Program Information
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Fellowship Program
UVA’s Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology fellowship is an ACGME-accredited one-year training program. It is designed for fellows who have already completed a cardiovascular disease fellowship and are seeking additional expertise in the care of advanced heart failure patients. Training is clinically based, with experience in both the outpatient and inpatient settings.
Program Goals
Goals for the Heart Failure and Transplant Fellowship program include the following:
- Successful completion of the certifying ABIM Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Examination, which covers:
- Prevention
- Evaluation
- Management
- Procedures
- Disease management
- Basic mechanisms
- Completion of United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) certification in heart transplantation
- Familiarity with and expertise in working in a team environment composed of housestaff at all levels of training, attending physicians from many disciplines, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and other ancillary support staff.
- Conducting mentored clinical research
Inpatient Service
The inpatient service cares for patients admitted with advanced heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular assist devices, and heart transplants. In addition, consultation is provided to the cardiac surgery service for the perioperative management of high risk patients, as well as other inpatient services. The fellow is expected to be an integral part of all aspects of the inpatient service.
Outpatient Service
The outpatient service is centered around a busy clinic schedule. Clinics focus on heart failure, LVAD/ transplant, and pulmonary hypertension.
Procedural Training
Procedural training includes cardiac catheterization, endomyocardial biopsy, and transesophageal echocardiography. In addition, fellows become adept at interrogation and programming of pacemakers, ICDs, and left ventricular assist devices.
Participation in the multiple educational activities for all cardiology fellows is strongly encouraged. Activities include monthly Journal Club, weekly Cardiology Grand Rounds, weekly Imaging conferences, weekly Cath Conference, and monthly M&M. There is also a monthly Translational Research conference. In addition, the Advanced Heart Failure Fellow is encouraged to attend the yearly Mechanical Circulatory Support conference hosted by Thoratec and a national conference such as HFSA or ISHLT.