Dr. Thierry Duchatellier, chief of cardiology at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, has been all heart since he was a child.
A self-made success, Dr. Duchatellier grew up in Haiti with a dream to heal, treat, and inspire healthy living.When his parents went into exile, Dr. Duchatellier’s grandparents, Joseph and Germaine Perrier, welcomed the then barely 1-year-old Dr. Duchatellier into their home, in which his grandfather maintained a medical practice. His uncle Joseph, who was also a physician, resided in their home; Dr. Duchatellier fondly remembers accompanying him on patient visits.
“As young as I can remember, I was involved with medicine,” he says. “It has been my passion since then…It still is.”
Dr. Duchatellier worked his way through his education. He attended medical school at Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), in the Dominican Republic, did his residency in Internal Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECM) and earned a fellowship in Cardiology and Nuclear Cardiology at AECM. He then served as assistant director of coronary care at Jamaica Hospital, joining Mercy in 2001. Dr. Duchatellier also serves as a medical liaison for nonprofit organizations Forgotten Children of Haiti (FCH) and Foundation for Hope and Health in Haiti (FHHH).
Working in cardiology enables Dr. Duchatellier to pursue his dream of helping people in a “challenging and exciting” field.
“We are discovering significant new techniques, new medication, and surgical approaches to solve issues that the patient has,” he says. “My passion is to bring people some relief and comfort in their disease state, but also present the disease and educate them on how to avoid developing heart-related medical issues.”
If a patient is diagnosed with a heart condition, Dr. Duchatellier says, “My role is to continue to educate but also treat them with compassion and help them feel better, so they can enjoy their life.”
Want a healthy heart? Dr. Duchatellier recommends: Keep active, exercise, and eat a balanced diet in moderation. Do appropriate screening. See your physician regularly. Don’t ignore symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations. Be cautious.
