Case studies: Cardiac physiologist: Bohdana

Bohdana has a BSc in Clinical Physiology and works as a cardiac physiologist specialising in echocardiography.

Healthcare wasn’t an area I’d considered before my degree, even though my mother is a retired GP and my sister is a doctor in Ukraine. When I arrived in Wales from Ukraine, I planned to work as a journalist or a teacher, as that’s what I’d been doing in Ukraine, but despite a lot of applications, I was unable to secure work.

One of my friends, who was doing nursing at Swansea University, brought me a brochure about a new course – a BSc in Clinical Physiology/Cardiology and I realised that I wanted to train in cardiology. Both my parents have ischemic heart disease, so I know the importance of correct diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions. Plus, heart disease is one of the biggest killers at the moment, so I thought it would be really nice to work as a cardiographer to help diagnose and contribute to the treatment of heart conditions. Also, I’ve always enjoyed working with people. I decided to apply for the BSc at Swansea and luckily was accepted.

I developed an interest in echocardiology during my placements, so after graduation in 2006 I applied for a trainee echocardiography position with Morriston Hospital (now Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust), which was funded for two years by the British Heart Foundation. I studied for my British Society of Echocardiography accreditation exam while working full time and when I passed I was promoted to grade 7 (highly specialist cardiac physiologist – echocardiography).

I spend my day doing echo scans on a wide range of patients, from those who have been referred by the GP or health centre to patients who are under the long-term care of a cardiac consultant. The cardiac centre where I’m based is always really busy and I perform around eight to 14 scans a day.

Echocardiograms, which are similar to other ultrasound procedures, like ante-natal scans, are used to create two-dimensional images of the heart. When I first started, I was only getting standard views of the heart and taking basic measurements, but now I can do more complex work, diagnosing different cardiomyopathies, adult congenital disorders, etc. by using more complex techniques and measurements. In the future I’d like to progress to consultant physiologist and gain experience in 3-D echo.

I absolutely love my job and enjoy every aspect of it. I like to have complicated, challenging cases, which demand loads of knowledge and skills. I like to work with people and feel I’m playing an important part in the process of diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions. I feel it’s an exciting career that brings loads of satisfaction, is very interesting and challenging and also not badly paid.