By Ava Swearingen, student writer
Wearing red isn’t just for Valentine’s Day. This month, your favorite cherry sweater becomes a badge of strength, a bold reminder that every heartbeat is worth celebrating. American Heart Month is a nationwide effort to promote awareness about heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the United States. Understanding the lifestyles and risk factors that contribute to a sick heart is paramount to making smart decisions, potentially saving a life down the road. Daily habits like eating more fruits and vegetables, getting seven to nine hours of sleep and increasing activity can help keep the heart in shape to support every other part of the body.
At Harding, heart health is celebrated every day in the Cardiac Function and Interventional Technology master’s program. Ours is the nation’s only degree program specializing in cardiac devices. CFIT’s industry partners donate equipment used to train students in their labs. In the spring, several managers in the industry travel to Harding’s campus to interview CFIT students. Their specific training makes these students desirable hires right out of this program.
Ken Turley, Ph.D., FACSM, was inspired to create this program after a meeting with the Harding Exercise Science club. In this meeting, two former students presented about their careers in cardiac devices. Turley says, “I always wanted to impact patient lives, but with my training and research in the cardiovascular system, I never saw a path to patient care. … I was in the right place at the right time and felt capable, called and ready with my training in cardiovascular physiology to create a degree program that could train students in cardiac devices.”
The rest is history. Now a fully-fledged program, CFIT students are trained to go forward in careers of cardiac device interventional technology as knowledgeable, skilled and service-minded professionals.
Alumni Ty Carger and Alexis Adeboyejo both had an exceptional experience in the program under the leadership of Dr. Turley and the other CFIT professors.
Carger found that the program built on his interest in the intricacy of the human heart. “My time in the CFIT program blew by because I was so interested in the material we were learning, and I was having a blast the whole way through.”
Adeboyejo says that the faith-based foundation of the CFIT program made all the difference in her education. “The emphasis on integrity and treating others with empathy reinforced the importance of caring for patients as a whole. This means physically, emotionally and spiritually. This foundation helped shape not only my clinical approach but my character as a health care professional.”
Ultimately, the budding professionals graduating from the CFIT program are equipped to provide mindful treatment to keep a heart and life flourishing.
To learn more about the CFIT program, visit harding.edu/cfit.
For more information on supporting your heart health, visit heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/lifes-essential-8
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