Outline of Curriculum

The curriculum is designed to provide a maximum exposure to develop clinical and research skills which will prepare our fellows to pursue a successful career in academic pediatric cardiology.

During the three-year fellowship, our fellows gain exposure to all pediatric cardiology subspecialties including cardiac intensive care, cardiac transplant, adult congenital heart disease, electrophysiology, exercise stress testing and advanced cardiac imaging (MRI and CT scan). Our specialty clinics offer focused care for patients with single ventricle palliation, pulmonary hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiac arrhythmia/pacemakers and adults with congenital heart disease.

Educational curriculum:

The education curriculum consists of various didactic and case review lectures. Core lectures in all pediatric cardiology subspecialties are provided by our faculty. The pediatric cardiology fellows are expected to present at the echocardiography and cardiac catheterization case lecture, journal club, morbidity and mortality meeting, pathology specimen review and the weekly multidisciplinary cardiology and cardiovascular surgery meeting.

Additionally, the education curriculum includes weekly lectures in translational research where fellows receive in depth teaching about all the steps of clinical research and learn how to use statistics software to analyze and interpret the research data.

Clinical training:

The pediatric cardiology division is fortunate to have multiple faculty with expertise in one or multiple pediatric cardiology subspecialty. Our cardiovascular surgery program is comprised of two experienced cardiovascular surgeons.

Each clinical rotation block is 4 weeks long. Each fellow is expected to complete a total of 27 clinical blocks: 6 blocks in echocardiography, 6 blocks in inpatient care, 6 blocks in cardiac catheterization, 3 blocks in cardiovascular intensive care, 1 block in cardiomyopathy/ heart transplant, 1 block in adult congenital heart disease, 2 blocks in electrophysiology, 1 block in cardiac stress testing and cardiac MRI/ CT scan and 1 clinical elective block.

Research:

Our fellows receive a total of 12 blocks of research time. By the end of fellowship, each fellow is expected to participate in at least one research project and produce a complete manuscript. Fellows receive guidance and support from faculty and the scholarly oversight committee. Two full time statisticians are available to support the faculty and fellows in performing statistical analysis. Divisional and institutional research grants are available to fund research projects and cover trip expenses to present at local or national meetings.