A lifelong Illinoisan, Joe says that even as a child, he knew he wanted to be a cardiologist. "As a child, I was fascinated by the heart. It's a fascination I carried into adult life," he says.

Joe received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1977. He then completed his internship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and internal medicine residency at the Naval Regional Medical Center in San Diego, a cardiology fellowship at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, and a cardiac electrophysiology fellowship at Northwestern University.

Dr. Sarmiento joined OSF Cardiovascular Institute in 1986 and is a clinical assistant professor at the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine at Peoria. He is also a member of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society.

In his free time, Joe enjoys playing golf, even though he admits he is very bad at it.