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To my wonderful family Nicole, Zac, Makenzie, and Alayna for always supporting me through all of my training and work. For understanding my efforts in trying to balance being a caring husband, a dad who is always there, and also an academic physician on a mission to change how we deliver ACHD care in the United States.
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To my mentors Hugh Allen MD, Tim Feltes MD, William Abraham MD, and John Cheatham MD for their tremendous support of ACHD and in building an ACHD program by giving me the tools to develop a high-quality program and provide the care our patients deserve.
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To our ACHD nurses Jenne Hickey, Steve Crumb, Tracey Sisk, Kathy Junge, Renee Schnug, and Deb Mitchell for your unrelenting commitment to patient care each and every day–without the fanfare, but for all the right reasons.
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Finally to Ali Zaidi MD, colleague and friend, for all of your hard work, organization and dedication to the field of ACHD and to this color atlas for ACHD.
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As you read through the chapters and pages in this atlas, my hope is that you gain a greater appreciation for the complexity of ACHD and the ACHD patient. Each picture is a patient and each patient deserves our best. The outcomes today are not what we expect for this population. In order to truly change the outcome for ACHD patients, WE MUST:
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(1) train more specialists in ACHD, (2) develop high-quality ACHD programs, and (3) advocate and vehemently pursue multi-center federal funding of ACHD-specific research. Patients, professionals, and elected officials, all have the power and the ability to change the outcome for the next generation of CHD patients reaching adulthood.
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To Ami and Aboo....for their selfless dedication, affection and guidance.
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To the Aans....for with you two lies the future—I love you guys.
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To TFF, HDA, JPC, SCC and Curt.....for teaching me the nuances of CHD.
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To DV....for letting the Force be with me.
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To all my patients.......for being the best teachers a student could ever ask for.
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And to Saki, without whom nothing would have come together.......for being my rock, I love you more and more every day!
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