EP 159: Finding Your Professional Home: Early Career Cardiology and Beyond

About this episode

In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra welcomes Dr Eunice Dugan, a graduating interventional and structural heart disease fellow at the Cleveland Clinic, as she prepares to transition into independent practice in Fort Wayne in the summer of 2026. Dr Dugan reflects on how early mentorship shaped her decision to engage with the American College of Cardiology during fellowship, and what professional societies can offer beyond the clinical environment — from expanding skill sets and building lasting networks to driving meaningful change. She shares how her role as a local FIT representative led her to organise a widely attended webinar helping fellows navigate the new interventional cardiology match. The conversation also tackles the attrition challenge that affects many early-career cardiologists in their first three to five years of practice: Dr Dugan, now transitioning into the ACC's Early Career Council, discusses the "fog" of establishing a new career and makes the case for cultivating a specific project during fellowship as a professional anchor through the pressures of a new post, relocation, and family life. She also speaks to her advocacy for women in cardiology, includ