Surgeon Spotlight: Dr. Amit Pawale
Amit Pawale, MD, is an attending cardiac surgeon at Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. He is also an associate professor of surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
During childhood, “I was always interested in medicine,” says Dr. Pawale. “My dad is a physician and that got me interested in this field – seeing him working and taking care of patients.” While in medical school at Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences in Karad, India, he became interested in specializing in cardiac surgery. “I knew I wanted to be a surgeon, and I got more interested in cardiac surgery because it makes a big difference in patients’ lives, and that’s very gratifying.”
After graduating from medical school, Dr. Pawale trained in cardiothoracic surgery at hospitals in London and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. In 2015, he completed a cardiothoracic surgery residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, New York. Following this residency, he remained with Mount Sinai Hospital as an attending cardiac surgeon and faculty member before arriving at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in August of 2019.
Coming to Northwestern, he says, offered him the opportunity for career growth and the ability to be part of a world-class team. Dr. Pawale is now part of a program that offers highly specialized cardiovascular care and treatments. The Cardiology and Heart Surgery program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is ranked as a top 10 program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and has the highest heart valve surgery volume in Illinois, including performing 30 percent of all mitral valve repairs in the state. The program offers advanced diagnostic imaging and treatment options for complex aortic (including bicuspid aortic valve), mitral and tricuspid valve disease.
Heart valve surgery is a clinical focus for Dr. Pawale, thanks to his extensive training in this field. “While at Mount Sinai, I was one of the few surgeons formally and extensively trained in mitral valve repair and re-operative mitral valve surgery,” he says. “One of my main clinical interests is minimally invasive approaches to mitral valve surgery without compromising the quality of repair and patient safety.”
He performs a wide range of heart valve procedures, including mitral valve repair, aortic valve and aortic root surgery, and tricuspid valve surgery. He has performed more than 1,500 cardiac procedures, around 750 of which are heart valve procedures.
Dr. Pawale is board certified in thoracic surgery from the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and holds fellowships with the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons. When he’s not at work, he’s spending time with his wife and son and exploring Chicago, his new city.
Page last updated: July 21, 2021
