Frontdoors Magazine June 2018

OFFICE DOORS {leadership}

DR. SARIKA DESAI Cardiologist and CEO of Arizona Heart 360 Jamie Killin | Web Editor

For Arizona Heart 360 founder and CEO Dr. Sarika Desai, the practice of medicine is personal — both in her approach and in her professional path.

It was her mother’s diagnosis with a serious cardiac condition, and the cardiologist that saved her mother’s life, that served as the initial inspiration for her career.

“We almost lost her three times and it was a cardiologist who saved her,” Desai said. “In fact, it was Mother’s Day and he had told his wife that he wanted to check on my mom in the hospital. My mom actually was going south right then and there. He was the inspiration.”

Now, she applies that family approach to her own medical practice.

“I really wanted to take medicine back to what I felt like I grew up with, which was taking care of families — mothers and daughters and grandmothers. I just didn’t see that happening,” she said. “Unfortunately, in today’s political times there aren’t many of me, and a solo practice is really tough.”

Desai decided to start her practice after 28 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | JUNE 2018

facing physician burnout and realizing that the traditional medical model in Arizona wasn’t aligning with her values. She faced an overwhelming responsibility that didn’t allow her time for herself, as well as challenges that came from an almost entirely male-dominated environment.

“At the beginning it seemed good, but after a while I started realizing that, especially females, we put our heads down. We are always resilient and willing to do things, but I really didn’t like the way medicine was being practiced in Arizona,” she said.

After taking time off to clear her head,