Dr. Sophia Hom Interview
This interview with Dr. Sophia Hom is a part of an ongoing series focusing on the healthcare workers and advocates who serve families affected by Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs). Stay tuned to hear their stories! If you would like to share your healthcare story and why heart screenings are important to you, write us at give@onehearthealth.org
Introduction:
I have been in practice for over 20 years as an adult cardiac and thoracic surgeon. I was attracted to the specialty of cardiothoracic surgery because I enjoyed the anatomy and physiology of the disease states we see, and the technical aspects of the operations used to treat them.
What drove you to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery?
During our training, we all spent time on a pediatric cardiac surgery rotation. I really enjoyed the rotation. The anatomy and physiology of the cardiac defects were very interesting and many of the operations were so innovative and imaginative. I also found it personally fulfilling to help care for these neonates, infants, and children, who experienced very challenging health issues, but were resilient, and usually did very well. It was a dream of mine to become a pediatric cardiac surgeon, but the emotional toll can be very high, as we take on more and more challenging cases, and the results are not always perfect.
Even though I do not perform pediatric cardiac surgery, I wish to have a part in helping babies and children who have health issues requiring these operations. In the US, we have some of the best pediatric cardiac surgery centers in the world, including the one in which I trained in, in Indiana. I saw excellent outcomes and the children did so well.
Why is accessibility important?
I have been aware that the skills and resources required to diagnose and care for these young cardiac patients were not accessible in many areas of our world. Even some of the fairly straightforward cardiac defects are not diagnosed and treated in many parts of the world, so these children may not survive at all, or may not live beyond childhood.
Why should others support One Heart Health?
One Heart Health has helped to expand the ability to diagnose congenital cardiac defects beyond large cities and centers in other parts of the world. Beyond diagnosis, we can help train the surgeons in more remote areas of the world to perform operations to help many of these children. We can also partner with major pediatric cardiac surgery centers in the US and elsewhere in the world to do this training, and also to bring children who have the more challenging cardiac defects to major centers where they can receive the necessary advanced cardiac surgical care.
I think anyone who has had personal involvement with a child with a cardiac defect, or physicians who have helped care for these children, directly or indirectly, would enthusiastically support the vision and mission of One Heart Health, if they could see the great impact they will have on children and their families, when they give of themselves or their resources to help fulfill our mission and to contribute to health equity in our world.
