Frequently Asked Questions

The cardiology fellows all have clinic on Wednesday afternoons, where they work and spend time learning together with our faculty and from each other. Different attendings will serve as staff each week. There is a dedicated medical assistant who assists with patient care and follow-up. Fellows are assigned their our own laptops that they use for the entire fellowship, both in and out of clinic. The patients are a mixture of the indigent population of Indianapolis who do not have insurance, and patients that are seen on the inpatient rotations that schedule follow-up with them. No patient is denied care because of insurance status.

The primary teaching inpatient service typically consists of one cardiology fellow, one attending cardiologist, one upper level resident, 2-4 interns, a pharmacist, and often medical and pharmacy students. The hours are 7 am to 5 pm. The fellow is responsible for managing the team and patient care under the direct supervision of the attending cardiologist, who is available throughout the day, staffs every patient and spends time teaching the fellow and the other members of the team. The amount of supervision depends on the fellow's level of experience, and there is ample opportunity for autonomous decision making. Only a select group of attendings are assigned to this service, selected by the program director, based on teaching and clinical ability, along with feedback from the fellows. They are extremely talented, hardworking, respectful, and dedicated to teaching. During your second and third years, you will also spend time rounding at the Heart Center. You will be expected to manage the patient list by yourself with supervision from the rounding attending. Residents do not round at the Heart Center with you. 

All of the interested general fellows are able to moonlight in their first and second year for the Adult Inpatient Medicine Service (hospitalist group).  Fellows only need to fill out their credentialing paperwork. Some fellows have found other local opportunities (requires malpractice insurance by other means). Commonly, third year fellows, EP fellows and interventional fellows  will moonlight overnight or on the weekends as the on-call Cardiology attending. They have had ample opportunities to do so without any violations of duty hours. 

Most conferences take place at 7 am. Mandatory conferences are Mondays (general cardiology conference) and Thursdays, that include alternating Echo, M&M and Journal Club. Wednesday mornings, general fellows can choose from electrophysiology, interventional, or advanced CHF conference. Tuesdays at noon there is a catered lunch, at which time the general cardiology fellows spend the lunch hour performing a group study (review videos, board review questions, etc.).

Most rotations during the first-year of fellowship are typically one month in length.
The first year fellow gets the basics: 3 inpatient general cardiology months, 1 electrophysiology, 1 congestive heart failure, 2 echo months, 1 nuclear month, 2 months of non-invasive studies (performing all types of stress testing and electrocardiography), and 2 consecutive cath lab months.

The 2nd year continues to fulfill requirements with similar rotations but expanded to include an advanced imaging (MRI/CT) month, and an advanced ambulatory clinic month.

The 3rd year is tailored for the fellow’s interests and is all electives except for 2 weeks of supervising the first year fellow during their initial inpatient general cardiology month, and 1 month of rounding at the Heart Hospital in Carmel.
Research can be concordant with other rotations or a separate time block depending on the fellow’s interests.

Our general cardiology fellows have left this program with excellent skills in 2D as well as 3D TEE. There is also the opportunity to become board certified in Nuclear cardiology after the second year. Interested fellows can leave with level 2 certification in cardiac MRI and Cardiac CT, if desired. First year general fellows are trained by the interventional fellows and staff cardiologists in how to perform diagnostic angiography, right heart catheterization, and endomyocardial biopsies. Most general fellows are able to complete their diagnostic catheterization requirements after their first 2 months in the lab. General fellows with interest in interventional cardiology can expect to perform 700-900 procedures throughout their training.

All general fellows spend two months in the EP lab. The lab and inpatient service are very busy with over 800 catheter ablations and 1,400 devices performed yearly. The general fellows participate in the EP lab and rounding service.

Interventional fellows perform approximately 350 PCIs throughout their 12 months, participate in peripheral interventions, and structural heart disease including Mitraclip and TAVR. We have one of the most robust TAVR programs in the nation with over 200 TAVRs performed annually. The EP and interventional programs have been involved in hundreds of clinical trials, and fellows have the advantage of being on the cutting edge of technology. 

We are proud to report 100% pass rate for the general fellowship, interventional fellowship, and EP fellowship. We have also had fellows electively take and pass Nuclear Cardiology boards, CT, MRI and Echocardiography boards. Our program also typically scores in the top 5th percentile across all programs in the country on the annual cardiology in-service training examination.

The fellows have an incredible quality of life, work-life balance, and are all very happy during their time at Ascension St. Vincent. There is great camaraderie and connectivity with former trainees.  Many of the staff cardiologists are former fellows who have chosen to stay on!

There is a large space dedicated only to the fellows, which includes your own work space with a desktop computer with dual screen monitors, laptop computer, dragon dictation, and cabinets. The office also has a large flat screen TV that can be used for anything from lectures to streaming services. We also have a cozy couch, massage chair, refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. 

It is important to know that the program directors and group leaders make every effort to meet our personal and professional needs. The program prides itself on the devotion to teaching. This is a program that wants fellows, but doesn't need fellows.

You will be treated as a respected member of our cardiology group, also known as "The Care Group," which has nearly 100 participating cardiologists throughout the state of Indiana. 

 

Never. We have very sensible hours. We work very hard, but have an excellent work-life balance with plenty of time to spend with family, study and even moonlight.