By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

The sincerity of his smile is the first thing that seems to draw people in when they meet Palo Pinto General Hospital’s newest addition to the health care team.

He’s not exactly random and not currently a county resident, but Dr. Jagadish “Jay” Puppala is certainly a needed new fixture in the health care community.

Wednesday was his inaugural day at Palo Pinto General Hospital and he said he worked through lunch without realizing he missed it. He ended the day seeing eight patients – all new to him, which required lengthier visits than a return check up.

At 4 p.m., after his fifth dictation, he seemed happy and said the time flew by since he started that morning.

One thing that “spoke volumes” to PPGH Chief Executive Officer Harris Brooks, when considering contracting with Dr. Puppala, were “his impeccable credentials.”

At 41, Puppala is a board-certified cardiologist and brings a broad base of knowledge and expertise to the community through the PPGH Heart Center. He is triple-board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Nuclear Cardiology. He is level-three trained in nuclear cardiology, in echocardiography and CT angiography.

Dr. Puppala is also level-three certified and experienced with CT angiography, a minimally invasive test used to detect blockages in the arteries supplying the heart muscles (coronary arteries). This type of screening may replace the traditional invasive angiogram. He said he hopes this testing method will eventually come to Mineral Wells.



Education

Dr. Puppala was born and raised as the son of a doctor in Hyderabad, India. As a teen, Dr. Puppala decided he, too, wanted to become a doctor from watching his father at work.

“My father inspired me,” he said. “He pushed me toward engineering, [but] I was a rebel. I saw him with patients and he inspired me; seeing the gratification you get by seeing people who need help.”

“I don’t regret it,” he said of the decision to go to medical school over engineering. “If I had it to do over 200 times, I’d do the same thing.”

Entering medical training in India was highly competitive, because “there are few seats and a high population” vying for medicine and engineering studies.

He explained that education in India is built on the British educational system where students competitively test into programs, like medicine and engineering, by taking entrance exams at age 17 and 18.

“There are 1,000 positions per year within the state,” explained Puppala. “Everybody who goes through high school takes the test [for medicine].”

One advantage of this competitive system, he said, is that those who make it through generally “have a little more endurance and are mentally tougher to withstand some inherent pressures of medicine.”

He finished his basic medical studies – a total of six years – when he was 24. At 25, he came to the U.S. for the first time and completed two years of research in cardiology and sub-internship at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. Then he studied internal medicine – the first step for all cardiologists – at Penn State Geisinger Medical Center.

At Yale University School of Medicine, where received level-three training in nuclear cardiology and echocardiography, he had the opportunity to meet the late Paul Newman and other notable heart patients.

Dr. Puppala rounded out his training by completing a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Colorado Health Science Center.

“With his educational background, he brings diversified experience to handle the community’s cardiovascular needs,” noted Brooks.



Message

Early on, Dr. Puppala said he knew he wanted to study the heart. He said it intrigued him because, “the heart is one organ that works 24-7.”

“Education, education and bringing awareness” to citizens are high on his list of goals.

He left a large cardiology group in the Metroplex to start his practice in Mineral Wells at the PPGH Heart Center and sees patients Mondays through Thursdays. He said he wants to bring state-of-the-art strategies here, where they are needed, and said that there are enough cardiologists in the Metroplex, but not in the rural communities.

“[Heart] disease prevalence is high and the need is high,” he said of more rural areas.

“Plaque formation starts early in life and takes years to show up. Then it takes years [after showing up] to be a significant risk,” he added.

Since heart disease often begins with teenagers, Dr. Puppala hopes to help people catch and prevent heart problems.

“We want to catch it early enough, before there is chest pain, which means the development of a blockage,” he said.

Dr. Puppala hopes to work through PPGH to have small group discussions and educate citizens to prevent cardiovascular disease through risk factor checks – like lipid checks and wellness checks. He also hopes education might “percolate” citizen’s awareness to modify any of the risk factors that may lead to cardiovascular disease.

In fact, Brooks already has him signed up to speak at the Rotary Club in January. “I’m sure he’ll make the rounds through the civic organizations,” said Brooks.

The cardiologist appears to have no problem modeling heart-healthy behavior with his healthy, energetic attitude.

“The kind of energy he demonstrated in his prior practice showed his commitment to his patients and working well with referring physicians,” said Brooks. “He is energetic, efficient, compassionate and committed to treating patients. He has the right personality and is the right fit for this community.”

In his spare time, Dr. Puppala plays tennis, even outlasting opponents half his age, and runs. He and his wife, Aniha, of 15 years, have two sons, ages seven and 11.

“They play basketball and keep me busy with their activities,” he said.

He currently commutes from Flower Mound, but uses the time driving to catch up on his education of current trends by listening to CD audiobooks or downloaded audio files.

“It is great and a pleasure to work with everybody here. I didn’t realize I didn’t [break to] eat lunch,” he said of his first day.