Two local physicians from Saint Thomas Heart at Saint Thomas Hospital have received national recognition by being named to the first group of cardiologists in the country to be boarded and certified in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, a newly designated subspecialty of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Mark A. Aaron, MD, director of Cardiac Transplantation, and Douglas J. Pearce, MD, medical director of the Advanced Heart Failure Clinic, recently earned the designation in the newly established subspecialty.

The proposal to establish the new subspecialty was approved in late 2009. Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology as a subspecialty has risen, de facto, as the need for consultants for patients with worsening heart failure who need more advanced care has grown.

When board examination was given for the first time, it was only offered to a select group of physicians with high-level expertise and a number of years of special training in heart failure. Nationally, more than 300 physicians took the examination, and 200 received the designation that recognizes them for leadership in providing technically advanced, cost effective care for patients with heart failure.

Aaron and Pearce are uniquely positioned to provide needed direction in cost-effective use of expensive resources; advancing the practice of sensible and compassionate end-of-life care; and in developing data-driven, system-wide approaches to heart failure management.

Pearce notes that the “sub subspecialty” grew out of necessity to care for an increasing number of heart transplant patients who need care before and after surgery, as well as for those with ventricular assist devices (VADs). Therapeutic options for these patients have become increasingly complex, requiring substantial technical proficiency.

Pearce grew up in Fort Lauderdale, the eldest of four boys. He knew he wanted to be a physician from the time he was seven years old.

“I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life,” he remembers. “Although I liked everything about medicine, and it was difficult to decide, I knew I wanted to do something in critical care medicine, and that I had an aptitude for it. I didn’t want to just do procedures and not see the patient again. I wanted to be able to sit on the edge of the bed and hold a patient’s hand and make a difference in their life,” he said.

Pearce continued, “Most cardiology is episodic, but heart failure medicine is like cancer medicine — you can have a long term care relationship with your patients.”

Pearce received his medical degree at the Medical College of Georgia and completed his residency and internship at North Carolina Baptist Hospital and the University of Rochester. He completed a three-year cardiology fellowship at the University of Alabama—Birmingham, where he taught before coming to Saint Thomas Hospital in 1996.

In addition to his new designation in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, Pearce also holds board certification in internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases, as well as certification in nuclear cardiology.

He and his wife, who is a consulting nurse practitioner, have four children ages 19, 18, 14 and seven. The two oldest are certified in scuba diving, a longtime love for Pearce, as is anything to do with boating and water sports. Unexpected foot surgery had him laid up for six weeks this winter forcing the adventurer to cancel arrangements for a spring scuba diving trip with his daughter.

Aaron also came to Saint Thomas via the University of Alabama—Birmingham. He arrived three years after Pearce joined the staff.

Aaron grew up in south Georgia with parents who valued education although they did not complete high school. Not only did he finish high school, he became the first in his family to graduate from college. Aaron decided he wanted to be a physician while taking a junior high science class and never changed his goal.

After graduating from Emory with an undergraduate degree in chemistry, he earned his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed post-graduate medical training at Duke and UAB, before joining Pearce at Saint Thomas in 1999.

Aaron initially thought he wanted to go into family practice, but he fell in love in cardiology and developed a passion for working the patients he treats. Areas of specialty include diagnostic catheterization, cardiac imaging, and … of course … heart failure and transplant coverage. Board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease, he is an active researcher and principal investigator in a number of studies at Saint Thomas.

He is excited by the designation to the new subspecialty certification and said, “It is an acknowledgment of the groundwork that has been established by those who have mastered this complex material. Saint Thomas has identified its role to serve this need for its service area, and having this designation shows that we have the level of expertise to manage the care of these patients.”

Aaron continued, “The problem is growing so rapidly — there are six million patients nationwide, of whom 250,000 will require the most intense care. Of those 250,000 only a ‘lucky few’ of 2,000 will get a heart transplant. There are also a huge number of patients who require a VAD that they will never get.”

He added, “We have a level of expertise to select and manage the care of these patients. It is important to insurers to know that a physician is boarded and certified for his expertise in this area.”

Aaron is married and has three children — a daughter, 13; and two sons ages 11 and three. The family enjoys running and reading together. They have just seen the latest movie version of the Chronicles of Narnia, which he observes, “has a lesson for all ages.”

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