Cardiovascular professionals prep for St. Francis Hospital seminar

INDIANAPOLIS – More than 300 health-care professionals are expected to attend the third annual St. Francis Cardiovascular Symposium on Friday, Sept. 17.

Hosted by the St. Francis Heart Center, participants will discuss topics ranging from the latest cardiovascular procedures and interventions, to how health care might impact the delivery of care to patients. Presenters include cardiologists, along with heart and vascular surgeons from the St. Francis Medical Group and Cardiac Surgery Associates (CSA).

But before any discussion about the heart and vascular system begins, Robert Wicks, Psy.D., will talk about matters of the mind and spirit – and the “secondary stress” health professionals experience in providing care to patients. A pastoral consultant and professor at Maryland’s Loyola University, he is the author of several books, including Bounce: Living the Resilient Life.

Wicks endeavors to help physicians, nurses, social workers and others in full-time caregiving professions to bolster their abilities “without losing their inner fire in the process.”

Saeed Shaikh, M.D., interventional cardiologist with St. Francis Medical Group/Indiana Heart Physicians, will be another key presenter, addressing the present and future of cardiac imaging with computed tomography.

Other presenters and topics:

Polly Moore, M.D. and Carolyn Smith, Nurse Practitioner – Managing the failing heart in outpatient settings

John Moore III, M.D. – New treatments for atrial fibrillation

Mary Benjamin, M.B.A. – Increasing practice efficiency with health care reform

Brenda Danner, R.D. – Heart-healthy lifestyles

Donald Patterson, M.D. – Open and minimally invasive procedures for abdominal aortic aneurysms

David Kovacich, M.D. – New cardiac medications: Indications and interactions

Robert Kinn, M.D. -- EKG unknowns

Richard Shea, M.D. – Testing for coronary and valvular disease

Marc Gerdisch, M.D. – The present and future of cardiac restoration

Gerdisch, co-director of the St. Francis Heart Valve Center, was the first in the world to use tissue regeneration technology that allows patients to rebuild their own cardiovascular tissue. Last J

une, Gerdisch and his surgical team were one of the first nationally to use a new therapy designed to diminish the risk of stroke related to cardiac arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation.

The symposium will be from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre Hotel, 31 W. Ohio St.

To register, visit StFrancisHospitals.org/heart and click on “CME (SYMPOSIUM) 2010.” For more information, 317-893-1870.

To learn more about the St. Francis Heart Center and its services, go to www.stfrancishospitals.org/heart.