Dr Potkin’s cardiovascular
training  included 4 y ears at R ush University, Chicago,  Illinois; 2 years  at the University of California at Irvine, California; 2 years at the National Institutes of  Health, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, M aryland; 2 years at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and a final year at Washington Hospital Center Heart Center, Washington  DC’s premier cardiovascular center where senators , congressme n, and local dignitaries often received their cardiovascular medical care.  During these 11 post-graduat e training years he published over 45 peer-reviewed manuscripts in prestigious journals and helped write several book chapters and lectured in this country and in Europe.  After completing general and sub-specialty training Dr. Potkin moved from Washington D.C. to the Monterey Bay area in 1991.  This was a major decision for him to leave the academic world and enter the private practice world.   This decision was initially difficult to leave Washington, D.C. for the west coast, however, besides having a great love and dedication to medicine, he wanted to raise a family in a safe and beautiful area that would still allow him practice cardiovascular medicine and participate in academic medicine in beautiful Monterey Bay area. Dr. Potkin has been in our community for 31 years now and began practicing clinical and Interventional Cardiology at our local hospitals and affiliated with Stanford Medical Center and El Camino Hospitals since 1991 as a teacher and attending physician.  He is an expert in cardiovascular medicine including the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, cholesterol metabolism, systemic hypertension, congestive heart failure, adult congenital heart disease, chest discomfort, valvular heart disease, and TIA- stroke. He also has special expertise in rhythm abnormalities including palpitations, pacemaker, defibrillator, biventricular pacemaker management and impl antation.  Dr. Potkin regularly educates the community and physicians through lecture series and tutorials. He is board certified in cardiovascular medicine, a fellow in the American College of Cardiology, and is also a Fellow in the Society of Cardiology and Angiography and Interventions as well as a member of the Heart Rhythm Society and American Heart Association. He is the founder of the Monterey Bay Cardiac and Vascular Center and is committed to providing his patients exceptional care with special attention to quality of life and alleviation of fear and suffering.  He wants his patients and their families to enjoy their precious lives.  Several of his simple but true adag es are that the most important less on he learned in Medical school is that life is fragile and precious and not be taken for granted.  That the rare complication or adverse outcome,  is not rare to the person who experiences it, for t hat p erson it is 100%. These basic concepts keep him focused on providing the best medical care for his patients and this may be a referral locally or to another state or city to provide the best possible current cardiovascular care available.