Clinical rotations are arranged in 2 or 4 week blocks. Clinical time is divided between the inpatient service, time in the combined cardiac intensive care unit, the echocardiography lab, and the catheterization and interventional electrophysiology suites. Over the 3-year fellowship, fellows will spend approximately 7 months in the echocardiography lab, 6 months in the catheterization lab, and 7 months on the inpatient service. There are 6-7 additional months of elective time that can be used to pursue clinical or research interests. Clinical duties for the cardiology fellow will occur primarily at the American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH) and Unity Point Health Meriter Hospital. General outlines of each clinical block are listed below.
Inpatient Service
- Daily rounds on all patients and consults on the Pediatric Cardiology service at AFCH
- Post-operative evaluation of all surgical patients
- Combined daily rounds on post-operative patients with the pediatric ICU and cardiothoracic surgical teams at AFCH
- Perform consults throughout AFCH and the Meriter NICU as needed
- Home call when on service
- Assist with resident and medical student education
- First call for all UW pediatric cardiology phone consults or patient questions
Catheterization lab/electrophysiology Service
- Assist with all cardiac catheterizations performed during this rotation
- Perform pre-procedural evaluations, consent and case planning
- Assist with all interventional EP procedures performed during this rotation
- Attend pacemaker clinics with EP faculty and APPs
Echocardiography
- First year fellows learn to perform and interpret transthoracic echocardiograms, focusing on image acquisition and optimization
- Second and third year fellows refine their transthoracic skills and learn advanced techniques and have the opportunity to learn fetal and transesophageal echocardiograms
Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
- 2 blocks distributed in first and second year
- Integrated into the PICU team and assigned cardiac patients
- Increasing responsibility based on experience, interest, and comfort
- Occasional in-house night call based on surgical schedule
Electives
Fellows can elect to spend time in the following areas depending upon interest and career goals. A total of 5-6 months of elective time is available. Options include but are not limited to:
- Cardiac Critical Care
- Advanced Imaging (Transesophageal, Fetal, Cardiac MRI)
- Advanced Heart Failure
- CT Surgery/Perfusion
- Teaching/Simulation
- Adult Congenital Heart Disease
- Exercise/Hemodynamics
- Advanced Catheterization
- Advanced Electrophysiology
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine