Curriculum and Typical Schedule

The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program is a fully-accredited ACGME three-year training program. The program is clinically oriented and characterized by a strong educational commitment coupled with research opportunities.

We follow COCATS4 guidelines. All fellows will achieve level 1 training in all subspecialties. Level 2 training will be achieved in echocardiography, nuclear cardiology which will make you board eligible. Level 2 training could be achievable in one more subspecialty, based on fellow’s chosen career path. Elective rotations should be chosen accordingly.

During the first year, fellows rotate through the echocardiography and nuclear laboratories; concentrate on patient management services through the inpatient ward and CICU, management of electrophysiology patients, and cardiology consultations. Second and third year provides an emphasis on cardiac catheterization training, invasive and noninvasive hemodynamic assessment, procedural competence, advanced skills in stress and transesophageal echocardiography, cardiothoracic surgery, and pediatrics, coupled with protected research time and opportunities for elective rotations.

The program incorporates multiple educational conferences held on a weekly, bi-monthly and monthly basis. These conferences include, but are not limited to, Grand Rounds presentations, Journal Club, imaging, catheterization and electrophysiology.

Each fellow is required to participate in a clinical research project. An annual research day is coordinated by the Department of Internal Medicine and the GME office. Fellows are encouraged to participate in this initiative each year. In addition, our department is involved in multiple, large-scale clinical trials and many smaller, single-center projects.

ECU Health Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Master Block Schedule

Guidelines:

• First year will have one month of research.
• Second year will have one month of elective. Second year may have an additional 2 more months of elective if he/she does not want to be level 2 nuclear cardiology certified.
• Third year will have 2 months of elective.
• All fellows will be assigned the same naming scheme throughout their years of fellowship, ie 4A to 5A, 5A to 6A.
• The master block schedule cannot be changed under any circumstances.
• The schedule has been designed for all fellows to know their 3 year schedule – all personal events/vacations should be planned accordingly.

The master block schedule above meets the following requirements:

• The TTE/TEE fellows on the same month will not have the same clinic day.
• The CC fellows on the month when there are only 2 cath fellows will not have the same clinic day (DOES NOT apply to fellow on elective cath).
• The CIU fellow and the consult fellow will not have clinic on the same day when there is only 1 consult fellow that month.
• The consult fellows on the month when there are 2 consult fellows will not have the same clinic day.
• First years are scheduled to have their month of TTE within the first 4 months of fellowship.
• Second year electives are earlier in the year so that they can request a rotation of interest prior to applying for subspecialty fellowship.

By the end of third year:

Our fellows will meet COCATS requirements for level 2 in echocardiography, level 2 in nuclear cardiology (optional), and level 1 in all other areas. In addition, fellows will get total of 3 months in electives to devote to their area of interest.