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A Conversation with Eric R. Bates, MD, FACP, FAHA, FACC
In this issue, Dr. Bhatt talks with Eric R. Bates, MD, FACP, FAHA, FACC, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Health System. Bates is an Editorial Board member of Cardiology Today’s Intervention, as well as the American Heart Journal, Circulation, Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, European Heart Journal, Journal of the American College of Cardiology and JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, and associate editor of the American College of Physicians Journal Club. His clinical interests include fibrinolytic and catheter-based reperfusion therapy for acute MI and cardiogenic shock; antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy for coronary thrombosis; and coronary artery revascularization.
Bates is deeply rooted in the University of Michigan. He is one of 52 family members who graduated from the institution and one of eight who earned a medical degree. He completed his medical training and residency in internal medicine and his fellowship cardiology at the University of Michigan. Bates is being honored with an endowed professorship after more than 3 decades of clinical practice, teaching and academic research.
What are some of your hobbies outside of practicing medicine?
Dr. Bates: I enjoy spending time with family. My eldest son has two new daughters, which has changed our priorities. Sports are especially big in my family. I am the father of a two-time Olympic figure skater, so we frequently travel to figure skating events to support him. I also have a daughter who runs marathons with or without me. We have kept the Midwest ideal with multiple-generation family and connections, which is good for the younger generations. Aside from family, I find yardwork therapeutic. I do my own mowing, gardening and snow shoveling.
Who has had the greatest influence on your career?
Dr. Bates: There are many. The first was my father. He was an internist who did solo practice for 35 years. The second was my first chief of medicine, William Kelley, MD. He reorganized the culture of the University of Michigan and changed it from a teaching hospital to an academic research hospital. In doing so, he surrounded me with a number of talented colleagues who included me in their work. Then, there was my first chief of cardiology, Bertram Pitt, MD, who really emphasized the clinical research part of being an academic early in my career.
What area of research in intervention interests you right now?
Dr. Bates: When people ask me what my hobby is, my wife immediately responds, “myocardial infarction.” I have always been interested in MI — it’s one of the reasons that I went into cardiology. I began my cardiology training in 1979 at the start of interventional cardiology, so I have an historical perspective on reperfusion therapy, cardiac electrophysiology and echocardiography. The subsequent advances in catheter-based interventions and pharmacotherapy are astounding compared with the equipment and medications that I used in the 1970s as a medical student.
Have you ever been fortunate enough to witness or to have been part of medical history in the making?
Dr. Bates: I had the opportunity and the privilege to be part of one of the first international groups in reperfusion therapy. William W. O’Neill, MD, one of the first physicians to start practicing primary PCI, and Eric J. Topol, MD, who played an essential role in fibrinolytic therapy, began conducting clinical trials that were somewhat unusual back then. So, Dr. O’Neill, Dr. Topol, Stephen Ellis, MD, Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, and I helped develop primary PCI and fibrinolytic therapy strategies in prehospital and hospital systems of care for STEMI. It was a new frontier, a huge advance and a really exciting time. I’m thankful that I got to enjoy the ride with them.
What’s up next for you?
Dr. Bates: I spend a lot of time on journal work and writing reviews and editorials. The most important thing I’ve probably done in the last 15 years was work on the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association documents. I was involved with STEMI guidelines for 10 years and more recently have been the vice chair of the PCI guidelines for the last 5 years. Next are the important documents on training milestones and lifelong learning competencies. I’m quite proud to have been a part of these documents. I have fun trying to interpret and understand how to deliver evidence-based care.