This 1 hour and 25 minute webinar presented by Primary Health Tasmania is on structural heart disease. It is the seventh in the ‘Cardiology at the interface of primary and secondary care’ series.
Dr Heath Adams provides an overview of the evolving landscape of structural heart disease services in Tasmania and their growing importance in the context of an ageing population.
He explored the role of the primary care physician in the early identification and ongoing management of valvular heart disease, recognising its presentation as both an acute and chronic condition.
The session also highlighted practical approaches to assessment, monitoring and referral, supporting timely intervention and improved patient outcomes.
It was accredited for RACGP and ACRRM for 1.5 hours of Educational Activities.
Learning outcomes:
- Identify and diagnose common and uncommon valvular heart disease presentations.
- Discuss the contemporary treatment of valvular heart disease.
- Discuss frailty and its impact on functional and mortality outcomes.
- Explore the role of the primary care physician in valvular heart disease and chronic disease management.
Speaker information:
Heath Adams, Cardiologist, Royal Hobart Hospital
Heath Adams is a Tasmanian-born interventional and structural cardiologist consulting at the Hobart Heart Centre and Hobart Private Hospital. His clinical expertise includes aortic stenosis, valvular and structural heart disease, coronary syndromes, and advanced interventional cardiology procedures, including TAVI and other minimally invasive therapies.
Dr Adams graduated with First Class Honours from the University of Tasmania in 2009 and completed specialist cardiology training in Victoria, achieving Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2016. He then undertook advanced coronary and structural heart fellowships at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, followed by further subspecialty training at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, a world-leading centre for TAVI and structural heart interventions.
In 2020, he performed Tasmania’s first TAVI and now leads the program at the Royal Hobart Hospital as a nationally accredited practitioner.