A cardiology trainee's unexpected opportunity on an international stage
PULSE Issue 47 | July 2026
In medical research, publication often marks the culmination of months, sometimes years, of hard work. For Dr Elinor Tan, Senior Resident, Department of Cardiology, NUHCS, however, her publication became the start of an unexpected opportunity that would bring her work to an international audience. Dr Tan’s study, “Survival benefit of guideline-directed medical therapy in older patients with heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis”, explored an important question faced by clinicians caring for older patients with heart failure: are concerns about frailty leading to some patients receiving less treatment than they could potentially benefit from?
Published in Heart BMJ, the study comes at a time when populations around the world are ageing rapidly, underscoring the need for more evidence to guide the care of older patients and support more personalised treatment strategies.
Among those who took notice was Prof James Rudd, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Cambridge and host of the internationally renowned Heart Podcast.
To Dr Tan’s surprise, she received a personal email invitation from Prof Rudd to discuss her findings on the podcast, an opportunity few early-career clinicians have the chance to experience in their academic career. Still in her third year of cardiology training, Dr Tan described the invitation as both unexpected and deeply encouraging.
Despite initially feeling daunted, she found the discussion with Prof Rudd to be a meaningful exchange. Their conversation explored the challenges clinicians face in caring for older, frail patients with heart failure, and how the lack of evidence specific to this group may sometimes led to more conservative treatment decisions.
Prof Rudd’s interest in the study reflects the growing importance of this area of research. As populations continue to age, there is increasing recognition of the need to better understand frailty, treatment tolerability and personalised approaches to care, so that older patients with heart failure can receive therapies that are both appropriate and evidence-based.
For Dr Tan, what began as a research project became an opportunity to contribute to a wider conversation on improving care for older patients living with heart failure. Her experience serves as a reminder that meaningful advances in medicine often begins with asking important questions, and that curiosity, perseverance and a commitment to patient care can create impact at any stage of one’s professional journey.
As a third-year cardiology trainee, being personally invited onto an internationally recognised platform to discuss research that addresses challenges faced by older patients living with heart failure was unexpected, humbling, and deeply encouraging.
One of the leading medical journals in cardiovascular medicine and surgery, it was established in 1939 under the name British Heart Journal. Its affiliated podcast, the Heart Podcast, is dedicated to bringing the latest insights anddevelopments in cardiovascular research and treatments to a broader audience.
