Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship

The curriculum of the cardiovascular fellowship training program is designed to meet the goals delineated by the American College of Cardiology Task Force for Training in Clinical Cardiology (COCATS) and the ACGME. The 36-month curriculum gives exposure to the essential rotations in general cardiology including:

• Four months of cardiac catheterization
• Six months of noninvasive imaging: echocardiography, nuclear imaging, cardiac MRI/MRA, CTA, and peripheral vascular imaging
• Six months general clinical cardiology: inpatient cardiology consultation, CCU, exercise testing, rehabilitation, ECG interpretation
• In the third year, fellows can devote more time to advanced training in invasive and noninvasive techniques as well as electives. The curriculum is designed in such a way as to allow fellows enough clinical months, depending on which electives they choose, to become COCATS level 2 eligible in echocardiography, nuclear imaging, and cardiac diagnostic catheterization.
• In addition, one block each year will be devoted to research. All fellows are required to complete at least one abstract per year and submit it to a national meeting. Ideally, each fellow should also submit one manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal during their three years of training.

Education has been a long-standing mission of Corewell Health/Michigan State University and Frederik Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute. Faculty have designed a dedicated lecture series designed for fellows addressing basic management of all aspects of cardiology specifically geared towards fellows during their first few months of training. In addition, the faculty have a list of conferences throughout the year that both fellows, attendings and staff are expected to attend. These include:

At the Frederik Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute, our cardiology faculty are actively involved in innovative clinical research. Clinical research is a part of our key strategic vision and cardiovascular has an active research portfolio that focuses on industry clinical trials, pre-clinical animal studies and, investigator-initiated studies. We have a large cardiovascular research department that provides support to our physicians and includes research nurses, coordinators, assistants, statisticians, budget negotiations, financial analysis, and Q&A.

Beside the clinical training in all subspecialties of cardiology we have a specific research academy for our fellows – The DeVos Research Academy. It provides a scientific training program to provide the tools to actively participate in our research projects. We have several research registries within critical care, mechanical circulatory support, electrophysiology, and coronary diseases.

The Frederik Meijer Heart and Vascular Institute also works in collaboration with numerous institutions across the globe, including Stanford, Karolinska Institute, Bonn University, Van Andel Research Institute, Michigan State University, and Grand Valley State University. Our experts are involved in multicenter clinical trials and investigator-initiated studies, in addition to a translational research division. Our clinical volumes have enabled us to become top enrollers in multiple trials such as the global Surgical Replacement and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation trial, where we were a top two enroller in the country.

The Corewell Health – Grand Rapids/Michigan State University Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship at the Corewell Health Frederick Meijer Heart & Vascular Institute is a one-year subspecialty fellowship designed to train cardiologists in the management of patients with advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support, heart transplantation, and pulmonary hypertension. At the completion of our program, fellows will be eligible for certification in the subspecialty of Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine and meet the requirements for UNOS certification as a heart transplant cardiologist.

The Corewell Health - Grand Rapids/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at Corewell Health Frederik Meijer Heart & Vascular Institute is a one-year subspecialty fellowship designed to train individuals to perform interventional procedures in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Fellows selected for this program will continue their education by gaining impressive, hands-on experience with laboratory hours, procedural participation, and patient interaction.

Interventional cardiology is an advancing section of the study of cardiovascular care. To continue improving the way we provide care for our patients, we aim to make our program one that will include top-of-the-line training opportunities with innovative technologies and ground-breaking techniques.

All positions for the program are filled through the National Residency Matching Program. Eligibility requirements for our fellowship program:

• Applications are only accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service only, paper applications will not be considered
• All applicants must possess U.S. work authorization or be eligible for J-1 status
• Applicants must have completed three years of United States postgraduate residency training in an ACGME- or RCPSC-accredited internal medicine program before entry into the fellowship program
• Applicants must be an MD or DO
• Applicants must have good communication skills

For more information, please contact Liz Charney, cardiovascular disease program coordinator.

Corewell Health provides a comprehensive and very competitive benefits package for our residents, staff, and their families. In addition, our program provides educational monies to support your ongoing education. Download our salary and benefits document to learn more.