By Vanessa Orr
Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Abdulwahab Aldousany has been caring for children with heart conditions for nearly four decades. His expertise and commitment to his field has certainly impacted many lives, but he is equally enthusiastic about training the next generation of pediatric cardiology providers. Dr. Aldousany, who leads the team of pediatric cardiologists at KIDZ Medical Services locations in Miami, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Naples, was also recently appointed to the Governance Council of the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Heart Institute.
And while trainees certainly learn from Dr. Aldousany’s vast experience, he shares that to be successful, they need to heed one especially important piece of advice. “I tell them to treat their patients as if they were treating their own kids with heart disease,” he said. “Think of what your children need, and then do the same for your patients.”
Whether a patient requires episodic care – such as in the case of tachycardia – or needs treatment for a chronic condition, such as a missing heart chamber that affects them for the rest of their life, he knows the difference that this level of personalized care can make.
He also noted that pediatric cardiologists need to be particularly good with their hands. “You need to be able to put in a venous or arterial line; if there is fluid around the heart or lung, you need to be able to get it out. But that skill doesn’t happen just because you finish your fellowship,” he said. “It takes years of practice, and this level of expertise comes with experience.”
Board certified in pediatrics, pediatric cardiology, and neonatal-perinatal medicine by the American Board of Pediatrics, he is also certified in adult congenital heart disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine. But according to Dr. Aldousany, one of the most crucial factors in pediatric care, and in medicine overall, is keeping up with all of the changes taking place as the field continues to evolve.
“Every day, there are new medications, new techniques, and new surgical procedures to learn; for example, there are new pacemakers and new ways of pacing the heart, as well as 3D echo machines where before they were only two-dimensional. Medications are also evolving quickly,” he said. “It’s our responsibility to stay on top of it all to deliver the best care for our patients.”
Dr. Aldousany joined KIDZ Medical Services – a South Florida healthcare practice that provides specialized neonatal, pediatric, and women’s health services – in 2000, after spending 10 years with Miami Children’s Hospital (now Nicklaus Children’s Hospital), where he had also completed his pediatric residency. Dr. Aldousany received his medical degree from the University of Baghdad in Iraq and completed fellowships at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Despite all the time spent caring for his patients and serving in clinical leadership roles, Dr. Aldousany still makes time to serve as a mentor. “I teach them, and they teach me,” he said of his students.
