Women’s and Children’s Health Update: Heart Disease in Women – More common than you think

Dr Monique Watts is a heart failure cardiologist and specialist in women’s heart disease who works at the Epworth and the Alfred Hospitals. Dr Watts completed advanced training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital before undertaking a fellowship in advanced heart failure and transplantation at the Alfred Hospital. Dr Watts manages patients with all types of heart failure in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. In recent years Dr Watts has also established a cardiac clinic in North Central Victoria to improve access to specialist care for rural citizens. Dr Watts has also lead the development of the Women’s Heart Clinic at the Alfred Hospital which offers specialised care for patients suffering conditions more commonly seen in women such as the syndrome of MINOCA and contributory causes such as coronary artery vasospasm, spontaneous coronary artery dissection and microvascular dysfunction. Dr Watts is actively involved in clinical research, with multiple current projects in progress in the area of women’s heart disease. She also teaches for the University of Melbourne Clinical School.