Rajesh Pradhan, M.D., FACC
My Role
I’ve been the director of cardiovascular imaging since 2016. I’m one of the invasive non-interventional cardiologists in the group. As the cardiovascular imaging director, my job is to oversee running the echocardiology lab, the stress lab, the nuclear stress tests, cardiac CT and all other imaging modalities such as vascular ultrasound. Since I took over the cardiovascular imaging director position, we have brought a lot of new imaging modalities to Rapid City including 3D echocardiology, which has become a central part of the structural cardiac interventions at Monument Health. We also have been working hard to get cardiac CTA to the highest possible quality. Cardiac CTA is a heart imaging test that can help identify severely obstructive coronary disease in patients with symptoms.
My Goal
The number one goal for me is to provide the highest quality patient care. When we go to medical school, we take the Hippocratic Oath, which says that I will put my patient at the center and everything I do will be for the care of my patient. To be able to provide the highest possible care for a patient is my goal. It is also important to me to act as a role model — demonstrating good work-life balance, healthy stress management and working smarter.
My Passion
I love taking care of patients with valve disease. With my training in cardiac imaging, I feel like I've built quite a bit of expertise in that field. Structural interventional cardiology at Monument Health has taken off, and advanced imaging, including interventional echocardiography, assists in those procedures. My colleague, Dr. Purushottam calls me GPS, because I help guide the interventional cardiologists during minimally invasive procedures, such as those to treat valve disease. Interventional echocardiology is a new and rapidly evolving field in cardiology, and along with other cardiologists on the team, we’ve built a successful program here at Monument Health. My other passion is teaching and helping the entire cardiology team be efficient in their work.
