Benjamin Cruz Rodriguez, MD

Benjamin Cruz Rodriguez, MD, is a board-certified cardiologist who specializes in treating patients with advanced heart failure, including those requiring mechanical circulatory support or heart transplantation.

As an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Cruz has experience in clinical research focused on right ventricular failure and valvulopathies (diseases of the cardiac valves) management after left ventricular assist device (LVADs), racial disparities in advanced heart failure therapies, cost-effectiveness analysis and cardiovascular effects of COVID-19. Moreover, Dr. Cruz is involved in clinical research in myocarditis, as well as conduction abnormalities after heart transplantation.

In addition to his clinical practice at UC San Diego Health, he practices at affiliated clinics and hospitals at El Centro and Brawley with an aim to increase the access to underserved communities to specialized cardiovascular care and advanced heart failure therapies.

Dr. Cruz completed his fellowship in advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support, and transplant cardiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. He did his fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas, where he served as chief fellow. He also completed a fellowship in advanced heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, mechanical circulatory support, and transplant cardiology at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Cruz completed his internal medicine residency at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he also served as chief resident. He earned his medical degree from University San Carlos de Guatemala and he also holds a master's degree in public health with focus on epidemiology from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

Dr. Cruz is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. He is a member of the American College of Cardiology, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation and the Heart Failure Society of America.

In addition to English, Dr. Cruz is fluent in Spanish.

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For more information, see Heart Care.