A Diverse Cardiology Training Experience
Cardiology fellow Kartikya Ahuja and attending physician Celaj Sulejman discuss cases in the catheterization lab.
Why Choose Montefiore Einstein?
- A long tradition of cardiology research and training, rich with accomplishment
- Unparalleled balance of autonomy with support
- Camaraderie among fellows and faculty
- Approachable attending physicians
- Supportive administration and staff
- Idealism in caring for New York City’s underserved
- Incredible diversity of disease seen in patients
The overall goal of the Montefiore Einstein Cardiology Fellowship Program is to train academic cardiovascular sub-specialists, including basic scientists, clinical investigators, and highly skilled cardiovascular consultants and educators. For this reason, the training program includes both a rigorous core clinical training component and a period of flexible time. The structured core curriculum allows trainees to learn the basics of contemporary cardiology, achieving the cognitive knowledge, procedural skills, interpersonal skills, professional attitudes, and practical experience required of an interventional subspecialist. The flexible time allows trainees to shape their own training (in collaboration with the Program Director) so as to best prepare for diverse careers.
The training spectrum includes experience in the following areas:
- Consultative Cardiology
- Coronary Care Unit
- Nuclear Medicine
- Echocardiography (including 3-D echo)
- Pacing and Electrophysiology
- Cardiac Catheterization
- Advanced Heart Failure
- Cardiac Transplantation
- Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Surgery
- Mechanical Assist Devices
- Cardiac CT, MRI and PET
First-Year Schedule
- 4 months on service (CCU, consults)
- 2 months echocardiography
- 2 months pacing and electrophysiology
- 2 months cardiac catheterization
- 1 month nuclear cardiology
- 1 month adult congenital heart disease
- 20 days of vacation
Core Cardiology Training (COCATS)
All fellows get level 2 certification in nuclear cardiology and echocardiography, including board certification. Additionally, the third year of fellowship is used to specialize in a particular area (echocardiography, nuclear cardiology, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, cardiac CT, etc.).
Clinical Rotations
The curricular experience is organized by areas of intellectual discipline, leading to a broad competency in the field of cardiology and to certifiable competency in specific skill sets of clinical cardiology. Each monthly rotation has its own intellectual academic goals and framework and integrates the ACGME competencies.
The training program consists of 36 month-long rotations integrated into the activities of 3 sites. Four weeks each year are allotted for vacation.
Rotations are intended to familiarize trainees with all aspects of interventional practice, including the following:
By the end of the rotations, it is expected that trainees will:
- be facile with all and expert in the several aspects of clinical cardiology
- have identified a broad career track and area of focused interest (with the help of the Program Director and appropriate faculty members) for particular expertise development
Research Experience
Research experience is critical to the training of academic subspecialists, a primary goal of the program. Structured, protected blocks of time and opportunities to complete a longitudinal research project, develop sophisticated technical skills to pursue clinical research, or pursue basic research allow fellows to acquire a portfolio of accomplishments during the years of training to qualify them for a career in academic medicine.
See Research for more information.
On-Call Experience
Night call is an important component of medical training. With active emergency departments at both Einstein and Montefiore, a significant volume of “emergency” cases, including cases with acute cardiac pathology, come to the program each week outside of scheduled hours.
We strongly believe that involving fellows meaningfully in this aspect of cardiology is important for education and development, and that fellows should be protected from managing medical diseases that do not require cardiovascular subspecialty skills. Accordingly, medicine, critical care, and cardiothoracic surgery all have residents or fellows assigned to night coverage. Cardiology is only consulted when appropriate.
Call Schedule
- First-year fellows – 4 or 5 calls a month
- Second-year fellows – 2 or 3 calls a month
- Third-year fellows – no calls
Fellows only cover one campus on call, and have the entire post-call day off.
Conferences
Nearly every day there is a fellow-oriented conference addressing either a particular core curricular subject (e.g. didactic lectures), Cardiology Grand Rounds, Invasive Cardiology Grand Rounds, case management conferences, or conferences directed to specific skill development (e.g. ECG conferences, hemodynamic conferences, electrophysiology conferences, echocardiography conferences, etc). In most of these the fellows are active participants, as presenters or in response to Socratic exploration of the issues involved.
See Conferences for more information.
Program Highlights
- Cardiology is never the primary team
- Every patient seen by fellows has either house staff or a physician assistant (PA) as the primary service
- Fellows do not consult for patients who have private cardiologists
- Echocardiography technicians are available every Saturday and Sunday
- The catheterization lab, EP lab, etc. are covered by full-time staffed PAs, so the labs function in fellows' absence
- Imaging of all echocardiograms, cardiac catheterizations, CT and MRI is readily available from any computer in the hospital
- Both campuses and clinic use the same computer system
- Fellows' meals are paid: 3 meals daily, 7 days a week
- Fellows receive $500 per year book allowance
- Fellows receive $500 per year conference allowance