Overview
During the three-year program, the pediatric cardiology fellow will acquire:
- A large knowledge base and the clinical and technical skills necessary to care for fetuses, infants, children, adolescents and young adults with congenital or acquired heart disease
- Fundamental skills of preparing and executing a research proposal including the preparation of research data for publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation of scientific papers at professional meetings
- Ability to review and evaluate research data in the cardiology literature
- Ability to teach the principles of pediatric cardiology to house staff, residents, and medical students
- Sophistication to function within a complex multi-disciplinary team as clinician, researcher, and educator
- Experience in identifying the psychosocial needs of patients and their families, and understand its impact on disease management and outcomes
Fellowship Program Design and Structure
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship is a 3-year ACGME accredited program as mandated by the Sub-board of Pediatric Cardiology of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The program has three primary missions: clinical care, education and research with outstanding faculty leadership in each area. The fellowship program focuses on the basic core areas of pediatric cardiology including: history and physical cardiac evaluation in the inpatient and ambulatory setting, long-term follow-up of patients, cardiac catheterization, echocardiography and other non-invasive imaging techniques, electrocardiography, electrophysiology, exercise physiology, neonatal and fetal cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, cardiac intensive care, transplantation, and consultation/liaison with affiliated hospitals. A minimum of eleven months is designated for research.
Third Year and Beyond
Increasingly, many fellows decide to develop a particular expertise within cardiology, either clinically or research oriented. For that reason, the third year of fellowship allows greater flexibility to pursue a specific academic interest. We also sponsor competitive fourth year fellowships for those interested in pursuing a physician-scientist pathway. These advanced fellowships will have a primary research focus, while also allowing for further acquisition of clinical skills in subspecialty areas of pediatric cardiology. Fellows may also participate in the University’s Clinical Research Training Program and receive either a certificate (one year) or Masters in Clinical Research (two years).