Leadership Lowdown | How Can You Fail in America?

Michigan Business Network

Vic Verchereau welcomes Dr. Jihad Mustapha, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Cardiac & Vascular Centers. This is one of the more amazing stories we have ever shared on the leadership Lowdown. This is inspiring! Jihad Mustapha, MD, FACC, FSCAI, has held many academic and professional titles throughout his career, but the one he’s most proud of is the simplest: “The Leg Saver.” A board-certified interventional cardiologist, Dr. Jihad Mustapha developed the notion early in his practice that a device to unblock arteries leading to the heart might be used to perform the same thing for legs. Dr. Jihad Mustapha performed his first peripheral vascular limb-salvage treatment more than a dozen years ago, preventing the amputation of the leg of a 52-year-old woman suffering from severe peripheral artery disease, or PAD. Today, Dr. Jihad Mustapha is recognized throughout the world as a pioneer for his groundbreaking work in critical limb ischemia, or CLI, which is marked by the severe obstruction of arteries drastically reducing blood flow to the extremities. Left untreated, CLI can result in amputations. He has authored numerous papers and teaches and speaks internationally on the topic. Dr. Jihad Mustapha’s story is even more incredible considering that at just 15, he fled his war-torn homeland of Lebanon, landing alongside not a single friend or family member at JFK airport, with $80 to his name and little more than a single change of clothes. By the next day – despite knowing no English – he was hawking umbrellas and flowers on the streets of New York. He enrolled in night school to learn the language, lived with a sister to save money, and eventually moved to Michigan, where he worked at a restaurant cleaning toilets and busing tables. In time, Dr. Jihad Mustapha enrolled in college to become a physicist, but to honor the memory of a brother who died before realizing his own dream of becoming a doctor, switched gears and entered the pre-med program at Wayne State University. He later earned his medical degree from St. George University School of Medicine in Grenada. From the most humble and unlikely beginnings, this story is one of perseverance, courage and dedication to finding a pathway to extraordinary success. Dial up this edition of the Leadership Lowdown! You will be inspired! » Visit MBN website: www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/ » Subscribe to MBN’s YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNX… » Like MBN: www.facebook.com/mibiznetwork » Follow MBN: twitter.com/MIBizNetwork/ » MBN Instagram: www.instagram.com/mibiznetwork/