Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine

The Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine at UMass Medical School/UMass Memorial Medical Center is a three year program. Six fellows are chosen each year through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). Cardiology fellowship applications are submitted to the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

Training at an outstanding institution

UMass Memorial Medical Center has an extraordinary track record of cardiac care:

• For the past five years, the institution has been ranked #1 in New England for survival after myocardial infarction, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).
• Our Cardiac Catheterization Lab was ranked #1 in Massachusetts in the treatment of shock/STEMI patients, according to the most recent report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
• The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) awarded its highest destination - three stars - to our Cardiac Surgery Program five years in a row for coronary artery bypass surgery.  Only 14 percent of these hospitals receive this three-star rating.

Goals and highlights of the program 

Simply stated, our goal is to find the strongest medical residents and transform them into tomorrow’s leaders in academic and clinical cardiology.  We believe that our program provides superb training in a supportive, collegial, and stimulating environment. Some the highlights of the program include:

• Experience in both tertiary care and community cardiology.
• State-of-the-art facilities.
• Diverse research opportunities.
• Ambulatory experience in both general cardiology and adult congenital cardiology.
• Echocardiography and nuclear cardiology training that satisfies the requirements for licensing by the National Board of Echocardiography and Certification Board in Nuclear Cardiology.
• Exposure to cardiac surgery and vascular medicine.
• In-depth training in all aspects of preventive cardiology.
• Experience in advanced imaging (MRI/CT).
• Ample opportunities for teaching residents and medical students.

Clinical cardiology 

The first two years are devoted to training in all aspects of clinical cardiology. During this time, with close staff mentoring, fellows serve as cardiology consultants for acutely ill medical and surgical patients; provide ongoing, outpatient care for their own patients and for patients in the UMass adult congenital clinic; and perform and interpret both invasive and noninvasive diagnostic procedures. Fellows are expected to participate in didactic sessions, including the core lecture series, journal club, noninvasive conference, catheterization conference, electrophysiology conference, congenital conference and EKG conference. Time is set aside in the second year to enable fellows to pursue a research project under the guidance of a mentor. The third year is designed for completion of research projects; advanced training in such areas as cardiac catheterization, echocardiography, and electrophysiology; and electives such as congenital heart disease and vascular medicine. Fourth year fellowships are offered in interventional cardiology and electrophysiology.  

Our state-of-the-art echocardiography, cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology laboratories provide ample opportunity for the education of fellows.

• The echocardiography laboratory performs approximately 12,500 transthoracic, 720 transesophageal and 770 treadmill/dobutamine echocardiograms each year.
• The catheterization laboratory performs approximately 3442 diagnostic procedures and 1826 percutaneous coronary interventions each year.
• Vascular interventions are performed by members of both the division of cardiovascular medicine and the division of vascular surgery.
• The state-of-the-art Phillips electrophysiology lab utilizes advanced 3-D electroanatomic mapping systems (CARTO and ESI). Each year, the EP lab implants approximately 400 pacemakers and 400 ICDs, of which 150 are biventricular devices, and performs 250 ablations, of which 130 are for atrial fibrillation.
• Many of our graduating fellows receive certification from the National Board of Echocardiography.

Research

• All cardiology fellows have research blocks in their second and/or third year.
• Fellows are expected to produce at least one manuscript or one abstract, with most fellows exceeding this requirement.
• As many as twelve months may be devoted to research within the fellowship's three year period.
• Fellows who are committed to a career as an independent investigator may be able to spend two additional years performing research with support from UMass.
• In the past, fellows have completed research projects in the following areas:
•  Epidemiology (Worcester Heart Attack Study, Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events and other large databases)
•  Noninvasive Imaging 
•  Electrophysiology
•  Interventional Cardiology
•  Clinical Trials
•  Basic/translational research
• The program director and division chief guide fellows to research mentors.
• Fellows who are interested may be able to earn a Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation degree during fellowship. Learn more http://www.umassmed.edu/GME/mastersinscience.aspx