For the first time ever, a Children’s Hospital of Michigan physician has gained clinical certification in the rapidly expanding medical sub-specialty of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD).

The recent board certification of Pooja Gupta, M.D., has established her as one of the first clinicians in the nation to be admitted to practice as a sub-specialist in the treatment of adults who survive congenital heart disease. The ACHD sub-specialty has been growing rapidly in the past decade or so, as more and more children manage to reach adulthood after successfully coping with chronic cardiac conditions, thanks to recent advances in surgical treatments and management of these patients.

That trend has now become so pronounced, say medical researchers, that more than 1 million U.S. patients with congenital heart disease are now adult survivors (18 or older) of their childhood illness. 

“The Children’s Hospital of Michigan has been providing excellent care for survivors of congenital heart disease for many years,” said Dr. Gupta, who passed her ACHD board certification exam last fall, “and our adult congenital heart disease program continues to rank as one of the best in the country. But I think this new certification does serve as formal recognition that we now have a fully certified clinical sub-specialty in place at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan to serve the special needs of childhood heart disease survivors.”

Dr. Gupta, who serves as both the co-director of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinic and as an assistant professor of Pediatrics for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, has been providing care for pediatric and adult congenital heart patients for more than ten years. Board certified in both pediatrics and adult internal medicine, she is also a veteran researcher in pediatric cardiology and is published frequently on topics related to childhood and adolescent heart disease.

The Children’s Hospital of Michigan Chief of Cardiology and Wayne State University School of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics Richard Humes, M.D., F.A.A.P., said he was encouraged by the fact that the Children’s Hospital of Michigan cardiac care program now includes one of the nation’s few board-certified physicians with specialized training in ACHD. “There’s no doubt that more and more children have been surviving congenital heart disease in recent years,” Dr. Humes said, “and I think everyone who works in this area of medicine understands that treating these survivors has become increasingly important of late".

“Because Dr. Gupta is board certified in both pediatrics and adult internal medicine, she was a natural to take the exam for the new sub-specialty in ACHD,” Dr. Humes added. “Her achievement will make our adult congenital heart disease program even better at delivering effective heart care to patients, which is excellent news for our patients at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and clinicians alike.”

“I am honored that my colleagues on the committee, who are nationally renowned educators from across the country, demonstrated their confidence in me by nominating and electing me for this position,” said Dr. Kamat, who is now serving his fifth year on the committee. He will serve two years as vice chair.

About the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, www.childrensdmc.org

For more than 125 years, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan is the first hospital in the state dedicated exclusively to the treatment of children. With more than 40 pediatric medical and surgical specialties and services, the hospital is a national leader in cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, gastroenterology and gastroenterology surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, nephrology, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology. It is ranked one of America’s best hospitals for children and sees more children than any hospital in the state. More Michigan pediatricians are trained at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan than at any other facility. Children’s Hospital of Michigan is one of eight hospitals operated by the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). 

Contact: Elise Bennett
Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Page: (313) 803-3889
[email protected]