The Cardiologist is an internist specialist, specialized in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting the cardiovascular system, ie diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
As in all medical branches, it is necessary for the surgeon to make a diagnosis, make a considerable amount of tests and tests that, generally, are divided into invasive and non-invasive according to which equipment are used and if the same need a venous or arterial access. Let's analyze the various tests and controls that are carried out and used to arrive at a diagnosis and then be able to help the patient to recover completely:
The exercise test that can not be defined as a real medical test but, thanks to the information that is collected, it is revealed the first and necessary approach with the patient and the doctor who can orient himself on the possible diagnoses and request the right ones examinations;
Among the non-invasive tests we can list:
Electrocardiography (EGC) is an examination that has evolved a lot over the last two centuries and aims to graphically represent electrical impulses from the heart, taking also into account the time factor. Besides its classical form, there is also Holter, the dynamic ambulatory electrocardiography that is used to discover the causes of the verification of a single symptom;
Echocardiography (the ultrasound of the heart) is a group of techniques composed of:
Basal echocardiography (contrast echocardiography),
Trans - esophageal echocardiography, an examination performed by inserting a probe with an ultrasound transducer into the patient 's esophagus,
Prenatal echocardiography;
Perinatal echocardiography;
Exercise echocardiography, that is the examination that is performed before and after an effort, is very useful for understanding the origin of the chest pain highlighted by the patients or can also be used to generally evaluate the health of patients after a heart attack event. understand cardiac vitality.
Among the invasive exams, however, we can list:
Cardiac catheterization, a mixed technique (hemodynamics and angiography) that allows the doctor to evaluate the heart and blood vessels to intervene in myocardial revascularization procedures;
coronography or coronary angiography is a survey that allows you to view and observe the coronary arteries that distribute blood to the heart muscle.
In addition to these invasive and non-invasive tests, it is also necessary to remember other tests that can allow the cardiologist to check the condition of the cardiac system, such as the chest x-ray which consists in the insertion of x-rays towards the person's thorax. cardiac, cardiac scintigraphy and cardiac magnetic resonance.
Following the advancement of technology, the modern cardiologist is almost always subspecialized in a particular disciplinary sector and therefore, in addition to being a connoisseur of cardiac disorders in general, has additional skills with a much more specific level and therefore we recognize:
The clinical cardiologist for adults, that medical category that deals mainly with the diagnosis, medical therapy and prevention of heart disease in the adult
The pediatric cardiologist, or professionals who deal with heart disease in children
The interventional cardiologist, the one who has a particular preparation and knows how to manage in highly sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic procedures such as angioplasty or coronary angiography.
The advanced cardiological diagnostics in which its experts are mainly dedicated to the interpretation of diagnostic imaging tests.
The figure of the cardiologist to form and become such will first need a solid basis of chemistry and science and for this reason it would be necessary to attend a scientific high school even if, in reality, the compulsory origin of a particular school is not necessary. Once the high school has finished, it will be necessary to enroll in the degree course in medicine and surgery that has a duration of six years and in which it is expected to take an entrance test as it is a limited number faculty. After graduation, there is a period of training that takes place directly in the department and within which you work under the supervision of more experienced doctors and, once completed the internship, the candidate must write a thesis in cardiology and expose it before the commission.
Acquire the degree from a general practitioner, if your dream is still to become a cardiologist, you must pass the state exam and then enroll in the specialization in cardiology.
The state examination for the qualification to practice the medical profession consists of a practical and obligatory practical internship lasting three months to be carried out for a month at the medical department, at the surgery department and at the department cardiology as well as a final test. It is possible on the website of the Ministry of the Interior to find several questions to practice for the final written exam and, usually, two sessions per year are held, one in spring / summer and one in autumn / winter.
After passing the state exam you can enroll in the graduate school and, unlike the course in Medicine and Surgery, you can get paid: in fact, the specialization is a full-fledged general practitioner who lends his service to the hospital to specialize in a specific sector.