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Cardiology
Fellowship
The pediatric cardiology fellowship training program began at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital in 1971. The Children's Hospital is a freestanding children's hospital with full affiliation with the University of Colorado Denver for training pediatric residents and fellows. In addition to The Children's Hospital, our fellows spend time at the University of Colorado Hospital and Denver Health Medical Center, the county hospital for Denver. The clinical service draws patients not only from the state of Colorado, but from Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah and New Mexico. We service a population base of approximately five million. The fellowship is fully accredited by the American Medical Association, the American Board of Pediatrics and the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education. Over 90% of the fellows who have completed the program are board certified and are practicing pediatric cardiology. The current philosophy of the fellowship program is to have two to three new fellows each year.
Note: fellowship application information is provided at the end of this document.
Format of the Fellowship
The first year of the fellowship consists of a very active clinical fellowship with rotations in cardiac catheterization laboratory, echocardiography, inpatient service and one rotation in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.
|
Month |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
| 1 |
Echo |
Inpatient |
CICU |
| 2 |
Echo |
Echo |
Cath |
| 3 |
Echo |
Cath |
Exercise
Physiology |
| 4 |
Cath |
Research |
Inpatient |
| 5 |
Cath |
Research |
Echo |
| 6 |
Inpatient |
Research |
MRI/ Adult Congenital |
| 7 |
EP/EKG |
Research |
Research |
| 8 |
Inpatient |
Research |
Research |
| 9 |
ET/EP |
Research |
Research |
| 10 |
CICU |
Research |
Research |
| 11 |
CICU |
Research |
Research |
| 12 |
Research |
CICU |
Elective |
Fellows have a very active role in the inpatient/outpatient services at The Children's Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and Denver Health Medical Center. When possible, fellows accompany the staff to the outlying pediatric cardiology outreach clinics. Second- and third-year fellows spend more than half of their time on research, with continuing clinical involvement for the rest of their time.
Three years of pediatric cardiology fellowship are required for board certification. After the first year's experience, the program is flexible, depending on the goals of the individual trainee. The fellowship is designed to give fellows at least 15 months of research training and the research training can be expanded up to 19 months if appropriate.
Patient Volume
Cardiology outpatient clinics are held daily at The Children's Hospital, with half-day metropolitan Denver clinics held weekly in Aurora, Broomfield, Littleton and Parker. In addition, there are approximately 62 out of town pediatric cardiology clinics per year which the fellows will attend on a selected but consistent basis. There are approximately 7,700 outpatient clinic visits per year at The Children's Hospital and approximately 2,400 outpatient visits per year in the pediatric cardiology outreach program.
There are approximately 650 pediatric cardiac catheterizations performed per calendar year at The Children's Hospital. The fellows can participate in all cardiac catheterizations.
The cardiac thoracic surgery service performs approximately 500 open and closed heart procedures each year at The Children's Hospital. An additional 75 procedures are performed by the Cardiothoracic service in the Denver area. In addition, The Children's Hospital is a regional cardiac transplantation center for children, including newborns. 9,800 echocardiograms were performed at The Children's Hospital in 2004.
Skills and Physical Diagnosis
Catheterization techniques, interpretation of electrocardiograms, M-Mode and two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiograms are emphasized in the first year. There is also an opportunity to participate in the pediatric ergometry testing and electrophysiology.
Fellowship Conference
Fellows in pediatric cardiology meet twice weekly to discuss a selected topic. These sessions are held on Mondays and Fridays. The topics covered range from cardiac physiology and anatomy to surgical management of congenital cardiac lesions. In addition to the 21 full-time faculty members in pediatric cardiology, outside speakers will be invited to these conferences. Each conference is prepared by a fellow or faculty member on a rotating basis. Formal didactic lectures are weighted toward the beginning of the fellowship and are coordinated with the lecture series for adult cardiology fellows.
Case Conference
A weekly pediatric cardiology/cardiothoracic problem case conference held at The Children's Hospital. Interesting pediatric cardiology cases will be presented and discussed. Scheduled surgery cases for the week are presented and surgical inpatients are reviewed. The cases are presented by the cardiovascular surgery resident with active input from both cardiac surgery and pediatric cardiology. Presentation of cardiology (medical) cases is performed by the fellow.
Presentation of pertinent electrocardiograms, chest x-rays, echocardiograms and catheterization data is the responsibility of the fellow.
Journal Club
Once a month a Journal Club is held. Journals will be assigned prior to the meeting and the pertinent articles will be discussed briefly. This is an excellent opportunity for the fellows to meet with the staff on an informal basis to discuss timely issues.
Research
During the first year, an original prospective research project will be developed with the assistance of the staff. This will be coordinated with the Program Director. Fellows are expected to contribute to the science of pediatric cardiology on an ongoing basis.
Research Support
The Exercise Physiology Laboratory and the Echocardiographic Laboratory at The Children's Hospital are both very well suited for clinical research. In addition, The Children's Hospital Research Institute may provide "seed money" for new clinical and laboratory research projects which can be performed at either The Children's Hospital or at the University of Colorado Denver.
Financial support and Human Research Committee assistance requires three to six months for preparation and approval. Approved and funded projects could begin early in the second year of fellowship. Participation in on-going projects may begin during the first year. Separate funding can be arranged for a full year's basic research experience with the CVP lab.
National Meetings
One national meeting a year will be sponsored by the program. Fellows are encouraged to submit at least one abstract a year. An additional seminar type meeting a year is also sponsored, provided that an abstract for the scientific meeting is accepted for presentation.
Vacation
Three weeks' vacation in blocks of one to two weeks are allowed. Vacation time off must be approved by the Program Director.
Night and Weekend Call Coverage
Depending on the number of fellows in the program, the night and weekend call coverage is every fifth to sixth night covering Denver Health Medical Center, The Children's Hospital and University of Colorado Hospital. The fellows are expected to arrange the call schedule for the month themselves and to submit it for publication by the 25th of the preceding month.
Meeting with the Program Director
The fellows will meet with the Program Director on a regular basis to discuss ongoing plans for the fellowship program.
Inpatient Service
One-month rotations. Responsibilities include continuity care of all inpatient cardiology and cardiac surgery patients and all inpatient consultations at The Children's Hospital. Works with the physician assistant.
Cardiac Catheterizations
One-month rotations. Responsibilities include work-up, performance and post-cath care of patients undergoing routine diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations. Fellows will become proficient in all aspects of invasive cardiovascular procedures. Catheterization conference is held weekly.
Echocardiography
One-month rotations. Fellows will perform and interpret two-dimensional, M-Mode and Doppler studies in all patients, under supervision of technologist and faculty. Included will be fetal and transesophageal echocardiography.
Additional Rotations:
Exercise Physiology
Electrophysiology
Transplantation
Cardiovascular Surgery
Research
Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
Adult Congenital Heart Clinic
Pulmonary Hypertension
Cardiac MRI
Fellowship Application
Our fellowship application form
is provided as an Adobe PDF* file. Please print, complete and return the application to our fellowship coordinator by December 15th. Be sure to include a copy of your curriculum vitae, at least 3 letters of reference, a personal statement highlighting why you wish to become a pediatric cardiologist, copies of your USMLE score reports (or their equivalent), a copy of you medical school diploma, and a small photo of yourself. Or, if you would prefer us to mail you a fellowship application package, contact our fellowship coordinator:
Jeanette Starkey
Fellowship Coordinator
Pediatric Cardiology
The Children's Hospital
13123 East 16th Avenue, B-100
Aurora, Colorado 80045
Tel: 720-777-2940
Starkey.Jeanette@tchden.org
*Note: Most browsers support Adobe PDF files; however, if yours does not, follow this link to download the latest version of
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