Welcome to the University of Colorado Anschutz

Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program! 

We are honored to welcome you to our fellowship program website! The University of Colorado Anschutz is an incredible place to become a skilled clinician and leader in cardiology. When I journeyed 2,000 miles across the country to begin my own fellowship here, I could not have predicted how profoundly this training program would influence my professional journey.

The mission of our fellowship is to support our trainees in becoming excellent, compassionate clinicians and future leaders in cardiovascular medicine. Our faculty and program are committed to enhancing trainees’ skills, fostering development in complex patient management and medical decision-making, introducing cutting-edge technologies and research, supporting research and professional growth, providing engaging didactic and hands-on education, and creating a safe environment to collaborate, train, and work.

Our fellowship provides tailored training experiences to accommodate the individual goals and aspirations of each trainee. All fellows become excellent general cardiologists while also developing adjunct areas of expertise or pursuing additional subspecialty training. This individualized approach is reflected in our rotation design: core experiences in cardiac ICU, consultative care, non-invasive imaging, cardiac catheterization, and electrophysiology comprise the first year of training, with opportunities to build more specialized experiences in the second and third years. Examples of ways fellows can personalize their professional development include:

Clinician-Educator Development

• Engagement with trainees in the classroom and clinical settings, from medical school to fellowship stages.

• Participation in medical education development programs, including:

  • Department of Medicine Medical Education Fellowship Program

  • Residents and Fellows as Educators Elective

• Support from program leadership for novel educational curricular design projects

Subspecialty Advancement

• Early opportunities to participate in coronary intervention, cardiac electrophysiology, and interventional echocardiography procedures

• Clinical rotations to develop independent skills as a community practice general cardiologist and imager

• Ability to obtain nuclear and CT certification during general fellowship

• Internal ACGME-accredited subspecialty fellowships in:

  • Adult Congenital Heart Disease

  • Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology

  • Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology

  • Interventional Cardiology

• Non-ACGME-accredited fellowships in Advanced Cardiac Imaging and Vascular Medicine

• Opportunities to train with specialized clinical and research experts in Cardio-Obstetrics, Cardio-Oncology, Lipids & Prevention, and Sports Cardiology

• Participation in the American College of Cardiology AIRE Pilot programs for Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology 

• Participation in the American College of Cardiology AIRE Pilot programs for Cardiovascular Disease and Adult Congenital Heart Disease 

Support for Research

• All fellows engage in scholarly activities throughout fellowship, particularly during dedicated research blocks, including clinical, translational, outcomes, quality, or educational projects

• Fellows are encouraged to present at national conferences throughout the year

• Personalized mentorship facilitates early connections with research and professional mentors, supporting robust collaboration

Advanced Research Training

• Participation in a Master of Clinical Science training program

• Opportunities supported by NIH grants (including T32 training grants) and VA-sponsored research grants, in collaboration with:

  • CPC Clinical Research

  • Colorado Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Group (CCOR)

  • Adult & Child Center for Outcomes Research & Delivery Science (ACCORDS)

  • Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM)

  • University of Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI)

  • Ludeman Family Center for Women's Health Research

An innovative feature of our fellowship program is our enthusiasm for optimizing medical education. We host monthly Academic Days, protected full-day learning sessions where fellows engage in themed didactic, small group, case-based, interactive, and simulation-based educational activities. During these days, all clinical duties are covered by attendings and APPs to allow fellows to focus fully on learning. One Academic Day includes a fellowship retreat to the Broadmoor Hotel, participation in the local Heart Failure Summit, and the annual Colorado ACC meeting. Through this curriculum, we also host a professional development series and regular fellowship meetings. Our faculty are consistently evaluated as engaged and enthusiastic teachers, and we are proud to showcase their expertise in these educational venues.

Our cardiology fellows are the shining stars of our program. They are a wonderfully talented group, recruited from excellent training programs across the country, flourishing in developing their professional identities and career goals. General fellowship leadership, subspecialty leadership, quarterly advisors, the division chief, and subspecialty directors are all dedicated to creating an optimal learning environment and providing individualized mentorship.

We strongly believe in adapting support to our fellows’ needs through continual feedback and innovation. In response to feedback over the past 10 years, we have instituted new coverage systems (such as APP coverage of cardiology consults on weekends and a University of Colorado Hospital night float system), revised mentorship and confidential reporting structures, and developed our protected Academic Days curriculum.

Life in Colorado
Colorado is a wonderful place for fellows to thrive professionally while exploring our state’s diverse neighborhoods, natural beauty, and outstanding wellness opportunities. Our main campus is in Aurora, CO, a rapidly growing and diverse city. Denver and Aurora offer rich cultural experiences, international cuisine, and abundant outdoor activities. Being outdoors is central to the Colorado lifestyle, and the mountain scenery provides daily inspiration and a chance to reflect. It is truly a wonderful place to live and train in medicine.

We are excited that you are interested in our fellowship program! We are extremely proud of our trainees, alumni, and faculty and staff. Please explore our website for further information and reach out with any questions.

Alexis Z. Tumolo, MD