By Liz Torrey 

By the time he turned 30, Brad Bakken had pursued more careers than most of us do in a single lifetime: he’d raced dirt bikes professionally, greeted children and parents as a receptionist in a daycare center, and operated heavy machinery on construction sites.  

As he entered a new decade, Brad decided it was time for something new (again).  

He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do for a career – but then his heart pulled him in a very specific direction. 

“I actually didn’t do any [post-secondary] school until I was 28, because I had been racing dirt bikes professionally up until that point,” Brad explained. “My overall plan was to go into physical therapy – I liked working with people, and I love exercise in general, so why not do it as part of my job?”

(Taylor MacKillop, Enterprise Marketing and Communications) 

As Brad began to take classes in the Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science program at Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Humanities and Sciences, he noticed alarming spikes in his heart rate – and not because he was dealing with newfound academic stress. His heart rate would go up dramatically for no apparent reason, even when he was at rest, and occasionally Brad felt lightheaded.

“I’d be doing a very basic run and then my heart rate would spike up to 200, and it had never done that before. In fact, I usually have a super-low heart rate for the activity I’m doing,” he said.

Nevertheless, Bakken shrugged off the odd readings on his smartwatch. “I thought it was weird,” he added, “but I was like, ‘It’s probably fine.’” 

But then, during a routine checkup, his primary care physician heard something odd in the stethoscope. Suspecting a murmur, he referred Brad to a local cardiologist. 

“We were just at an appointment to go over my [test] results, and [the cardiologist] went out into the hallway and called Dr. Kenneth Ellenbogen,” Bakken recalled. “And Dr. Ellenbogen said, ‘Get him to come see me right now.’ I literally went from the cardiologist’s office, down to VCU Health to see Dr. Ellenbogen that same day.” 

This chance meeting with Ellenbogen – the director of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing at VCU Health Pauley Heart Center – was the start of Brad’s journey to heal his heart. But it was also where Brad began to discover his calling: a calling to provide clinical care – and uncommon compassion – to heart patients just like himself. 

A diagnosis leads to a new passion

Brad was soon diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib), a common type of irregular heartbeat that affects nearly 6 million people in the United States. This condition can make people feel like their heart is racing or “flip-flopping.” Other symptoms include dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath. Although AFib itself is not typically life-threatening, it can give rise to other serious health problems, particularly stroke. 

Most people who are diagnosed with AFib are over the age of 65. However, Ellenbogen notes that in recent years, his team has increasingly diagnosed the condition in much younger patients, like Brad. Ellenbogen says researchers are not entirely sure why this is happening.  

“Some of the reasons have to do with lifestyle: caffeine, alcohol, lack of exercise, obesity, sleep apnea, those sorts of things,” he explained. “Some of it has to do with the fact that so many people are into monitoring their health with their smartwatches, which give you the ability to monitor your own heart rhythm. We may have picked up a lot of these young patients five or ten years earlier because they had these smart devices.” 

Kenneth Ellenbogen, M.D., has been treating patients with AFib for decades at VCU Health Pauley Heart Center. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Brad recalls feeling somewhat overwhelmed by both the swiftness and nature of his diagnosis.

“I was running marathons at that time, so it was a huge shock to not know if I would be able to exercise at that level ever again,” Bakken said. “Athletics was quite literally my job for several years – to not be able to exercise was very scary. But I also knew that Dr. Ellenbogen kind of invented ablation, so I felt like, 100%, let’s do this.”

Ellenbogen did not, in fact, invent catheter ablation, that credit goes to Melvin Scheinman, M.D. But Ellenbogen and his team did help to pioneer the treatment at VCU Health more than 25 years ago. The procedure – now the standard for AFib – uses a cardiac catheter to create scar tissue that blocks the faulty electrical signaling that causes AFib.

Bakken’s first ablation didn’t entirely remedy his symptoms, so he underwent a second at VCU Health in January 2022. As he was navigating his own care, his wife, Desiree, also found out she had a congenital heart defect that required valve surgery.

As their visits to the academic medical campus piled up, Brad felt more and more that life was pulling him in a new direction: to be a part of the cardiovascular care team at VCU Health. 

“I had exercise stress testing after my second ablation,” he recalled, “and I said, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ That, plus the care I received from the team at VCU Health, really gave me a perspective on what I could do with the education I was getting at VCU.”

I don’t just come to work because it’s what I went to school for – I work for something, and someplace, that has actually affected my life. It means a lot.

Brad Bakken, clinical exercise physiologist at VCU Health Pauley Heart Center

Instead of physical therapy, he began to consider a career as a clinical exercise physiologist (CEP). Clinical exercise physiologists are healthcare professionals who assess how a patient responds and adapts to exercise and develop exercise-based treatment and rehabilitation plans for patients. It was the Pauley Heart Center’s CEP team that carried out Brad’s exercise testing to evaluate the overall health of his heart and how its functioning was being affected by AFib.

“What’s funny is that right before I got the second ablation, they gave me a cardiac MRI to see exactly what my heart looked like,” Brad said, “and that’s the exact same unit I work in now.” 

Finding purpose through a career in health care 

Brad now works as a clinical exercise physiologist at the Pauley Heart Center, where he guides his patients through diagnostic exercise tests that measure their heart rate and rhythm, oxygen levels, and blood flow. Patients walk or run on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike to evaluate everything from unexplained shortness of breath to the need for a heart transplant.   

No matter where a person is in their health care journey, no matter what they’re bringing with them into the exam room – Brad tries to meet each of his patients with uncommon compassion.  

“Having gone through VCU Health as a patient, I try my best to have empathy for my patients, right where they’re at because I was there, too,” Brad explained. “If I didn’t have great people around me when I was going through my AFib treatment, it would have been a lot harder.” 

His caring approach to patient care has not gone unnoticed. Colleagues see it every day. 

“Many of our patients have had complicated surgeries and they often need to undergo cardiopulmonary stress testing as this helps us better understand the efficacy of their heart,” said Sangeeta Shah, M.D., FACC, director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease program at the Pauley Heart Center. “Brad always reassures our patients as they perform their tests, and patients always comment on his kindness and thoroughness.” 

Brad Bakken now works as a clinical exercise physiologist at VCU Health Pauley Heart Center. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Brad sometimes describes his own AFib experience for his patients who have the same condition. 

“As a patient, you have so many questions and concerns and you don’t really understand everything – it can be so technical,” he said. “I see a lot of patients who have AFib, and sometimes I’ll share that I went through the exact same thing they’re going through. I think that means a lot them, and they can see I’m doing fine.” 

More than fine – since his second ablation, Brad says he feels better than he ever has. Today, he’s back to his endurance-athlete lifestyle, completing running races spanning 50 to 100 miles, and 100-mile bike rides. His devotion to exercise is often not shared by his patients, but that doesn’t hinder his compassion for them. 

“I can’t assume that everyone is thinking the way I’m thinking,” Brad said. “A lot of patients are scared to even get on a treadmill. They haven’t exercised since P.E. in school growing up, or they’re here to get a heart transplant and my job is to not only run the test but keep them physically safe during it. They’re in health situations way worse than what I was in. So, you meet patients where they are and just be as compassionate and present with them as you can be.

“It just gives my work and my life a purpose,” he continued. “I don’t just come to work because it’s what I went to school for – I work for something, and someplace, that has actually affected my life. It means a lot.”