By Carolyn Patten Photography by Mark Davidson One cold, snowy December 2010 night in Hartford — where he was completing his interventional cardiology fellowship at the University of Connecticut — Dr. Michael Bagheri and his wife, Leila, were at home by the fireplace, wondering where he might land his first job. On TV was an episode of their favorite show, HGTV’s House Hunters, on which a young couple was purchasing a vacation home in Palm Springs. This sunny small town with towering palm trees, attractive environment, and amazing architecture was very appealing,” says Dr. Bagheri, 46. We decided right then and there that we had to seriously look into this beautiful place.” Long story short, Dr. Bagheri was soon offered a position with Desert Regional Medical Center, and the couple happily relocated in August of 2011. Six years later — having successfully performed countless procedures, earned a sterling reputation, and amassed a substantial core of loyal patients, Dr. Bagheri was approached to take over the practice of retiring cardiologist Ronald B. Himelman, M.D. He therefore seized the opportunity in 2017 to launch his independent practice, Cure Cardiovascular Consultants, INC. But let’s back up a bit. Thanks to his stellar academic performance, the Texas born, Tehran-raised Bagheri was accepted into Melli University School of Medicine straight out of high school at age 18. A stateside residency in internal medicine and a subsequent general cardiology fellowship at East Tennessee State University led to his landing at UConn for his interventional cardiology fellowship … and that fateful winter night with Leila in Hartford. And here we are. Basically, I’m an interventional cardiologist who offers comprehensive services including the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various cardiovascular conditions,” says Dr. Bagheri of his private practice. On any given day, the multiboard- certified physician can be found at his office, seeing patients in consultation or performing cardiac procedures at Eisenhower Health, Desert Regional Medical, or Loma Linda University. Dr. Bagheri is a core faculty for the internal medicine residency program at DRMC and was just awarded The Best Subspecialty Teaching Physician Award for the academic year of 2019–2020. He is also a teaching faculty for Cardiovascular Systems Inc. based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Additionally, you can catch him as a regular guest speaker at the Mended Hearts Program or the Affairs of the Heart Conference. Dr. Bagheri is one of very few cardiologists who is proficient in cardiac interventions via radial artery access. So far, he has successfully performed more than 2,000 such procedures. We operate on the heart, via the wrist artery so the patient can be mobile with minimal recovery time,” he states. We usually send patients home in just a couple of hours, as opposed to what traditional cardiologists do, which is use a femoral approach. In that case, the patient has to be on their back recovering for hours and at times they have to spend the night in the hospital.” Another rare service Dr. Bagheri offers is Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation. Historically, patients with an impaired aortic valve would be sent for open heart surgery or turned down if deemed high risk by the cardiac surgeon. Now we can fix the valve without surgery, going through a tiny incision to implant a prosthetic valve inside the malfunctioning one. Most often, patient will be able to walk in 6 hours and can go home next day.” Dr. Bagheri thrives on keeping abreast of such latest technologies, and he travels the world learning and doing it. His established work philosophy is, I don’t practice on the basis of revenue. I simply try to provide the most genuine care of the highest quality that yields the best results for my patients.” Cure Cardiovascular Consultants 555 E Tachevah Dr., Building 1 West, Suite 202 Palm Springs, CA 92262 760-323-2174 curecvc.com