Dr. Songco: Caring for Hearts in His Hometown

Vincent Songco, MD, is an adult interventional cardiologist at ProMedica Physicians Cardiology - Monroe. As a child, he spent hours in his family’s medical office, and knew early on that he also wanted to pursue a career in medicine.

Dr. Songco is proud to provide exceptional cardiology care in his hometown of Monroe, Michigan. Every day he performs his best work so his patients can live their best lives.

When did you know you wanted to go into medicine?

It started early for me with my dad being a family physician and my mom running the office. I spent a good amount of time in their medical office growing up. Although I was not in the patient rooms, I could hear them speaking to staff when checking out. 

For these patients, leaving with a diagnosis, a treatment, a cure, or an answer to their questions made such a positive impact on their lives. Despite the long hours of work, I saw the fulfillment that working in medicine could bring. I had the opportunity to shadow multiple physicians in different specialties, including emergency medicine, cardiology, radiology and orthopaedic surgery. This helped solidify my goal of going to medical school and fostered my interest in a procedural-based field.

What drew you to interventional cardiology?

I was drawn to interventional cardiology early on in medical school during my anatomy and physiology courses. This was affirmed in residency when I followed a sick STEMI (a severe type of heart attack) patient to the cardiac cath lab and witnessed the immediate effect of rapid intervention to get the occluded artery open. The patient went from sick and unstable to asymptomatic and even smiling.

I also really liked the mix of outpatient and inpatient care, as well as the different testing modalities and procedures that come with this field of medicine. I am a big fan of technology, and the field of cardiology continues to experience innovation and growth in the areas of medical therapies available, diagnostic testing and equipment available for invasive electrophysiology and interventional procedures.

What part of your job motivates you most to come to work every day?

Having the opportunity to make a positive impact on someone's health keeps me excited to come to work each day. I am also excited to work with my fellow physicians on the med staff, our wonderful nurses and our hospital administration here in Monroe to help improve access to high-quality health care and increase the number of services available to our local patients.

What occupational accomplishment are you most proud of?

Helping to bring a STEMI program and interventional lab to Monroe is what I am most proud of. Before, when someone came to our emergency room (ER) having a heart attack, they would have to be transferred to Toledo or some other hospital to get treated. This wasted valuable time. Now, we can take them down the hall from the ER to our state-of-the-art cardiac cath lab and treat them immediately. Since the STEMI program started in 2016, we have saved over 460 patients having acute heart attacks. We have successfully treated over 1,100 local residents with stents for recurrent chest pain/angina, NSTEMI or STEMI right here in Monroe.

In what ways do your personal and professional lives collide?

My wife and children are used to my crazy work hours and taking calls, whether I am on vacation or not. They understand what I do, but I try hard not to let work interrupt family time as much as possible. We try to live the lifestyle that I recommend to patients with healthy eating and regular exercise. Good habits start early on and working on reducing risk of heart disease is an important lesson that I try to teach my family and my patients.

Why did you choose ProMedica as your place of work?

ProMedica Physicians Cardiology is a large, well-established group with an excellent reputation in the community. I was lucky enough to be able to join this group AND to work in my hometown of Monroe. I could not have asked for a better situation. 

ProMedica continues to support the growth and expansion of our group with hiring new partners and building out new infrastructure, including electrophysiology and cardiac catheterization labs. They are also dedicated to increasing the number of services available to our patients here in Monroe.

What makes ProMedica unique when it comes to cardiology care?

I believe the extent of outreach makes ProMedica unique. Our cardiologists cover all of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan through outpatient offices and hospital coverage. We do not accomplish this through telemedicine. In addition to Toledo, we have physicians and advanced practice providers who see patients in Adrian, Monroe, Fostoria, Fremont, Port Clinton and Bowling Green. Patients do not have to travel far to receive high-quality cardiovascular care.