Remembering Ursula Guidry, M.D.

Ursula Guidry, a college classmate, died recently. I remember her fondly, although I lost track of her long ago. She was a cardiologist in the Bay Area. She featured in a recent roundup of The East Bay's Top Doctors. It's a poignant piece to read now, but there's inspiration to be found there as well.

Ursula Guidry, M.D.
Cardiologist

Ursula Guidry has a stunning pedigree that would allow her to be any kind of a doctor she wanted. A native of Texas, Guidry studied at Harvard University as an undergraduate before heading to the University of California, San Francisco for medical school before returning to Cambridge for her residency and fellowship in cardiology at the Harvard hospitals.

But she nixed the idea of cardiac surgery for one important reason.

“I knew back then that it was important for me to be able to talk to patients—when they are awake!”

Since 1999, when she returned to the Bay Area, Guidry has been a staff cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente focusing on preventive medicine, especially for patients who have already suffered a heart attack.

While Guidry, the mother of two small children, has long been known as a warm and fuzzy physician, her patients’ fear and pain have resonated deeply since she was treated for breast cancer.

“I feel like I am more in tune,” Guidry says. “Now before I walk into a patient’s room, I take a deep breath, center myself and listen from my gut. The exam room is a sacred place, and patients are so vulnerable. I just want to make sure I honor that.”