Member SpotlightsHeart Surgeon Pioneers Minimally Invasive Surgery Techniques Reginald Abraham A Member Since November 1999  Reginald Abraham was always mechanically inclined as a child growing up in Malaysia and as he grew older, he shifted his interest from cars to the human body. His father, in particular, as well as extended family encouraged his interest in medicine. Because Dr. Abraham’s father had to forgo advanced schooling in order to support his family, he later transferred his own dreams of becoming a physician to his son and actively encouraged his son’s education. Dr. Abraham’s father greatly understood the value of education given his work in the Ministry of Education in Malaysia.When Dr. Abraham was 14 years old, he immigrated to Canada where he joined his mother’s family in Vancouver. He attended the University of Toronto as an undergraduate and McGill University for graduate school. While at McGill he was accepted into a prestigious postbaccalaureate research program for heart surgeons. He conducted research into designing a stronger heart muscle by strengthening the heart using other muscles in the body. The main objective of constructing an “improved heart” would be to increase the amount of time that is available to work safely on the heart during surgery. During this research, Dr. Abraham was awarded a full scholarship to attend St. George’s Hospital Medical School in Grenada where he was able to study with the top pediatric surgeons. He later completed his general surgery training at Yale and New York Medical College. He also rotated through Memorial Sloan Kettering for cancer training, and then trained in heart surgery under the famous Dr. Tomas Salerno. Today, Dr. Abraham is a cardiothoracic (i.e., heart, lung and esophagus) surgeon. He specializes in minimally invasive heart and lung surgery at his practice in Bakersfield, CA. He has hospital privileges at UCLA and Starr Wood-Visalia. Dr. Abraham has also developed expertise in a notorious difficult technique: beating heart surgery. Dr. Abraham is committed to helping improve the public health of his community through his various outreach efforts. Under the auspices as the regional President of the American Heart Association, he gives at least two local talks per month in addition to hosting the Health segment on the local NBC affiliate, twice a month. He hopes to reduce the risk of heart disease in the general population and promote a lifelong interest in heart education among school children. Dr. Abraham takes great satisfaction in providing comfort and reassurance to families of pediatric patients by combining ongoing education with professional guidance. As a strong believer in the continuing education of his colleagues, Dr. Abraham lectures frequently on protecting the brain during heart surgery and how to avoid strokes and neurocognitive deficits. He also teaches other surgeons new laser revascularization techniques (i.e., how to get blood to heart muscle where there are no vessels) and specialized, beating heart surgery techniques. Dr. Abraham has a keen interest in building and expanding programs in minimally invasive heart surgery because this type of surgery is not as harmful to the body and minimizes the risks of stroke, heart and kidney failure. Dr. Abraham has expanded his outreach efforts and interests to include establishing modern heart centers in countries to which he travels and has relatives, like Dubai, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. These initiatives are aided by his fluency in five languages and the dedication of his wife, Shamistra (a former analyst with Goldman Sachs) who accompanies him on this travels along with their young son, Samuel. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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