Dr. Lauren Hunter didn’t take a direct route to her position treating the sickest of Memorial’s cardiac patients, spending 10 years before medical school working in pediatric mental health. The experience developing treatment plans for those suffering with illnesses that included schizophrenia and depression helped mold the cardiologist she is today.
“I’ve integrated some of those skill sets into what I bring to the care of those with end-stage heart failure,” said Dr. Hunter, whose fellowship training was completed at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital in 2024 and Emory University Hospital last year. “What I’m able to observe from patient responses influences the way I manage clinical situations. It also helps me establish rapport and get more information from those who otherwise might not be as forthcoming.”
Dr. Hunter says understanding the correlation between behavior and outcomes, and incorporating that into big-picture thinking, is a necessity for her specialty, which she says can run the risk of relying exclusively on scientific models.
