Dr Joao Martins,
MD MRCP PhD

Approach to care

A cardiology consultation should leave you with a clear understanding of what is happening and what should happen next. Dr Martins works from your account of the symptoms and your wider medical history, then uses examination and investigation to answer specific questions rather than to gather results for their own sake.

Findings are explained in plain language, including what is known, what remains uncertain and what each option would involve. Where no treatment is needed, that is said clearly. Where a procedure may help, the benefits, limits and alternatives are discussed before any decision is made.

Clinical expertise

Dr Martins practises across general cardiology, coronary artery disease and structural heart disease. This includes the assessment of chest pain, palpitations, breathlessness, high blood pressure and cholesterol disorders; the investigation and treatment of coronary artery disease, including coronary angiography and stenting; and the specialist assessment of heart valve conditions such as aortic stenosis and mitral and tricuspid regurgitation.

Minimally invasive structural procedures form a particular area of interest, including transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure. Whether any of these is appropriate depends entirely on individual assessment and, in most cases, a discussion within a specialist heart team.

NHS and private practice

Alongside private consultations, Dr Martins holds a consultant post at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. NHS practice keeps specialist expertise current and connected to a multidisciplinary team; private practice offers a longer consultation and shorter waiting times for assessment.

Training and background

Dr Martins’ training spans medical school, doctoral research and specialist fellowships in the UK and the United States.

• Medical degree: Honours medical degree, University of Porto
• Doctoral and post-doctoral research: Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Postgraduate training: Foundation, Core Medical and High Specialty Training in Cardiology and Internal Medicine, London Deanery. Member of the Royal College of Physicians
• Interventional and structural cardiology fellowships: King’s College Hospital, St George’s Hospital and Oxford University Hospitals

Professional affiliations

• General Medical Council
• British Cardiovascular Intervention Society
• British Society of Echocardiography

Registration and regulation

Dr Martins is registered with the General Medical Council under number 7300219, with a licence to practise. The GMC register is public and can be checked by anyone at any time.

Check the GMC register ↗

Research

Research and clinical practice inform one another. A publications index, with citations, identifiers and short explanations of what each piece of work means for patients, is being prepared.

Research and publications ↗