Fellowship description

Return to the Herma Heart Center Fellowship home page.

Length of Training
The fellowship is designed for three years of training with an optional fourth year.

Qualifications and recruitment of trainees
Fellow applicants will be required to have a medical degree and have completed a pediatric residency in a US-accredited training program. The program participates in the NRMP pediatric cardiology match program.

Content of Training
Throughout subspecialty training, the fellow will receive extensive, focused training in all aspects of clinical pediatric cardiology. The fellow will have two rotations during the first year that will provide an introduction to investigative research where they will have an opportunity to interact with research mentors and begin to develop a program of investigative study with that mentor. Five additional months of research will be provided during each of the second and third years to further establish a program of investigative research.

Rotation Schedule

Each rotation is one month with 24 total clinical months and 12 total research months.

First Year

Rotations

Echo/Noninvasive Imaging
Cardiac Catheterization
CICU
Consults
Electrophysiology
Research

3
2
2
2
1
2

12 Total

Second Year

Rotations

Echo/Noninvasive Imaging
Cardiac Catheterization
CICU
Consults
Tx/Heart Failure
Adult Congenital
Elective
Research

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
5

12 Total

Third Year

Rotations

Echo/Noninvasive Imaging
Cardiac Catheterization
CICU
Consults
EP
Elective
Research

1
1
1
1
1
2
5

12 Total

Call
In-house call is required Monday through Friday with call from home Saturday and Sunday. Most of the first year is in-house call, which is approximately every fourth night. Monday through Friday, senior fellows provide back-up call. As a senior fellow the majority of call is from home, providing back-up to junior fellow.

Research Opportunity
This optional program is designed to provide meaningful research experience and to train academic pediatric cardiologists capable of independent investigation. Supervised research experience begins in the first year and extends throughout the training. During the first year, the subspecialty fellow will focus on understanding the pathophysiology of cardiac disease in children through the critical evaluation of the clinical and relevant basic science literature. The second year of the fellowship will again focus on understanding the pathophysiology of cardiac disease with five months of focused basic/clinical research. A core curriculum of basic research instruction will be provided during the third year with the opportunity to participate in a fourth year of fellowship that would continue the basic/clinical research program. During the third and fourth years, course work on cardiovascular physiology, advanced renal physiology, introduction to molecular genetics, experimental design, cardiovascular pharmacology, membrane cell and tissue transport physiology, and mathematical biology will be available. Those who elect to participate in a fourth year of research will be candidates through the Medical College of Wisconsin Graduate School for a master's of science degree.

Clinical Rotations

Echo rotation: 

  • Attend pediatric cardiology conferences and teaching sessions.
  • Attend daily echo review session of the previous day's studies with echo attending.
  • Participate in TEE intraoperative and interventional studies.
  • Evaluate need for and method of sedation in all uncooperative children proposed for echo study with echo attending.
  • Observe and perform routine transthoracic echo studies on inpatients and outpatients with echo technical staff.
  • Write preliminary reports on all studies performed by the fellow.
  • Review all echo studies to be shown at conference and present them. 

Cardiac Catheterization rotation:

  • Attend pediatric cardiology conferences and teaching sessions.
  • Perform H&P on all cardiac cath patients prior to the procedure.
  • Participate in all cardiac cath procedures.
  • Complete post-cath orders on patients following cath.
  • Admit and write follow-up notes on all post cath interventional patients.
  • Complete diagrams and hemodynamics on all cath patients and dictate the procedure.
  • Review all cath studies to be shown at conferences and present them. 

Inpatient Services/ICU/Consultation rotation:

  • Attend pediatric cardiology conferences and teaching sessions.
  • Attend daily ICU and intermediate care rounds on cardiology and cardiovascular surgery patients.
  • Perform H&P on all patients admitted to cardiology and cardiovascular surgery service.
  • Write daily notes on all ICU cardiology and cardiovascular surgery patients.
  • Perform all inpatient consults in the hospital.
  • Participate in all patient interventions performed in the ICU.
  • Review all inpatient histories to be discussed at conferences and present them. 

EPS/Adult Congenital Heart Disease/Transplant/Heart Failure:

  • Attend pediatric cardiology conferences and teaching sessions.
  • Perform H&P on all EPS patients prior to the procedure.
  • Participate in all EPS procedures.
  • Complete post cath orders on patients following EPS procedures.
  • Admit and write F/U notes on all post EPS interventional patients.
  • Review electrophysiology tracings on all EPS patients and dictate the procedure.
  • Read all non-clinic inpatient and outpatient ECG's and Holters.
  • Attend all exercise treadmill and tilt table tests.
  • Attend all pacemaker clinics.
  • Attend all adult congenital heart disease clinics.
  • Attend all transplant and heart failure clinics.