Pakistan to Canada: Levi Watkins Awardee Update

I am very grateful to Thoracic Surgery Foundation (TSF) for giving me the opportunity to visit Ottawa Heart Center Canada for a two-week observership from 27 May - 8 June 2024 as part of the Levi Watkins Innovation and Leadership Award. I felt privileged to be selected as a “Watkins Scholar” which honours the legacy of Dr. Levi Watkins.

Ottawa Heart Center Canada

I completed the observership experience under the kind supervision of Dr. Munir Bhoodwani for a project titled “TAVI: Break the Barriers.” It was a very useful and new experience for me to observe some of the very complex and advanced procedures which are not routinely done in my home country of Pakistan. My particular interest is in trans-catheter aortic valve replacement(TAVR), TEVAR, and Aortic Surgery -- for which Ottawa Heart Center was the right place. I also had a chance to see other cardiac surgery procedures like total arterial CABGs, MIDCAB, Valve in Valve, TAVI, and complex redo operations.

A Warm Welcome

The whole cardiac surgery team including cardiac surgeons, anesthetists and other theater staff at Ottawa Heart were very welcoming and helpful. They were so accommodating that I felt like I was at my home institution.

I also did a presentation on “The Status of Cardiac Surgery in Pakistan” which was attended by the cardiac surgery faculty and residents. I shared our experience of cardiac surgery in resource-limited setting in which patients cannot afford the cost of operations.

I made good connections with the surgeons, which is useful for future opportunities and fellowships. I expressed my interest in the structural valve fellowship and I hope I will get it at Ottawa Heart Center.

Benefit to Underserved Patients in Pakistan

As rightly said “a journey of thousand miles starts with a single step.” This observership experience was the first step towards my brilliant career. I am confident that the experience I gained at Ottawa Heart Center will benefit patients in Pakistan who are underserved.

Thank you, TSF Donors

A bundle of thanks to the donors and supporters of TSF, through whom these scholarship awards are made possible. I see that the day is not far away when I will be one of the donors to TSF.

Best Wishes,

Dr. Mian Mustafa Kamal

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