ECU cardiologist elected to Royal College of Physicians
By Amy Adams Ellis
ECU News Services
East Carolina Heart Institute physician Ashesh Buch has been elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London. Buch was formally recognized for this achievement June 10 at a ceremony in London.
Dr. Ashesh Buch, interventional cardiologist at the East Carolina Heart Institute and assistant professor of cardiovascular sciences, Brody School of Medicine at ECU
Fellowship is the highest level of membership in the college, which represents more than 29,000 physicians across the U.K. and the world. According to the organization’s website, it was founded nearly 500 years ago to ensure medicine is practiced to the highest standards.
“We will be relentless in our pursuit of improvements in health care and the health of the population,” their mission states. “We will achieve this by enhancing and harnessing the skills, knowledge and leadership of physicians in setting challenging standards and encouraging positive change based on sound evidence.”
Buch is an interventional cardiologist with ECHI, where he specializes in catheter-based treatments of structural heart diseases. ECHI is devoted to education, research, treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases in the region. The center is associated with East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine and Vidant Medical Center.
Buch joined the Brody School of Medicine and its group practice, ECU Physicians, in the fall of 2012 upon leaving his post at University Hospital of Wales, U.K.
He completed his medical degree at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., followed by a residency, and general cardiology and interventional fellowships, in the U.K. He completed further fellowship training in interventional cardiology at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, District of Columbia.
Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, director of ECHI and professor of surgery at Brody, said, “It is a real honor that Dr. Buch has been elected as a fellow to the Royal College of Physicians in London. He is an outstanding cardiologist, as well as academician. This designation indicates that he has not only had the finest training in cardiology, but he excels well above most of his peers.
“It is a great accomplishment for Dr. Buch,” Chitwood added, “but it also gives East Carolina Heart Institute an advantage, as we want the finest doctors for our patients.