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Dr. Foster will work primarily in the UNC Electrophysiology Laboratory


The Center for Heart and Vascular Care is pleased to welcome James R. Foster, MD, FACC, who joined the Division of Cardiology in October.

Dr. Foster comes to UNC from a private practice in Raleigh, Wake Heart and Vascular, where he treated patients since 1990. However, Dr. Foster is actually returning home to UNC. His first academic appointment was at UNC as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Cardiology Division, becoming a Professor of Medicine before he left UNC in 1990.

Dr. Foster will primarily work in the Electrophysiology Lab two days a week and will see patients needing pacemaker, defibrillator, or biventricular defibrillator implantation, or right-sided ablations for conditions such as atrial flutter, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW).

“Electrophysiology has changed so much in the thirty-plus years that I’ve been practicing medicine,” says Dr. Foster. “Ablation, defibrillation, and CRT (cardiac resynchronization therapy) are treatments that we didn’t even dream of. Now, we can definitely treat people, and even cure people, especially using ablation. It is amazing.”

During his 15 years at UNC, Dr. Foster served as the director for Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, ECG Lab, Clinical Cardiac EP Lab, Cardiac Arrhythmia Clinic, and the Cardiology Inpatient Ward.

Dr. Foster says, “Medicine is interesting, challenging, and fulfilling, but I really want to give back some of what I’ve learned over the years.”

“By returning to UNC,” he says, “I hope to leave something behind that will help patients and teach our future physicians as they train.”

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Foster graduated from Cornell University Medical College in New York. His postgraduate training was completed at Harvard Medical School in Boston with an internship and residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (currently Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and a fellowship in cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Foster has served as a manuscript reviewer for Circulation, American Journal of Cardiology, Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He has published more than 60 abstracts, articles, and book chapters throughout his distinguished career.

In addition to his previous professional involvement on various committees within the UNC School of Medicine, Dr. Foster has been active in the community as an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, Boy Scouts of America, Landmark Education, and the Durham Choral Society.

Dr. Foster lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Elaine, and has three grown children and six grandchildren. His “pre-retirement” plans while at UNC include spending time with his grandchildren, traveling, hiking, and sailing.

Welcome to the Center for Heart and Vascular Care!