The clinical curriculum in our program is designed to meet COCATS 3 recommendations by the American College of Cardiology for both procedural volume and training time for competency in Cardiovascular Disease. Specific rotations include:

 

Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory (4-6 months)

Coronary Care Unit (4-5 months)

Structural Heart Disease/Consults Service (1-2 month)

Echocardiography (4 months)

Electrophysiology (2 months)

Heart Failure/Transplant (1-2 month)

Nuclear Cardiology (2 months)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (1 month)

Vascular Medicine/Prevention Cardiology (1 month)

 

Electrocardiograms (> 3500)

Fellows are required to attend 75% of mandatory cardiology conferences (Monday Cardiology Grand Rounds, Wednesday Fellows’ Core Curriculum Noon Conference, and Friday Clinical Case Conference).  Half (50%) of the conferences must be attended in person; the remaining 25% of mandatory conferences may be credited by viewing the archived slides or other materials.  Fellows are responsible for documenting their attendance by signing attendance sheet at these conferences. 

Fellows will participate in mentored research projects throughout their clinical years as allowable given clinical demands, and will have two years of dedicated and protected research time during their fellowship.  Throughout the clinical years of training, fellows are encouraged to initiate and develop plans for research years, including specific mentors and research projects.  This important component of fellowship training will be encouraged and emphasized in regular meetings with program leaders, Drs. Andrew Wang and Svati Shah, and many other faculty members.  Grant writing/submission is encouraged, and your mentor and program directors will assist you in targeting appropriate grants for your research interest.

The Duke Cardiology Fellowship program uses many formats for assessment, most of which are documented electronically via the Duke GME-endorsed E*Value program. These include evaluations at the conclusion of each month’s rotation. For each clinical rotation/experience, fellows should receive a face-to-face meeting with a faculty member and a written evaluation from each faculty member with whom the fellow worked.  In addition, there is a twice yearly program director summative evaluation: fellows meet individually with the program director twice yearly to review their files, procedure logs, lecture attendance, research project progress and to develop individualized learning plans. If necessary remediation plans are developed for unsatisfactory achievement of core competencies.

 

In addition to the above evaluations, fellows will participate in “360-degree” evaluations.  This is a method that incorporates feedback from the Fellow, his/her peers, his/her attendings, nurses, other staff and patients. The primary reason for this type of evaluation is to provide the Fellow with information about his/her performance from multiple perspectives.  From this feedback, the Fellow is able to set goals for self-development.  These “360-degree” evaluations will occur in the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU), the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, and the Echocardiography Laboratory.

 

Evaluation of the mentored research portion of the fellowship will occur under the auspices of the designated mentor.  This will include description of a research plan prior to initiation of research, as well as periodic evaluations of the progress in the research plan. 

The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program and its trainees are required to know and adhere to the policies and procedures of Duke Graduate Medical Education. These policies and procedures, including descriptions of benefits, are described in detail in the House Staff Manual & Benefit Guide. You can also contact the GME Office at 919-684-3491 for additional information.