valvular heart disease has been the passion for many at Cleveland Clinic for a very long time.  To be successful at a personal level, first and foremost, you also need to recognize the opportunities that you have. Then you need the best mentor. Tuzcu was my mentor and he helped me tremendously to understand how to be successful. I try to do this for my mentees now. It is very important to find the right mentor who shares with you the opportunities they themselves love the most and motivate you to be innovative. I worked hard with biomedical engineers to develop various devices, which has been great fun. In terms of specializing in valvular heart disease, it all came down to what I loved the most. It can potentially happen in any field, if you dig deep enough, you may like it.

What would you recommend to medical students who aspire to pursue a career in cardiology and interventional cardiology?

Remember that life is relatively short. If you are going to put your efforts in doing research or innovation, don't do it because somebody asks you to, or you think it's the best thing for your career. Those are not good reasons. The first thing is you have to be passionate. The second thing is that if you're doing research, you will face setbacks. If you are doing something and the outcomes are not what you expected, then it's not wrong. It's probably right, you just need to do more diligent studies to understand the results better. If you write a paper and somebody rejects it, don't be disheartened by that, try to do even better job!

In terms of specialization, all fields are the same. Pursue the one you love. In every field, you will see kind and grateful patients and you will get to impact their life. Don't be carried away by peer pressure. Just do whatever you love and excites you.

Author Acknowledgements

Dr. Kapadia is a role model to many in the field of cardiovascular medicine and it was an immense privilege for us to interview him. We thank him for letting us into his life and learn about his career path, mentors, and inspiration: his father, Dr. Ramesh I. Kapadia. There is so much we can learn from the wise words of Dr. Kapadia as we move forward in our careers and lives.