Redefining Women’s Heart Health: How Two Doctors are Changing the Beat of Care
When women take the lead in healthcare, transformation follows. In this powerful and heartfelt conversation, Prof. Dr. Christine Meyer-Zürn and Dr. Eliza Kaplan share how they turned awareness into action, building a women’s heart clinic from the ground up in Basel, Switzerland. Together, they’re redefining what care looks like for women, rooted in time, empathy, and science.
Key Takeaways
💗Awareness isn’t enough, action changes outcomes.
🩺 Women’s symptoms and risk factors deserve to be understood on their own terms.
🤝 Collaboration and co-leadership amplify impact — success is stronger when shared.
🕰️ Taking time to listen saves time (and lives) in the long run.
🌍 Medicine changes when empathy meets evidence.
Expanded Blog Post
In Basel, Switzerland, two cardiologists are proving that changing healthcare doesn’t always start in a lab or a boardroom; it starts with empathy, persistence, and shared vision. Prof. Dr. Christine Meyer-Zürnand and Dr. Eliza Kaplan co-founded a women’s heart clinic to address a reality too long ignored: women’s heart health is different, and yet medicine often treats it as the same.
Their story began with a shared observation. Women were showing up in emergency rooms again and again with symptoms that didn’t fit the textbook model, nonspecific, persistent, and often dismissed. Many arrived too late, already bearing the scars of misdiagnosis. Rather than waiting for change, they built it.
‘We realized it was time not just to talk about gender differences anymore, but to take action,’ Christine shared. With the support of their department, they created a space where listening, time, and trust are part of the treatment plan.
The result? A clinic that doesn’t just treat the heart, it honors the whole person. From menopause-related risk factors to the emotional impact of stress and autoimmune disease, their approach reflects the complexity of women’s lives.
As Eliza put it, ‘Our emotions, our brain, and our heart are deeply connected.’ It’s not just science, it’s humanity in practice.
Their partnership itself is a model of what leadership can look like when built on respect, openness, and shared purpose. ‘We never count who does more,’ Christine said. ‘We just look for what’s needed, and we help each other.’ It’s leadership as collaboration, not competition, a model that offers lessons far beyond medicine.
Together, Christine and Eliza are rewriting the story of women’s heart health. They’re also inspiring others, especially women in medicine, to build together, to speak up, and to lead with heart.
Timestamps & Segment Titles
- [00:00] Opening Reflection: Why women’s heart health needs a new approach.
- [03:45] Awareness to Action: The moment Christine and Eliza decided to build something new.
- [09:20] Listening as Treatment: Why empathy and time matter in cardiology.
- [15:05] Partnership in Practice: Co-leadership built on respect, not hierarchy.
- [22:40] Beyond the Clinic: Educating the next generation and shifting culture.
- [28:00] Closing Thoughts: Leading with heart in every sense.
Watch or Listen:
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