As part of our “Meet Yale Internal Medicine” series, today’s feature is on Parul Gandhi, MD, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology).
Exposed to science and the healthcare field at an early age due to her parents’ careers, Parul Gandhi, MD, knew she wanted to pursue a career in science, but was split between becoming a chemistry professor or a physician.
“When I took my first physiology class, I absolutely loved it and fell in love with medicine, so I decided to become a physician,” said Gandhi. “I spent some time volunteering and enjoyed the humanistic side of medicine, getting to take care of patients and helping them feel better.”
Gandhi’s desire to pursue cardiology was solidified in her second year of medical school. During that year, she was introduced to the textbook Pathophysiology of Heart Disease by Leonard S. Lilly, MD and ‘fell in love with the physiology of the heart.” Consequently, on her father’s side of the family, several family members suffered from heart disease, so it was the combination of her personal story and medical connection that lead her to her specialty.
After medical school, she completed her residency and fellowship in New York City and served as chief resident for one year, where she focused on teaching.
Gandhi’s clinical and research interests aligned with a two-year research fellowship in Boston, where she studied heart failure biomarkers and their application to improve patient care. She brought that research focus to Yale, where she is a clinician educator at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Due to her interest in heart failure, she, along with a team of physicians, nurses and other medical professionals created a heart failure multidisciplinary clinic that combines cardiology, electrophysiology, nutrition, pharmacy, health psychology and nursing to improve the care of patients with heart failure and teach them how to better care for themselves.
“In the clinic, we closely monitor a patient’s clinical status, vitals, blood work, and medications to help them manage their disease,” said Gandhi. “We educate them on why they are taking certain medications and how self-care can make a difference. Our patients don’t want to go back into the hospital, so they are eager to learn all they can.”
In addition to her biomarker research, Gandhi is also looking into nationwide VA data on the ordering of troponin tests, which measures damage to the heart to understand patterns of use across various centers.
Additionally, she serves as one of the associate fellowship directors for the cardiology fellowship.
Overall, Gandhi feels it is a privilege to care for our nation’s veterans and is happy to be a part of Yale School of Medicine. “They share these incredible stories about their experience in the war and it is a privilege and an honor to get to care for people who put themselves on the line for our country,” said Gandhi. “Also, I am honored to be a part of a department where I can learn from leaders in the field of cardiology, feel a wonderful sense of collegiality, and fulfill our educational mission.”