When Cathie Biga was appointed president of the American College of Cardiology last April, she made history as the organization's first non-physician president.

In advance of the ACC’s annual meeting in Chicago from March 29-31, she spoke with HCB News about the transition of the ACC from a physician-only organization to one that’s inclusive of the entire cardiovascular care team, the adoption of “collaborative AI” and the importance of inclusivity.

HCB News: What inspired you to get into healthcare, and more specifically, into cardiology?

Cathie Biga: When I was in college, women were really just evolving in the workforce. Not to stereotype, but girls were heavily recruited in high school to be nurses and teachers, as I was when I was entering college. Back in the day, I joined a future nurses club and did what was called candy striping back then.

It's funny, because neither one of my parents were really in healthcare when I was that age. My brother ended up becoming a physician and my mom, after I finished school, went to nursing school. We actually worked together for a while, which was really cool. My favorite aunt was an RN – and she was very influential in my decision. It was also that time when nurses had 2 or 3 years of training, but I knew I wanted a degree so I enrolled in one of the few BSN programs.

Cardiology began to interest me when I trained at (the) Mayo (Clinic) – St. Mary’s Hospital - in Rochester. It was the days of open-heart surgery and it just fascinated me. We used to go to the amphitheater and watch surgery on our afternoons off. There was just something about the heart. I went right from school into the critical care areas and loved every minute of it.

HCB News: How long have you been a member of the ACC?
CB: (At first) they didn't allow, for lack of a better word, non-physicians, so my official membership, when I could actually pay dues, was probably in the mid 2000s. They opened it up to nurses first and now of course ACC is the professional home for the whole CV team. One of the most gratifying things to have watched over the last 25 years is that evolution, and I think they have led the way for professional societies.

Cardiology really takes a team approach (with) the chronicity of our disease process. Unlike orthopedics, for example, (where) you break a leg, you fix a leg, you rehab and you move along, once you're diagnosed with coronary disease, it's usually a lifelong disease process to manage it, treat it and help our patients stay out of the hospital.

One of the evolutions in our delivery of CV care has been imaging. I'll date myself, but when I first started in the coronary care unit, patients would be on bedrest for five days after their heart attack. We didn't give them ice water because it would stimulate the vagus nerve. Now we float valves in from the groin. The technology and pharmaceutical changes have been fascinating to watch. Cardiovascular treatment and care delivery is a phenomenal field.

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