HJBR Jul/Aug 2019

dialogue only going to get better with the things we’ve learned about genetics and new techniques and technologies that are coming out. We’re really getting much more effective in diag- nosing and treating patients. One thing I do stress with young doctors is that this is not a job; it really is a vocation. The patient has to be at the front and center of what you’re doing, and as long as one does that, and as long as you can also enjoy the outcomes that you have for your patients, and how that may affect their families, the happier you will be long term. Editor  What is the future of CIS and its role as a leader in cardiology and vascular care? Walker When I wrote themission statement for CIS as a 28 year old physician starting a practice, I wrote those things that we wanted to achieve. They sounded at that moment like I may have been amadman because we were talking about technological superior- ity, research, compassion—all those things that we wanted. But you know, nothing has changed. Our mission statement is really, in a sense, our business plan. We plan to remain patient focused, research focused, teaching focused, and we have gotten into newer areas. Obviously we have always been at the forefront of interventional research and being able to treat patients non-sur- gically via some of these new phenomenal tools that have come out, some of which we have helped to create. Now we have really grown into telemedicine and virtual care, where we are able to extend, via robots and extensive internet connections, our ability to actually interact with patients in under- served areas, or people working outside the country, or on offshore oil rigs. Basi- cally, we’re trying to expand access to care in a cost efficient and effective manner. And I think that’s going to be part of where we go. But without a doubt, we’re going to always be focused on our mission statement because I really believe that as long as we stick to the mission statement of trying to improve care, staying on top of the field, and doing what we love, I think that’s a winning course. n