Evaluation and Documentation of Competence
At the end of each rotation, the supervising physician for that particular rotation performs formal evaluation of fellows. Quarterly staff meetings are held to evaluate the progress of fellows, especially focusing on whether core-curriculum requirements are being met for each fellow. Rotations and time/work distribution sometimes need to be adjusted to fulfill adherence with these requirements. Fellows are evaluated for their intellectual abilities, manual skills, attitudes, critical analysis for clinical situations, patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism and humanistic patient care, systems-based learning and improvement, and overall clinical skills. There is appropriate feedback of this information to the trainee at regular intervals. The fellows meet with the chief of cardiology and/or program director at frequent intervals (no less than every 6six months) in order to discuss specific issues, in particular whether the goals and objectives of training are being met.
During these meetings, areas of specialized interest are identified for each fellow. Compliance with adherence to level 1 for COCATS-2 recommendations for all areas and level 2 and 3 for fields of interest for each fellow is monitored and steps to rectify any deficiencies, if needed, are discussed with the fellow and the faculty. Fellows also periodically evaluate the faculty in an anonymous fashion and the information is provided to the staff members. Measures to correct any deficiencies are discussed at the quarterly faculty meetings for assessment of the training program.
Review of Program Performance
The Cardiology Fellowship Training Program strives to provide an enriched environment conducive to learning, emphasize the translation of ever-increasing fund of medical literature to guide evidence-based clinical patient care and the underpinnings of practice guidelines provided by national medical societies, as well as COCATS-2 recommendations. The chief of cardiology, program director and members of the full time faculty meet regularly (no less than once, every four to six months) to review the progress of individual fellows and evaluate the program as a whole to determine how successfully the goals of the program and elements of the delineated curriculum are met. The institution’s General Medical Education Committee also oversees fulfillment of training requirements and meets on a monthly basis. A formal internal review of the program is conducted periodically.