User:Tomkony/Tom Konecny

Summary
Tomas Konecny, M.D., Ph.D. practices cardiac electrophysiology (cardiology specializing in the treatment of heart arrhythmias) at the Keck Medical Center of USC (University of Southern California) in Los Angeles, California. He specializes in treating complex and simple tachy-arrhythmias (fast heart rates) as well as brady-arrhythmias (slow heart rate), including atrial fibrillation and flutter, supraventricular tachycardias (AV nodal reentrant tachycardia, atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia, atrial tachycardia), ventricular tachycardia, heart block, and predisposition to sudden cardiac arrest. Dr. Konecny fosters a unique interest in treating patients with arrhythmias and breathing disorders (including history of smoking, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and obstructive sleep apnea).

Philosophy of Care
Dr. Konecny strives to provide outstanding patient care, which utilizes his clinical training from the Columbia University and the Mayo Clinic, while allowing his patients to benefit from his involvement in the frontiers of clinical research focusing on cardiac arrhythmias (recognized by awards from American College of Chest Physicians, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and others). Dr. Konecny’s philosophy of care revolves around 3 key aspects: 1) he empowers his patients to make important health-related decisions based on the most up to date diagnostic strategies, 2) he leads a very personalized and thorough discussion with each patient regarding the optimal treatment, and 3) he follows through with each patient until the health issue under investigation is resolved.

Recognition of Excellence
His awards include the First Prize in research presentations at the American College of Physicians chapter meeting (Minneapolis, 2008), Joseph Collins Award from Columbia University (New York, 2004), and he was the only physician among the "Top 100" young Czech professionals as featured in the leading Czech business journal Hospodarske Noviny in 2009 ). Dr. Konecny has been awarded the First Prize at the Young Investigator Competition organized by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) in 2011 for his work on cardiovascular implications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . Other recognition includes the Second Place in the highly prestigous competition organized by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in 2012 for a study of patent foramen ovale and obstructive sleep apnea . Dr. Konecny was selected to present his clinical research results at the final of the Cournand & Comroe Young Investigator organized by the American Heart Association, and he has served as invited speaker at multiple prestigious institutions (American College of Physicians, at the Harvard Medical School, at the Czech Cardiological Society, at the Center for Vascular and Heart Disease (Tbilisi, Georgia), University of Southern California, and others.)

Education and Training
Dr. Konecny graduated with the highest honors from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California (Bachelor of Science summa cum laude in molecular biology), and was named member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor national society (most prestigious honor society at Westmont College). He then pursued his medical training at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, from which he graduated with the title Doctor of Medicine, and received the prestigious Joseph Collins Award. His 8 year long post-graduate clinical training in internal medicine and cardiology brought him to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he completed the advanced training in the management of cardiac arrhythmias (cardiac electrophysiology).

Research
Dr. Konecny’s research focuses on the interactions between cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, with a particular interest in the effects of obstructive sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the pathophysiology of the heart. The novel findings coming from his work opened the possibility of preventing cardiovascular diseases by pre-emptive treatment of chronic pulmonary disorders which previously often remained overlooked. He conducted presentations on these topics at leading international meetings including American Heart Association Scientific Sessions (2009), American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions (2009, 2010) , Czech Society of Cardiology Scientific Meeting (2010), American College of Physicians Chapter Meeting (2008, 2009), and others. His work has been published in the leading medical and popular journals, including Mladá fronta DNES, Hospodarske Noviny, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, Chest, American Journal of Cardiology , and others. Dr. Konecny has worked with some of the world's most renowned physicians and investigators including Dr. Virend Somers (Mayo Clinic), Dr. Charanjit Rihal (Mayo Clinic), Dr. George Dangas (Columbia University), and Dr. Andrew Frantz (Columbia University).