Last weekend we held What the Clip! Echo Symposium at Bethesda Hospital East. It reviewed the echo assessment of the mitral valve with both TTE and TEE. At the end of the symposium, George Daniel, MD, FACC reviewed a MitraClip case with us. He presented a case that he had recently performed at Bethesda Hospital. Dr. Daniel is currently the only physician performing this procedure. We sat down with him to discuss his training and experience and to learn a little more about the doctor behind the procedure.
We already knew that Dr. Daniel was board certified in cardiology and internventional cardiology and that he had earned his medical degree from Tanta University with his fellowship training at Indiana University and Washington Hospital Center. I wanted to learn a little more about his specific training and experience with the MitraClip procedure.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THE MITRACLIP PROCEDURE?
Being a trained structural interventionalist, already doing mitral and aorta valvuloplasty and all kind of structural heart interventions like ASD / VSD closure, I had the background that would naturally get involved in other structural intervention such as the MitraClip.
WHAT ADDITIONAL TRAINING DID YOU RECEIVE FOR THE MITRACLIP?
I received additional didactic training for the device along with a proctorship. I went out to California and along with didactics we practiced on a heart model to deploy the clips. Using the heart model we could create problems and learn to trouble shoot. I also attended advanced MitraClip training in Atlanta where we learned how to handle more complex cases.
SUMMARY
As a trained structural internventionalist with 15 years experience, when the Mitraclip became available it was natural for Dr. Daniel to be one of the first to get involved. He performs this procedure at both JFK Medical Center and Bethesda Hospital East. His practice is currently located at: 2623 S. Seacrest Blvd., Boynton Beach, FL 33435.
Thank you Dr. Daniels for speaking at our Echo Symposium! We greatly appreciated it.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MITRACLIP CONFERENCE HERE!
Judith Buckland, MBA, RDCS, FASE
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