Book Appointment
  • Curriculum
  • Curriculum

Curriculum

The three-year training program includes a clinical core of 24 months with the following minimums:

  1. Nine months in non-laboratory clinical practice activities (cardiac consultations, coronary care unit, inpatient cardiac care, interim coronary care unit, cardiovascular surgery, congenital heart disease, vascular medicine, heart failure, preventive cardiology)
  2. Four months in cardiac catheterization laboratory
  3. Six months in non-invasive imaging (echocardiography and Doppler [minimum three months], noninvasive and peripheral vascular studies, nuclear cardiology [minimum two months, with active fellow participation in daily reading sessions for a minimum of 80 hours] and cardiac MRI)
  4. Two months in electrocardiography, stress testing and ambulatory ECG monitoring
  5. Two months in arrhythmia management, anti-arrhythmia device implantation and management, and cardiac electrophysiology
  6. Continuity care ambulatory experience for at least a half a day per week throughout the three-year training program

These time periods are considered to be the minimal time required. The remaining year in the training includes six months of research and an additional six months for acquisition of more intensive training in specific areas of individual interest/needs. This latter period permits the trainees to obtain greater experience and supervised training in the clinical management of patients with cardiovascular disease and to obtain additional training in the performance and application of particular diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Appropriate vacation time as well as time for participation in professional meetings and conferences is allotted.

Formal Instruction

There are various conferences over the course of the year given by St. Elizabeth’s staff and visiting professors. Attendance is mandatory and every effort is made to relieve the fellows from clinical responsibilities at the time of these lectures. Yearly schedule is created with active participation of fellows and faculty. The schedule is distributed in advance and is updated every month. These talks are designed to provide didactic teaching encompassing the following:

1. Basic science, including:

  • Cardiovascular anatomy
  • Cardiovascular physiology
  • Cardiovascular metabolism
  • Molecular biology of the cardiovascular system
  • Cardiovascular pharmacology, including drug metabolism, adverse effects, indications, the effects on aging, relative costs of therapy, and effects of non-cardiovascular drugs upon cardiovascular function
  • Cardiovascular pathology

2. Prevention of cardiovascular disease, including:

  • Epidemiology and biostatistics
  • Risk factors
  • Lipid disorders

3. Evaluation and management of patients with:

  • Coronary artery disease and its manifestations and complications
  • Arrhythmias
  • Hypertension
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Valvular heart disease
  • Pericardial disease
  • Pulmonary heart disease, including pulmonary embolism
  • Peripheral vascular disease
  • Cerebrovascular disease
  • Heart disease in pregnancy
  • Adult congenital heart disease
  • Cardiovascular trauma

4. Management of:

  • Acute and chronic congestive heart failure
  • Acute myocardial infarction and other acute ischemic syndromes
  • Acute and chronic arrhythmias
  • Preoperative and postoperative patients
  • Cardiac transplant patients
  • Geriatric patients with cardiovascular disease

5. Conference Schedule:

  • Monday: 7:30-8:30 a.m., Morbidity and Mortality Second Monday of every month
  • Tuesday: 7:30-8:30 a.m., Controversies In Management
  • Wednesday: 12-1 p.m., Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
  • Wednesday: 8-9 a.m., Medical Grand Rounds
  • Thursday: 7:30-8:30 a.m., Cardiac Catheterization Conference
  • Thursday: 12-1 p.m., Journal Club, Cardiac Didactic Teaching- Board Review
  • Friday: 7- 8 a.m., Peripheral Vascular Disease Conference
  • Friday: 12-1 p.m., Echocardiography/Non-Invasive Conference

Objectives and Duration

Objectives of Training:

  • To provide an intellectual environment for acquiring knowledge, skills, clinical judgment, attitudes and values that are essential to cardiovascular medicine.
  • Provision of the best possible care for each individual patient delivered in a compassionate manner.
  • Development and maintenance of humanistic and ethical attributes among all physicians undergoing training in cardiology
  • Active effort by faculty members to encourage trainees to cultivate an attitude of scholarship and dedication to continuing education that will remain with them throughout their professional careers.
  • Active participation in and completion of one or more research projects supervised by faculty actively engaged in research. This, as well as participation in journal clubs, literature reviews and presentation in cardiology conferences is expected to inculcate a habit of critical thinking to achieve greater insight into analysis of published literature.

Duration of Training:

The rotations of the fellows in training are determined by the curriculum, not by the needs of the facility or the faculty. After successful completion of training in cardiovascular diseases, fellows are expected to serve as high-level expert consultants and procedural specialists. The core components of the training program reflect that expectation.