Inova Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program

Fellowship Objectives

• Comprehensive training program to teach and develop cardiovascular consultants of highest quality who are highly skilled in clinical care, research, and teaching
• Graduates will be highly competitive for entry into faculty of top academic centers or advanced fellowships
• COCATS 4
• BE: Level 2 training for echo and nuclear
• Level 1 cardiac catheterization
• Elective: Peripheral Vascular (RPVI)

Rotation Descriptions

Consultation Service

The consultation service is an integral part of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship. Under the guidance of teaching faculty from Inova Medical Group and Virginia Heart, fellows will learn how to diagnose and manage a wide spectrum of cardiovascular illness such as heart failure, acute coronary syndromes, and arrhythmias recognizing there are also separate focused consultative services as well. Fellows will provide inpatient consultations for patients hospitalized at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. The consult service sees between 8-15 new consults per day. Fellows will also have responsibility for teaching rotating house staff and medical students.

Echocardiography

The echocardiography laboratory at Inova Fairfax is very active and performs more than 14,000 transthoracic and 1,500 transesophageal echocardiograms a year. First year fellows will focus on obtaining both the technical skills of TTE performance as well as the knowledge for interpretation. During the 2nd and 3rd year of fellowship, fellows will perform TEE’s in addition to TTE’s. Each day fellows will receive direct teaching with dedicated interpretation sessions by a member of the faculty. Educational conferences will provide a venue for fellows to present cases and further advance their knowledge of echocardiography. Fellows will spend a minimum of 6 months in the echocardiography lab to achieve Level 2 certification and be eligible to sit for the Echocardiography Boards.

Nuclear Cardiology and Stress Testing

During this rotation, fellows will have direct hands-on experiences to learn about: exercise physiology, the biochemical properties of isotopes, radiation safety, physics of myocardial perfusion imaging, appropriate use and interpretation of perfusion imaging. This rotation is based at the nuclear stress lab of IMG Prosperity Office which is located nearby the hospital campus. After at least 4 months of training, fellows will satisfy requirements for Level 2 certification. With additional radiation safety training (Classroom and Laboratory Training), fellows will be able to sit for the examination of the Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology.

Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory

Inova Fairfax has a high-performing, high-quality Interventional program which performs more than 3400 diagnostic catheterizations and 1100 PCIs each year. IFMC received the ACC/NCDR platinum Performance Achievement Award for Care of Acute MI patients in 2017. Interventionalists are national leaders in mechanical circulatory support (Impella), chronic total occlusion revascularization, and anti-platelet therapies.

The education curriculum in the Catheterization Laboratories is formulated to teach the most advanced techniques in invasive and interventional cardiology. Fellows will be an integral part of the cardiac catheterizations as well as the pre- and post-procedural care. Fellows will receive instruction and progressive responsibility inside the catheterization lab.  Outside of the laboratory, case conferences and didactic lectures will complement the clinical teaching for a very robust academic program.  If fellows wish to pursue more advanced training in interventional cardiology, they will be well prepared the next stage of their sub-specialty training.

Coronary Care Unit (CCU)

The IHVI Coronary Care Unit is a 24 bed unit which manages the wide spectrum of cardiovascular disease from acute coronary syndrome, arrhythmias, advanced heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and cardiogenic shock. Fellows will assume major clinical and teaching responsibilities as they supervise the medical house staff with guidance of two faculty members: a cardiologist and a critical care specialist.  Home call responsibilities will be focused on the management of CCU patient in the evenings and weekends.

Electrophysiology Consultation

The rotation with the Electrophysiology Service is designed to expose fellows to all aspects of clinical cardiac electrophysiology. Fellows will gain knowledge and skill in the management of complex arrhythmias, pacemaker/ICD interrogation, anti-arrhythmic drugs, and catheter-based ablation therapies. Fellows will be rotate on the EP consult service and the pacemaker clinic of IMG Arrhythmia.

Adult Congenital

This rotation will combine a robust outpatient experience in a dedicated adult congenital clinic at Child Cardiology Associates as well as laboratory sessions to participate in interventions such as VSD closure, PFO closures, and right heart catheterizations. Fellows will also have a longitudinal experience by working with Adult Congenital Clinic at Fairfax Hospital.