Dr. Ramin Manshadi is the first recipient of the Young Physician Award from the San Joaquin Medical Society. The forty-four-year-old interventional cardiologist was chosen because of his dedication to high standards of patient care and innovative techniques, his engagement in professional organizations, and his community involvement.
An example of patient care and innovation is the case of the Stockton woman who now lives because a heart pump circulates her blood. When the then 59-year-old woman experienced acute heart failure after suffering from chronic heart failure, her blood pressure plummeted toward zero. She was in cardiogenic shock. She was past Class 4 heart failure.
Dr. Manshadi referred her to the Heart Failure/Transplant Program at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, a hospital authorized to use an experimental heart pump that is small enough to be portable. The machine is known as a left ventricular assist device or LVAD. Because Dr. Manshadi pushed hard on behalf of his patient, he found a way for her to survive.
Another example is a nearly 80-year-old man who received a defibrillator-pacemaker implant that wirelessly transmits heart function data to an internet site that Dr. Manshadi can monitor. The man lives in the foothills and this data stream enables Dr. Manshadi to get critical feedback, especially when the patient has an episode of distress. The technology, which at the time was implanted by Dr. Manshadi was the first in this area, allows correlation of heart function data to symptoms.
In addition to a busy private practice, he finds the time and energy to serve as an Associate Clinical Professor at UC Davis and a Clinical Professor at the UOP School of Pharmacy.
“I try to balance my private practice with teaching and also the American College of Cardiology’s California chapter,” said Dr. Manshadi. “I think each activity helps me to be a better doctor and take better care of my patients.”
He has a special interest in Sudden Cardiac Death in athletes. On the bookshelves in his Pacific Avenue office are photos of Dr. Manshadi with former 49er quarterback, Joe Montana and with Sacramento Kings general manager Geoff Petrie. He has worked to increase awareness of the symptoms that may indicate increased risk for SCD in athletes. In collaboration with Dameron Hospital, he has donated defibs to all the high schools in Stockton. He has helped find donors for defibrillators in local schools and his goal is to place them in every school in California.
He just completed an agreement with the St. Joseph’s Foundation to partner in the defibrillator effort. Also, he just finished a PSA video with the Sacramento Kings coaches and players that is found at the Kings.com website.
SCD is a condition in which the heart stops abruptly without warning. This is usually caused by ventricular fibrillation, which is an abnormality in the heart’s electrical system and will result in death if not treated immediately.
“Most SCD is caused by hidden heart problems that are not recognized by coaches or staff,” Dr. Manshadi said.
Heart abnormalities could be detected through a physical examination that includes standardized medical history questions and an electrocardiogram (EKG). The EKG should be given by a cardiologist or internist. An abnormal reading could signal a problem that would require follow-up.
“I believe genuine interest in people is the key to all these things that I do,” Dr. Manshadi said. “If you are more a businessman physician than truly interested in helping people, the involvements in groups won’t work. One must be more altruistically motivated.”
Dr. Manshadi has offered free clinics for the uninsured. He has provided full Thanksgiving meals for eight families.
Dr. Manshadi was born in Israel and his family moved to the United States in 1978 from Iran, thankfully missing the 1979 Iranian fundamentalist revolution. He is a Baha’i, a faith not well-regarded by the Iranian government. His faith is a guiding light in his professional and personal life.
The doctor earned a B.S. in Physiology, University of California, Davis; a M.S. in Physiology, University of Health Sciences Chicago Medical School, 1991; a M.D., University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Center.
He is certified with the American Board of Interventional Cardiology, American Board of Nuclear Cardiology, American Board of Internal Medicine, and the American Board of Cardiology
He has been a national speaker for pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Merck.
Manshadi was voted Top Interventional Cardiologist 2007 by Castle Connelly; America’s Top Cardiologist 2006-2007 by the Consumers Research Council, and Future Leader Award by American College of Cardiology California Chapter.
