Welcome to the University of Colorado Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Programs.

Our fellowship prides itself on  tailoring the training experience  to accommodate  the distinct goals and aspirations of our trainees. This is reflected in our curriculum design which allows considerable flexibility in the second and third years of training so that fellows can acquire skills and expertise to prepare them for their chosen career paths.  This flexibility  is supported  by opportunities  for fellows to migrate into advanced fellowship training in cardiac catheterization and vascular medicine, clinical electrophysiology, heart failure, and adult congenital heart disease (our allied ACGME sponsored advanced training program in these domains are described elsewhere in this document). Our trainees are offered the opportunity to participate in Masters of Clinical Sciences Training during their conventional fellowship experience.  Furthermore, trainees may have the opportunity to incorporate a carefully designed pathway leading towards excellence in basic and clinical research supported by the division affiliated NIH T32 training programs as well as topic-specific advanced training programs sponsored by the VA, the University of Colorado CTSI, the Center for Women’s Health Research and the AHRQ.

We also believe strongly that educational programs need to evolve in order to accommodate the needs of our trainees and also the changing approach to advanced medial education in general. To this end we routinely engage our faculty and our fellows in an iterative review of all aspects of  training. In recent years, this process has resulted in several changes including: the reorganization of our basic curriculum to increase exposure to advanced and complex modalities such as heart transplantation and advanced imaging earlier in the three year curriculum; the formalization of small groups of trainees and faculty mentors ("house of cards") which has enhanced the sense of community and the resilience of our trainees; the creation of a night-float call system to relieve some of the stress of on-call work which has enhanced the fellows' experience in the management of critically ill patients.

As should be evident, we are very proud of our training program equally delighted with our trainees.