This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
A Conversation with Michael J. Mack, MD, FACC
For this issue, Dr. Bhatt talks with Michael J. Mack, MD, FACC, chair of the cardiovascular service line at Baylor Scott and White Health in Dallas and a member of the Cardiology Today’s Intervention Editorial Board.
A pioneer in the field of cardiothoracic surgery and a world-renowned physician, Mack has been at the forefront of research in valvular and structural heart disease. He has served as a principal investigator for several important trials and has helped shaped the evolution of transcatheter aortic valve replacement since the first procedure was performed 15 years ago.
During his long and distinguished career, Mack has performed thousands of procedures and has played a pivotal role in integrating the specialties of cardiology and cardiac surgery into a heart team approach to patient care.
What area of research in intervention most interests you right now and why?
Dr. Mack: Currently, I’m most interested in valvular and structural heart disease because it is a rapidly evolving field. I was fortunate enough to be there at the beginning and have seen great strides and major changes over the course of the past 2 decades. It is fascinating to see the approach to valvular heart disease completely change over a finite period of time. What will be interesting to see in the future is the application of the techniques applied to the aortic valve being used to address mitral and tricuspid valvular disease. The diseases and complexity of treating these valves are different, offering new challenges and requiring different solutions. This will not just be “TAVR redux.”
What advice would you offer a student in medical school today?
Dr. Mack: No. 1, I would say that, despite the current state of the health care system and all of the the dire predictions of the “doom-and-gloomers” who pine for the good ol’ days, medicine is the best career one could ever have. No. 2, pick something you are passionate about and can stay passionate about throughout your career. No. 3, many career decisions right now are made on the basis of income and lifestyle. Although those are appealing in the short term, they do not necessarily lead to a happy career in the long term.
Many people in medicine are choosing specialties that they believe will allow a good work-life balance, which is healthy and important. Many physicians in previous generations were completely focused on career, which may not have led to the most healthy and happy family life. On the other hand, if you are making career decisions based on income and lifestyle but you hate what you do every day, then that’s not healthy either. Choosing work hours and income over a professionally satisfying career is a mistake. It is important to know that medicine is now much more cognizant about addressing issues like overwork, so hopefully young people entering the medical profession will feel less pressure in that respect and can balance satisfying career choices with a healthy lifestyle with sufficient financial rewards.
Have you ever been fortunate enough to be part of medical history in the making?
Dr. Mack: When I was a medical student, I was on service and in the operating room for the first heart transplant in St. Louis in 1968, which was one of the first ones performed in the world. I also performed the first thoracoscopy, or video-assisted thoracic surgery, procedures in China in the early 1990s. I was one of the early innovators of the procedure and was invited by the Chinese societies to teach them how to do it. I did the first five procedures and when I returned 1 year later, there had been 1,005 done; the next thousand had been theirs!
I have also been involved in the field of TAVR from near the start, and during the past 15 years, I have been lucky enough to witness its evolution and help develop many aspects of the technology and techniques.
What do you enjoy doing to relax?
Dr. Mack: I enjoy spending time with my family. I have five kids, ranging in age from 25 to 34 years, so that family part of life has been all-consuming. I also enjoy traveling. I have been fortunate enough to see a great deal of the world through professional travel. My true passion is snow skiing for the past 50-plus years. I have been fortunate enough to ski on four continents. Heli-skiing in British Columbia is one of life’s penultimate experiences.
What’s up next for you?
Dr. Mack: Right now, I still love what I’m doing, so it’s difficult to think of the next best thing. My day job is still full time and I also work closely with the FDA on a number of projects, including implementing early feasibility trials into the United States and postmarket device surveillance. I’m also on the Board of Trustees of the American College of Cardiology, which takes a lot of my time. In addition to running and skiing, photography is one of my hobbies, so I will likely get more involved with that as well. One of my disappointments is that there is not enough time to squeeze in everything! – by Melissa Foster