AT THE OF THE MATTER Heart

BY LIESEL SCHMIDT

In the 17 years that Dr. Christopher Malozzi has been practicing medicine, his career has followed a trajectory that he might never have imagined when he graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2006. Three years of Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of South Alabama led to Malozzi’s selection to Chief Resident in Internal Medicine for an additional year before he entered the USA Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship. He completed the three-year Cardiology fellowship in 2013 and has since been a practicing cardiologist. He first spent two years in a private practice group along the Mississippi Gulf Coast before returning to an academic faculty position at USA in the Division of Cardiology in 2015 and is currently an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine/Cardiology and the Associate Program Director of the USA Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship.

“I chose Cardiology because it is a field that is challenging and interesting,” Malozzi explains of what made him focus his specialty on this particular field. “Cardiology provides the opportunity to take care of patients, significantly impact their lives, and build long term relationships with them. It also provides a great mix of hands-on procedures and imaging tests that allows for variety in the day-to-day care of patients. Cardiology is also a field of innovation. There is constant research aiming to provide the best, state-of-the-art care for our patients. Something new is always on the horizon, so work can never get stagnant.”

Being in academic medicine as he is, Malozzi’s work is a combination of clinical patient care and education. “I see patients in the clinic and at the hospital,” he says. “I work with fellows, residents, interns, students and other learners to teach them about cardiovascular care of their patients. I participate in research, as well.”

With so much demanding of his time, balance is a constant challenge. “Academic medicine can be just as busy as private practice medicine, and the balance of clinical work and academic work can be difficult,” Malozzi says. “Sometimes it’s hard to complete all the clinical work needed to provide great patient care and leave enough time to conduct a teaching session, prepare an educational lecture or work on a research project. Still, I really enjoy the time I get to spend with my patients, getting to know them and their families, helping them understand their cardiac conditions, and engaging them in the management of their cardiovascular health. However, the most rewarding thing about my job is the fellowship training. I am able to work with cardiology fellows over the course of their three years of training, and it’s very rewarding to watch a fellow grow over those three years and have them take your teachings and experiences into their future careers.”

The future is something that Malozzi considers a great deal, being a physician with his eye on the upcoming technologies and treatments, as well as a teacher of up-and-coming practitioners. But as a father, he considers it even more—especially having gone through his son’s treatment for Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer in the bones and bone tissue. Now, he serves as Director of Cardio-Oncology Services at USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute. “My son’s diagnosis in 2015 was one of the reasons I returned home to USA,” he says. “My son received his cancer treatment with the Pediatric Oncology team at USA Children's and Women's Hospital. As I studied the potential effects of his treatment, I realized that the chemotherapy and radiation he was receiving could negatively affect the heart either during treatment or long after. As I investigated further, I stumbled on the relatively new field of Cardio-Oncology. Cardio-Oncology is a team approach to cancer care to reduce the potential cardiac risks of cancer treatment. Some chemotherapeutic medications and radiation treatment can lead to heart failure, arterial blockages and valve disease among other cardiac issues. I work closely alongside the Oncologists at MCI to help navigate cancer treatment with patients who are at risk of developing heart issues because of the treatment they are receiving or to mitigate cardiac issues in patients who already have risk factors for heart disease or cardiac conditions at the time of their cancer diagnosis. I see patients prior to starting cancer treatment and during their journey. I can also follow up with them after they complete treatment to monitor them and reduce future cardiac risk. More importantly, I am readily available to see patients who develop potential cardiac problems during treatment so that these issues can be handled quickly in an effort to avoid delays in cancer treatment which will hopefully improve their outcome to cancer treatment.

“Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of working with the fantastic team of Oncologists at MCI who are very supportive of the concept of Cardio-Oncology,” he continues. “I have also met some wonderful patients with whom I have shared stories and experiences of my family's journey. There is a special bond formed amongst those who have dealt with cancer personally or in a family member. I have lost count the number of times my Cardio-Oncology patients either started or ended a clinic visit asking how my son was doing. I am pleased to tell them that he remains cancer-free now almost eight years after he finished his treatment. The development of a Cardio-Oncology Clinic, the only one of its kind regionally, is another example of the benefits our patients receive from an academic medical center.”