Program Director: Amrut Ambardekar, MD

Cardiovascular Disease (General Cardiology) AIMS

Our overall aims are to prepare trainees for careers in academic cardiology. Specifically, this involves:

1. Exposure to (and competency in) all aspects of contemporary cardiology, including those that are unique to a tertiary University practice.
2. Preparation for either sub-sub specialty training or general clinical practice with an appreciation of the need for continuous learning and a reliance on evidence-based practice.
3. Acquisition in skills related to the science and practice of education so that trainees will be able to lead multi-disciplinary groups in the provision of cardiac care.
4. Preparation for careers marked by scholarship, including exposure to and participation in research across the spectrum from discovery science, to clinical research, to health outcomes.
5. Appreciation of and respect for professionalism, such that this behavior is a hallmark of future behavior across the entire spectrum of health care related activity.

Fellowship Program Curriculum 

Both practical and didactic training is provided in all areas of cardiovascular medicine, including the following:

• Adult cardiology including coronary care
• Adult congenital heart disease
• Electrocardiography
• Cardiac electrophysiology and pacemaker therapy
• Cardiac catheterization including interventional cardiology
• Nuclear cardiology
• Echocardiography
• Exercise testing
• Advanced heart failure and transplantation
• Vascular medicine
• Cardiac MRI & CT
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Preventive cardiology
• Cardiac rehabilitation

The clinical rotations are loosely and broadly organized.  Rotation experiences are hierarchic and schedules after the first year (and especially in the third year) are structured to best accommodate the specific needs and interests of the trainees.

Academic Days

Our Academic Day (AD) curriculum is a special learning opportunity for our fellows, with monthly, longitudinal disease topic-themed days. During these ADs, all fellows come together in the classroom for didactics, small group work, case-based learning, and hands-on and simulation learning with experts in the field. It is a wonderful opportunity to dive deeply into learning and interface with cardiovascular leaders and potential mentors. Our fellows are not contacted for clinical care during ADs so that they can focus on learning, and have cited that an additional strength of this curriculum is the development of teamwork and camaraderie with their co-fellows. Examples of AD topics include: Acute Coronary Syndrome, Basics & Advanced Concepts; EP Device Day; Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Simple & Complex; Healthcare Disparities; Aortic Stenosis; and Women & Heart Disease. Our heart failure-focused AD is combined with our Colorado Heart Failure Summit and Colorado ACC Conference, which allows for fellows to attend and participate in this excellent event.