Rachel A. Garcia, MD, is a board-certified physician with The Christ Hospital Physicians – Heart & Vascular who specializes in heart failure and treatment of heart transplant patients. She has special interests in cardiac sarcoidosis, peripartum cardiomyopathy, and small-device therapies for managing heart failure symptoms. She sees patients at the Mt. Auburn, Green Township, Liberty Township, and Montgomery locations.
While her “why” has evolved over the years, Dr. Garcia knew she wanted to be a physician from the age of five. She was inspired by various mentors and patients during that pursuit to ultimately pursue specializing in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology.
Dr. Garcia says her patients continue to be her strongest inspiration and she puts them at the center of her philosophy for providing care. “I believe in reaching a patient where they are and finding common ground through listening, providing education, and developing trust to get them to where they can be the best version of themselves,” she says. She urges her patients to recognize their own value and to invest the time and energy it takes for them to accomplish their health goals.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Wesleyan College and her Doctor of Medicine from Ross University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, and a fellowship in advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease and Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology and is a member of the American College of Cardiology, the Heart Failure Society of America, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation, and the European Society of Cardiology.
In her free time, Dr. Garcia places great value in spending time with her spouse and children, who she credits with keeping her grounded in life outside of the hospital. She enjoys hiking and playing sports with her kids including soccer, football, and basketball. She is also a foodie enjoying new cuisines but especially enjoys Austrian food and sushi.