As one of the few specialists in the world qualified in both ACHD and heart failure, Dr. Burchill is leading the way towards creating that new language. As president of the International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Dr. Burchill is engaging with the ACHD community and an elite team of experts to build the world’s first heart failure pathway program designed by and for those living with ACHD. He describes it as, “envisioning a pathway that will serve as a beacon for those needing specialized heart failure care, so that it’s delivered at the right place and the right time, taking into account each person’s cardiac, mental, social, emotional, cultural, and spiritual needs.”
But Dr. Burchill is more than just a world-class physician; he is also a healer. “The origins of medicine recognize that our practice is both a science and an art,” he says. “The term physician often matches with the science. But we need to remember the physician was always intended to be a healer. That’s the art of what we do.”
So, when Dr. Burchill sits down with a patient, the first thing he does is acknowledge there are two experts at the table. There’s the expert in managing the health condition. But there’s also the patient, who’s the expert of their own life. “And it’s together that we can build on the existing strengths to find solutions that work for the patients that we’re trying to deliver care to,” he adds.
Being a healer comes naturally to Dr. Burchill. It’s part of his history. Growing up in the southern Australian town of Mooroopna, the Aboriginal word meaning “deep water,” Dr. Burchill learned to honor the traditions of his ancestors. One of those traditions is a unique way of listening, which he uses to help treat patients.
Radical listening is about connecting the heart and mind. It’s what we see, what we feel, what we can touch. There’s a responsibility that comes when we sit down and listen to someone else.”
“First I listen to the heart,” he says, referring to his work with ACHD. “Then I listen from the heart.” He goes on to explain, “Listening from the heart is tapping into my indigenous history with something we call radical listening. Which goes back thousands of years. Radical listening is about connecting the heart and mind. It’s what we see, what we feel, what we can touch. There’s a responsibility that comes when we sit down and listen to someone else.”
Honoring the traditions of his ancestors, Dr. Burchill uses radical listening to find clues to illnesses often previously missed. “Not a week goes by,” he says “where I don’t meet a patient who tells me a story in which they presented with symptoms and were turned away. They were told that it was in all their head. It’s often a story that’s been repeated over months and years. Sometimes a lifetime.”
Once Dr. Burchill makes a diagnosis, “Suddenly things crystallize for that individual and they have a moment where they say, ‘I’m not crazy.’ So many of my patients have unique conditions that are difficult to diagnose. And once finally diagnosed, they need unique care teams and, in some cases, unique surgeries,” he says. Ultimately, he adds, “For these patients, the treatment wasn’t simply the surgery. But the validation that the chest pain they’ve experienced since they were seven years old was real. And that we had a solution for it.”
How does Dr. Burchill see the future unfolding? “Diagnostics have been critical for the evolution of congenital heart disease care. We use ultrasound, echocardiograms, CT coronary angiograms, and MRIs. But there is still a lot we don’t know about what leads to reduced heart function. So, the next stage is to continue developing new imaging modalities that get down to even the cellular level and those cellular mechanisms that contribute to heart failure,” he says.
I think what drew me here was the history of breakthrough treatments, and the primary value that the needs of the patient come first.”
Something else Dr. Burchill finds exciting is the importance of voice. “My colleagues have been looking at voice as its own biomarker. And based simply upon someone’s voice, determine with a high clinical suspicion that they’ve developed a new rhythm problem. Think of your voice as a fingerprint we can track over time. And which we can use to determine the overall health of your heart,” he says.
“Growing up, I never imagined that I would ever have the privilege of working at Mayo Clinic, " he says. “I think what drew me here was the history of breakthrough treatments, and the primary value that the needs of the patient come first.” Needs Dr. Burchill meets by not just by hearing his patients, but actively listening to them. A trait instilled in him from his earliest days growing up in Mooroopna.
Aside from being Australia’s first indigenous cardiologist, how would Dr. Burchill like to be remembered? “As someone who was kind,” he says. “But it’s important for me to clarify that kind and kindness actually speak to strength. Bringing kindness requires patience. It requires grace, it requires dignity, it requires strength. So, it’s kindness, but it’s kindness with strength. That’s what I’d like to be remembered for.”