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My name is Ben Chung. I'm a heart failure transplant cardiologist. I work at University of Chicago. I also have some off-site clinics that are in Springfield, where we service all of the patients in downstate Illinois, as well as in northwest Indiana.

A lot of time patients come to me, and by that point, they've already seen a lot of doctors, including cardiologists. And they may have heard from them that they only have a few months left to live, or that they should start drawing up their will. They'll hear very dramatic things about what's happening with their heart failure. And what they may not hear is the opportunities that are available for them to be able to improve their quality of life, improve their health, and maybe extend their life.

That may include things like surgeries, that may include things different procedures that we're able to do that can help give them that additional quality of life that they need.

The reason that I chose University of Chicago is, having done all of my training here, I really became enamored of the culture here. I really think University of Chicago is a very special place. Even though as a world-class academic hospital, we have access to all of the cutting-edge treatments and medications and different procedures and surgeries that are available at a world-class institution, we still feel like a boutique hospital in some ways.

The size of our physician body is not as large as a lot of these very big, sprawling institutions. So because of that, you develop really close relationships with your patients, with your colleagues. And I feel like that is the most effective way in order to get patients the very best quality of care.

My philosophy of care is that all patients should have access to the best medications and the best treatments that are available and that patients should not be limited by where they live geographically or what their insurance status is, or their socioeconomic status.

I think that all patients should have equal access to the best therapies that will help them move forward with heart failure and patients who need heart transplants and advanced options.

I chose to become a heart failure cardiologist because I really saw it as the best opportunity to be able to have the maximal benefit for patients who come to us.

A lot of times, the patients who come to us are really in dire straits, and they are really looking for some kind of solution. And with heart failure medicine, with the kind of procedures and surgeries and medications we're able to offer, I feel like we're really able to make a dramatic improvement in people's lives, and that is such a gratifying experience to be able to see patients have that kind of benefit.

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