Dr. Michael Ross Macdonald
MB ChB, BSc (Hons), MRCP (UK), MD (Research), FESC (Europe)
Specialty:
Cardiology
Subspecialty:
Heart Failure and Cardiac Imaging.
Clinical interests
Dr. Macdonald is a senior consultant cardiologist with a special interest in heart failure and cardiac imaging, including cardiac MRI and CT.
Education and training
Dr MacDonald studied medicine at Aberdeen University, Scotland and graduated in 2000 with MBChB. During his time in Aberdeen he also undertook a Bachelor of Science degree in cardiovascular research, graduating BSc (Hons) in 1998. He was awarded his research doctorate (MD) from the University of Aberdeen in 2011. He has been a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) UK since 2004.
Dr MacDonald undertook his general cardiology training at teaching hospitals in Glasgow. He undertook a 3-year fellowship at the Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant unit and was mentored by two of the founding fathers of modern heart failure therapies, Professor Henry Dargie and Professor John McMurray. During his time at the national centre he learned about the intricacies of managing complex heart failure cases, including those requiring device and cardiac transplantation. Furthermore, as part of his training he spent a significant amount of time managing inherited cardiac conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy alongside a clinical geneticist. He developed a subspecialty interest in cardiac imaging and undertook a fellowship in cardiovascular MRI at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and in 2013 gained the top level of accreditation. He was also accredited in cardiac CT and echocardiography.
He received his UK certificate of completion of training (CCT) in 2013 and practiced as a Consultant Cardiologist at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, UK where he further developed his interest in heart failure and inherited cardiac conditions. He was recruited by Changi General Hospital as a consultant in 2015 and was integral in the development of their heart failure and cardiac imaging services. The heart failure program in Changi Hospital was the only heart failure program to be awarded the coveted JCI accreditation.
With his extensive training and contributions to teaching and research in cardiology and heart failure he was invited to become Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) in 2010.
Research and teaching
Dr. Macdonald has a strong track record in basic, epidemiological and clinical research. His first research degree as an undergraduate examined the relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular disease and this was the catalyst for him entering into cardiology. Whilst undertaking his fellowship at the Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure unit, he designed and obtained funding for the world’s first randomized trial examining the use of ablation in patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. He presented this work as a late breaking clinical trial at the ESC Heart Failure congress in 2010. His primary research interest is in the relationship between diabetes and heart failure, the subject of his research doctorate awarded in 2011. He is internationally recognized for his work in this area and has presented his work nationally and internationally. In recognition of his expertise in diabetes and heart failure he was an invited panelist to the ESC Workshop on diabetic cardiomyopathy and was a keynote speaker at the Japanese Circulation Society. Dr MacDonald has published extensively in top journals, and has been widely cited. He is a reviewer for many high-impact journals including the Lancet and the European Heart Journal. In addition, Dr MacDonald regularly sits on committees for many international large scale randomized controlled trials.
Dr MacDonald was appointed Adjuvant Associate Professor by Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in 2019, and regularly teaches medical undergraduates.