Dr. Reema Sheth is no stranger to being the exception to the rule, especially when it comes to her career.

Shes an interventional cardiologist, a field in which fewer than 5% are women, according to a news release from Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where shes been on staff for 18 months and is a member of the Heart Care Centers of Illinois practice.

I think I act who I am and have been very lucky to have found care centers who have a long history with the community, she said. I come to work, try my best, work hard, and feel like Im treated fine with the Heart Care group. The guys have been great. I enjoy going to work every day.

Sheth speculated her specialty draws few women because of its very nature, both the experience itself and the hours that result.

I think maybe because its more of a technical field with procedure, and when you go into internal medicine and cardiology, you focus more on the medical aspect than the technical aspect. So I think its more preference, or people cant choose when they have heart attacks because the hours can vary because of the unpredictability, she said.

Its not a strict 9 to 5 job. Procedures can be scheduled throughout the day, but emergencies can happen any time.

Her father and sister also are in the medical field both are psychiatrists but she chose a different path.

Im the odd one out, Sheth shared. But they are very supportive. Interventional cardiology has different hours, so I was lucky to have a family that was celebratory and supported my accomplishments. I wouldnt be here without them.

Her interest in a medical career came about partly because of her familys careers but also thanks to her own experience as an infant with surgery to correct a heart defect she was born with.

I definitely went into my schooling with an open mind but always gravitated toward cardiology, she said. I just love working with the heart and working with my hands and doing procedures, so cardiology was a really good fit.

Sheth attended medical school at Michigan State University and completed her training in Michigan after earning her degree.

After medical school I did my internal medicine residency. Directly after that, I did my cardiology fellowship, and after that I went for a year of interventional training, doing procedures nonstop every day within the cardiac field.

She truly enjoys working as an interventional cardiologist.

Not only can I help prevent developing cardiovascular disease, but I help treat progression. I can help identify current disease, treat current disease and take it one step further where if its significant damage, I can treat the disease with a coronary stent and help make blood flow to the heart better, more efficient.

Cardiologys continual advances also make Sheths job fulfilling, such as a trans-radial approach for cardiac catheterizations, performing coronary angiograms through an artery in the wrist.

Thats another great thing about cardiology as a field ever progressing with technology with approaches to not only get the best outcomes and the best care. Its a more convenient way for the procedure to be performed through the wrist rather than your groin, she explained. Its more comfortable for the patient after the procedure, plus less rest time and less risk of bleeding because of the small size of the artery as opposed to the groin.

Sheth, who is board-certified in internal medicine, reading cardiac echocardiograms, cardiac nuclear stress tests, general cardiology and interventional cardiology, is just starting to provide presentations and training to others.

Ive only been in the area for about 18 months, so now that Ive gotten my feet on the ground, Ive started to do more for the community. Im open to giving more lectures when the opportunity arises, she said. I have helped train female interventional cardiologists at one of the hospitals that I cover. I offer any guidance that I can.

The cardiologist gave a presentation Feb. 20 to theLincolnway Area Business Womens Organization in New Lenox that focused on women and heart disease, and a program for the community on preventing heart disease is planned Feb. 28 at the Silver Cross Conference Center in New Lenox.Registrationis required. Both are provided as part ofAmerican Heart Month.

More than 140 people signed up for the program Feb. 28, which Sheth called exciting.

Were focusing on general cardiac prevention and general cardiovascular care. Im hoping to keep it educational but also open conversation with questions, she said. It will be me presenting PowerPoint slides but will be broad-based points for general discussion to keep the flow of what were talking about. Sometimes I feel like we know the general idea of being healthy but not the specifics.

She said those specifics are important because the leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease, so as much education as we can get out there only helps in the long run.

Even for women specifically, its the leading cause of mortality in the U.S. Specifically with women, there are document studies that they are underrepresented. There are conditions in women that they may not be aware of, Sheth explained. Symptoms can be unique more commonly to women than men. All that information is paramount for women to know.

In-person presentations are important to provide correct information, she believes. It may not be the typical thing presented online, she said. You might not get that information just Googling online.

Additional information about heart health can be found by viewing or listening to Seths episode of Silver Cross iMatter Health podcast titled Is Heart Disease Genetic or Environmental? via the hospitals YouTube channel or a podcast platform.

Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

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One of few females in her field, Dr. Sheth focuses on educating women about heart health - Chicago Tribune