Curriculum

Our CCU has 20 beds and sees a broad variety of pathology including cardiogenic shock, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, endocarditis, arrhythmias, and peri-procedural/structural cases. The team consists of a teaching attending, residents, a pharmacist, and the 1st year cardiology fellow. In addition to a fantastic nursing staff, we also have a portable C-arm for bedside fluoroscopy for placement of Swan-Ganz catheters and transvenous pacemakers. The CCU fellow is also responsible for responding to any STEMI activations in the emergency room. We are excited to begin incorporating more hands-on LVAD education as we build out this program clinically under the direction of Dr. Doug Horstmanshoff. Fellows find the three months in the CCU challenging and rewarding with high procedural volume and great educational opportunities.

The consult rotation is a well-structured, high-volume service with daily rounding by our academic faculty. The team consists of residents, medical students, and the cardiology fellow. The fellow leads the team and is responsible for organizing rounds and initial decision making. Each fellow rotates on this service once per year at the University Hospital.

Our renowned catheterization lab at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital is a special rotation for fellows at every training level. We have six catheterization labs including two hybrid catheterization/OR labs. Not only is there substantial volume (fellows can expect over 50-60 procedures each month), but our fellows get in-depth, one-on-one instruction by our experienced teaching faculty operators. That is to say, we never have two general cardiology fellows in the same lab, even in the first year. By the end of the first year, fellows are competent in obtaining femoral and radial access and performing diagnostic angiograms comfortably. The lab annually ranks in the top 10 nationally among PCI volume and was the site of many “firsts” including the first TAVR done in North America.

We regard the ability to read ECGs highly and have dedicated 3 months to our heart station rotation during which fellows read approximately 1000 ECGs monthly with comprehensive feedback. For some months, this rotation is paired with either nuclear cardiology and has simultaneous cardiac rehabilitation education.

One of our primary goals for you during fellowship is to be an outstanding clinical cardiologist, and we recognize that core to that is to be comfortable in ordering the right test for the right patient at the right time. Our strong imaging foundation during your training will allow you to become adept with all facets of cardiac diagnostics including performance/protocolization and interpretation. 

Our CT program is exceptionally strong with a storied history. We have three months dedicated to the mastery of cardiac CT fundamentals, acquisition, and interpretation. You will sit shoulder to shoulder with our faculty with the goal of becoming an expert coronary reader and also learn the fundamentals of structural CT interpretation. All of our fellows take and pass the Cardiac CT board exam (CBCCT). We feel this is a unique strength of our program as CT is increasingly recommended as a first line strategy for evaluation of chest pain.