THE CARDIOLOGIST | Dr. Wayne Batchelor

Growing up in Canada, Wayne Batchelor dreamed of becoming a hockey player – but it wasn’t until the latter part of high school that his interest in being a physician peaked. Batchelor’s mother, a retired nurse – along with an affinity for math and science – led him to pursue medicine.

“She definitely had an influence on me,” he said. “I saw what she did and . . . she used to describe the impact she could have on people, on patients, one at a time.”

Batchelor’s education began with Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, for undergraduate work, then on to the University of Toronto for postgraduate training, where his interest in cardiology began. From there he went to Duke University in North Carolina for three years, completing a master’s degree in clinical research and a fellowship in interventional cardiology. Batchelor met his wife, Zan, at Duke, and they were married at the university’s chapel before returning to Canada.

Three years later, the Batchelors returned to the Southeast. In 2002, an opportunity came up in Tallahassee at Southern Medical Group.

“My parents spend a good portion of their time in Florida, too,” Batchelor said. “They’re snowbirds . . . and so this was also a way for us to be a little closer to them.”

Batchelor, 40, spends most of his time doing cardiovascular procedures at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital or seeing patients in his office. He is a member of the TMH Medical Staff Executive and chairs several hospital committees. He serves on a National Task Force for the American College of Cardiology that is currently studying ways to expedite the treatment of heart attack patients. In addition, he was recently asked to serve on the Executive Steering Committee (The VICTORY Trial) of a large national study that is looking at a gene-based approach to screening and treating African Americans after heart attacks.

“Our ability to treat heart disease is better than it has ever been,” Batchelor said, “but there still exists huge voids where there remain areas of opportunity. I want to be a part of the investigative efforts, to try to understand how we can improve outcomes in the next decade.”

Batchelor also is a Clinical Assistant Professor of medicine at Florida State University’s College of Medicine.

“I’m really proud of Tallahassee and Florida State University for having landed this medical school,” he said, “and hopefully over time, as things mature with the school . . . there might be opportunities to expand further into post-graduate medical education.”

Free time? Batchelor spends it with his wife and two daughters, Nadia, 6, and Samia, 4. He is athletic but admits that in Tallahassee, “finding ice is hard. I’ve torn up Skate World a few times . . . but I just don’t get into hockey much any more.” – Erica Bailey