Since a very young age, I’ve enjoyed getting shots and taking trips to the doctor’s office. Though it may seem odd, this exhilaration has never left me.

When asked as a child what job I wanted to pursue, I always said “doctor.” Now, I have narrowed down my interest to the field of cardiology.

When the opportunity arose to shadow interventional cardiologist Mouatou Mouanoutou, M.D., of Fresno Community Hospital, I could not resist.

Though this career area may seem tedious and very specialized, it is essential. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that heart disease has been slowly decreasing, but it still causes 68 percent of deaths and affects more than a million Americans. Mouanoutou says that the field of cardiology will always be in demand.

“It’s a job that you can never get fired for, because everyone will always need medical attention,” Mouanoutou said.

Since a young age, Mouanoutou had wanted to become a physician. Arriving in America at the age of 12 from Laos, located in Southeast Asia, he chose to pursue a career that would benefit others despite any difficulty in reaching that goal.

“When I was young, we didn’t have the opportunity like you do,” Mouanoutou said. “I didn’t know anything about cardiology, but I’ve always wanted to not only prescribe medication but to help people hand-to-hand.”

Mouanoutou began as an undergraduate at UC Irvine, then went to Ross Medical Education School for the graduate program. After 15 years of medical school, Mouanoutou applied to Fresno Community Hospital to help the Hmong community.

“It takes about 15 years, which is a long time; but if you like [your field], then [studying] it won’t be difficult,” Mouanoutou said. “You have to like what you do. I came back to Fresno because of how much of the Hmong community resides here; I want to mainly help the Hmong community because I’m part of the culture.”

Mouanoutou works from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Throughout the week, he rotates among three different buildings. He spends two days in clinics and three days in the general hospital.

While in the clinic, he sees a patient every 15 minutes throughout the day. During my visit to the hospital, Mouanoutou told me that he is one of the only three Hmong cardiologists, and therefore focuses on these patients.

“For the most part, the Hmong people who come to the hospital have to ask for a Hmong doctor because they will not automatically be assigned one,” Mouanoutou said. “Fifty-percent of my patients are Hmong, while the other half consists of other ethnicities.”

During the week, Mouanoutou performs about 10 surgeries, watches his patients’ heartbeats and checks their rates. He also works overtime without pay and on call, which sometimes causes him to come to the hospital around midnight or later.

“[Although] I don’t like getting called in the middle of the night, it just happens,” Mouanoutou said. “When you are called, though, you have to be prepared to automatically perform surgery.”

Mouanoutou plans to continue working in the hospital until the age of 70, when he will focus on clinical work instead.

After walking with Mouanoutou throughout the clinic, I realized that doctors really need to understand their patients and what they are feeling. Quite often, people may pursue a certain career for financial reasons, but I learned that anyone who chooses to strive for a medical field should have a goal and focus on helping others.

“If you want to be a doctor, it shouldn’t be about the money,” Mouanoutou said. “It’s about helping your community.”

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