Dr. Harish Koolwal completed his medicine residency at Coney Island Hospital in 1988 and Fellowship in Cardiology in 1990. He was awarded Best Intern and Outgoing Fellow awards. He was a Fellow in Inter- ventional Cardiology at Oklahoma Heart Center under Jan Voda. Dr. Koolwal worked at Texas Tech University as an Assistant Professor, and Director of CCU, as well as a consultant in Nuclear Cardiology. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, and is also a member of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Koolwal founded Valley Heart Center in 1993, in the Rio Grande Valley upon moving to McAllen, Texas.			Welcome to the Valley Heart Center Web site. We are committed to giving our patients, their families and other site visitors comprehensive information about cardiovascular conditions and the latest medical treatments. This Web site is only one step in gaining a better understanding about your heart health and the importance of preventing or seeking treatment for cardiovascular conditions. We encourage you to meet our staff and discover the full range of our cardiovascular services. Cardiology is a medical specialty that treats the heart, circulation and diseases that affect the heart. A Cardiologist may see a patient for a simple complaint, such as high blood pressure, or for something very complicated, such as chest pain. Routine tests that Cardiologist use to make a diagnosis include EKG, cardiac ultrasound, stress test (walking on a treadmill) and nuclear imaging procedures. Cardiologist can provide continuing care of patients, perform heart function studies, implant pacemakers, oversee treatments, supervise drug therapy and work closely with heart surgeons. In addition, a Cardiologist may perform annual cardiac physicals and offer wellness advice for those persons at risk or suffering from heart disease. If you or a loved one needs to undergo a procedure or surgery for a heart condition, it is perfectly normal to be feeling worried and uncertain. You probably have many questions. Although physicians try to answer all the questions they can, people often say they didn’t understand everything their physician said or that they forgot to ask something. The Education tab on the page is designed to answer some of your questions. The best strategy for dealing with fear is facing it. Preparing for what you or a loved one will likely be experiencing is the first step in approaching the situation with greater confidence and peace of mind. Congratulations for taking this time to get all the facts. The information provided on this site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you have regarding your condition.