Mackenzie Redford - Cardiothoracic Surgery

 Cardiothoracic Surgery is a broad surgical specialty that encompasses 3 main subspecialties: cardiac, congenital, and thoracic surgery. Because most procedures under cardiothoracic surgery pertain to the heart, these surgeons must have near-perfect precision and undergo the best training available. High-risk specialties such as cardiothoracic surgery not only demand highly trained physicians but also the best supplies available as well as sufficient funds to pay for both. Consequently, about 6 billion people around the world lack access to cardiac surgical care due to living in under-resourced communities. Even in low-income countries where heart issues are a major health concern, there are still very few options for treatment compared to high-income countries, which contribute to major health disparities all over the world.

Low-income countries have severely limited resources, which means a decreased access to cardiac surgical care. The main problems being the unaffordability of the procedures themselves, and a noticeable lack of established hospital infrastructure and trained surgeons that are suitable to house and perform safe Cardiothoracic procedures. Becoming a highly skilled cardiac surgeon is a very demanding process as they need to attend years of training, clinical research, and a lot of money, meaning that most of them choose to work in developed countries anyways to earn a high paying salary and live comfortably. Additionally, patients that have the means to avoid the surgery often get it done somewhere else because of their concerns about the quality of care in less developed countries. Each of these problems contribute to diminished access to safe cardiac treatments and ultimately perpetuate health disparities in parts of sub-saharan Africa

With cardiovascular disease (CVD) being the leading cause of death each year, killing more than 17 million people world wide, not enough people recognize the main cause of it being a lack of access to cardiac care in middle and low-income countries. Only about 6% of annual cardiac surgeries take place in the poorest ⅓ of countries while more than 80% of the CVD yearly mortality rate occur in those countries. This lack of access to affordable care clearly contributes to major health issues and should gain more attention from the public and global leaders before more people die due to the complacency to fix the issue at hand.

Meet the Author

Hello!! My name is Mackenzie and I live in Arizona. I have always been passionate about medicine and my dream is to become a Cardiothoracic surgeon.