The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at Thomas Jefferson University provides broad exposure to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases. Jefferson’s longstanding commitment to Graduate Medical Education focuses on the well-being of the patients, students, residents, fellows, and faculty as all core members of the larger, multidisciplinary healthcare team. Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship training is an intensive, subspecialty clinical and didactic educational experience. Emphasis is placed on concise ambulatory and inpatient bedside clinical diagnosis, and appropriate utilization and interpretation of diagnostic studies and therapeutic procedures, with the integration of all data into the highest level of care focused on the individual patient. Throughout the academic year, fellows also independently participate in a wide range of clinical and/or basic science scholarly endeavors with attending mentorship, facilitated by open access to the Jefferson Clinical Research Institute (whose mission is to provide a centralized service-line approach to cutting-edge, highly effective, and compliant clinical research). In addition, through Quality Improvement projects, our fellows directly engage in improving the safety of our patients and in ensuring the delivery of top quality care.

The three-year Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program begins with a clinical core experience of 24 months divided into:

• Eleven months of inpatient clinical practice rotations: Primary Clinical Cardiovascular Service, Consultative Cardiovascular Service, Electrophysiology Service, Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Service, and the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, plus a split rotation at the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience on campus (cerebrovascular disease evaluation and management) and at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Delaware (adult congenital heart disease evaluation and management).
• Five months in echocardiography.
• Four months in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
• Two months of nuclear cardiology.
• Two months of research.

The last 12 months of fellowship includes clinical rotations in junior attending roles on the Primary Clinical Cardiovascular Service and in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, plus a repeat split rotation at the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience (cerebrovascular disease) and at Nemours Children’s Hospital (adult congenital heart disease). Advanced imaging rotations incorporate transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), including structural TEE, plus exposure to advanced imaging consisting of cardiac MR, CT and PET. The other six months of the third year are devoted to the fellow's specific area of interest: Advanced Imaging, Interventional and Structural Cardiology, Advanced Electrophysiology, Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant, or Critical Care Cardiology, plus an additional research rotation dedicated to finalizing any projects and manuscripts.

An outpatient continuity ambulatory cardiovascular experience occurs throughout the three-year training program, consisting of one half-day per week of patients directly assigned to the fellow, precepted by a different faculty member each year. Throughout fellowship, there is also exposure to Maternal Fetal Medicine-High Risk Cardiovascular Clinic, Women’s Cardiology Clinic, and Cardio-Oncology Clinic, to highlight just a few. For those interested in community service, there is an opportunity to volunteer with a local charitable organization called Simon’s Heart, whose mission is to create and advance innovative and evidence-based programs, policies, and research that prevent sudden cardiac arrest and death in children, teens, and young adults.

The fellows attend daily morning didactic conferences with an advanced and up-to-date curriculum, based upon core knowledge content in multiple subspecialty areas, including: Electrophysiology and ECGs, Nuclear Cardiology, Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant, Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Advanced Lipid Management, ACC-SAP Board Review, Interventional and Structural Cardiology, and Echocardiography. Each Friday morning there is a division-wide Clinical Cardiology Conference or “Cardiology Grand Rounds,” which includes conferences presented by the fellows with faculty oversight, such as monthly Morbidity & Mortality and bimonthly Combined Radiology-Cardiovascular Disease Conference, plus a quarterly invited lecture series through the generous funds of the Louis R. Dinon, MD, Memorial Lectureship, by national and international, renowned content expert speakers on a variety of cutting-edge topics.   

The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at Thomas Jefferson University emphasizes the ACGME-recognized Cardiovascular Disease Milestones, and individually works with each fellow to move from novice to expert, through frequent, tailored reviews of performance, abilities, and attributes for each subcompetency:

• Patient Care 1: Invasive Cardiovascular Testing Medical knowledge
• Patient Care 2: Non-Invasive Testing
• Patient Care 3: Acute Care
• Patient Care 4: Chronic Care for Cardiovascular Conditions
• Medical Knowledge 1: Cardiovascular Testing
• Medical Knowledge 2: Critical Thinking for Diagnosis and Therapy
• Systems-Based Practice 1: Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
• Systems-Based Practice 2: System Navigation for Patient-Centered Care
• Systems-Based Practice 3: Physician Role in Health Care Systems
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement 1: Evidence-Based and Informed Practice
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement 2: Reflective Practice and Commitment to Personal Growth
• Professionalism 1: Professional Behavior and Ethical Principles
• Professionalism 2: Accountability
• Professionalism 3: Self-Awareness and Well-Being
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills 1: Patient and Family-Centered Communication
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills 2: Interprofessional and Team Communication
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills 3: Communication within Health Care Systems