Matters of the heart: How one MCSHS alum found purpose in echocardiography and beyond

February 28, 2025

Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences alumni Karen Helfinstine (RAD ’03, ECHO ’05) was first introduced to the world of medicine after her youngest daughter was diagnosed with cancer at the age of five months. During this time, Helfinstine saw many opportunities to help other people, and she was inspired to do the same.

“So many people were part of (my daughter’s), and my, healing journey that I wanted to do that for others. I wanted to be a vehicle that provided hope and healing to others,” Helfinstine says.

Initially, Helfinstine said she was drawn to the nursing field because she was interested in helping children with cancer. However, after taking some classes at her local community college, she fell in love with the heart during an anatomy and physiology class. This opened the path to a career in echocardiography.

This interest in echocardiography was also inspired by her time greeting patients at the front desk at Mayo Clinic Hospital—Rochester, Methodist Campus. While working at Mayo Clinic, Helfinstine learned more about pre-requisite classes related to the field and had the opportunity to observe studies in an echocardiography lab.

“When I saw what the sonographers did there every day and the independence they had while they were doing their studies in trying to track down what were the best images to provide for a cardiologist to make the most accurate diagnosis, I knew that it was the career for me,” Helfinstine says.

Since then, Helfinstine’s career has taken many different paths. After completing her Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences echocardiography program and working at Mayo Clinic, Helfinstine went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in healthcare leadership from St. Francis University and a Master of Arts in education with a focus in higher education and postsecondary learning from Argosy University. As she earned her degrees, Helfinstine also worked with students in an ultrasound program, eventually becoming the program chair of that school.

After spending five years in education, Helfinstine moved to the University of Minnesota, Fairview to be the cardiovascular imaging manager at its East Bank campus. It was here that she helped the program as it was building an all-inclusive imaging curriculum with colleagues in radiology. It offered many tests including ECGs, stress tests, echo tests, nuclear medicine works, CTs of the heart, MRIs of the heart and was just starting a cardiac PET program.

“I learned so much while managing the department and found that I loved the high stress of the hospital setting,” Helfinstine says. “It was also during this time that Fairview was putting in an EPIC system and I was able to use my background in education to help with educating our sonographers and others in EPIC.”

In 2014, Helfinstine returned to Mayo Clinic as the operations manager for its echocardiography lab, which she calls a huge high point for her career, as she led a program renowned for its work in echocardiography. After several years in management, she moved into an administration role, working with the Mayo Clinic Care Network and then on to the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

“This experience gave me a ton of exposure to data and analytics as well as qualitative sciences,” Helfinstine says. “I had the privilege of working with this incredibly talented group of scientists before, during and after the pandemic.”

In 2022, Helfinstine became the vice chair of education administration at Mayo Clinic, where she says she has had an opportunity to combine all that she’s learned in administration and management with her love for education. She also has a joint appointment as an assistant professor of healthcare administration and medical education.

When asked about the most valuable lessons she has learned at Mayo Clinic, Helfinstine points to the Mayo Clinic values, specifically the values of excellence and teamwork. From her time as a student to her current status as an employee, Helfinstine has witnessed people doing their best every day for others, reminding her of her favorite Harriet Braiker quote: “Striving for perfection is demoralizing. Striving for excellence is motivating.”

“As a team, we are so much stronger. Physicians, sonographers, nurses, front desk and environmental services — we all worked together to create the very best experience for our patients and to provide the safest and best diagnostic testing that we could do,” Helfinstine says. “As a sonographer, I was part of the team. My contributions were valuable to that team, and I saw that appreciation from the team members I worked with.”

When asked what advice she would give current Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences students, Helfinstine says to never stop learning and to always be willing to try something new, even when those new responsibilities don’t sound glamorous.

“Nothing was ever wasted. Everything I experienced has helped me at some point in my journey and my career,” Helfinstine says. “Don’t think you will someday ‘know it all;’ you never will. Intellectual humility and a passion to learn and grow in your work will get you far in your career.”