The clinical training program provides Cardiology fellows an excellent subspecialty education in cardiology. The program is organized to provide the Fellow competency in the specialty in three years in accordance with national guidelines. This educational program provides training and experience in the evaluation and management of a wide variety of patients with acute and chronic cardiovascular conditions including coronary heart disease, congestive heart disease, arrhythmias, acute myocardial infarction and other acute ischemic syndromes, lipid disorders, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, infections and inflammatory heart disease, and adult congenital heart disease.
In addition to clinical training, a wide variety of basic and clinical research opportunities are available. All fellows are encouraged to participate in research, present at national meetings and publish articles during fellowship. Well-developed research programs exist for both clinical and bench investigations. The flexibility afforded by the size and interdisciplinary nature of The University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences allows Fellows to tailor their research training to their individual interest. We offer a formalized research mentorship program that offers, individually tailored plans, regular one-on-one meetings to identify goals, discuss progress, help solve problems and address specific needs.
Our Mission:
The mission of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Training Program at the University of Chicago is to develop future leaders in cardiovascular medicine in the areas of clinical care, education, and scientific discovery.
Our Curriculum
We offer a variety of fellowship tracts to allow each fellow to meet their goals. We feel strongly that flexibility and personalization of training is ideal, and thus each tract is individualized and tailored to the specific training goals of the trainee. While we are a 3-year ACGME accredited cardiovascular fellowship training program, we recognize that most successful academic careers involve a 4th year of advanced clinical or research training. Thus we offer a variety of options for additional training.
All fellows complete 24 months of required clinical rotations as required of all cardiovascular training programs. The 3rd (and 4th year) is then individualized based on the goals of the trainee.
We have two basic tracts:
Physician-Scientist tract: This tract is intended for those trainees that hope to pursue an independently funded research career. This could include basic science, translational, or clinical investigation. In years 3 and 4, trainees will have fully protected research time and will be supported on a T32 training grant. *Fellows also have the option to pursue research training or exposure in earlier years, deferring required clinical time into their 3rd or 4th year.
Clinical Scholar/Educator tract: This tract is intended for trainees who wish to pursue advanced clinical training/scholarship in a variety of disciplines offered in our Section. Year 3 is tailored to achieve the advanced clinical training in addition to providing protected research time. In year 4, the trainee may pursue a variety of subspecialty advanced fellowships here at U of C (or elsewhere).
Program Perks
- Personal MacBook Pro
- Educational stipend and time provided for travel and attendance to one national cardiovascular conference each year
- Additional reimbursement and time provided coverage support for any 1st author presentations
- Options for advanced coursework in research methods/statistics
- 4 Weeks of vacation per fellowship year
- ACC in-training examination exam to maximize board preparation and inform curricular changes
- Personal desk in our fellow’s room with access to all University resources (e-journal access, facilities, etc.)
- Trainee Membership to the American Heart Association (AHA)
- Fellow Subscription to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)