Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship

Overview

Fellows treat arrhythmia patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings to observe, diagnose, manage and judge the effectiveness of treatments for these patients. Fellows are given the opportunity to assume continuing and increasing responsibility for both acutely and chronically ill patients to learn the natural history of a wide variety of cardiac arrhythmias and how to treat them.

Moreover, each fellow spends a half day each week in one of the arrhythmia outpatient clinics. The fellows rotate among each of the EP faculty clinics as well as the outpatient device clinic, thus affording trainees the opportunity to observe and manage patients longitudinally and to gain experience with device follow-up and management. 

In addition to didactics, fellows have worked with pharmaceutical companies serving as teachers in their ACC-sponsored programs-for-education initiatives.

Procedures

Fellows are trained on advanced procedures, including:

• Cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation
• Ischemic VT ablations using CARTO and ESI mapping systems
• Laser lead extraction of devices
• Left atrial appendage closure device
• Leadless pacemaker

Throughout training, fellows are also given increasing responsibility in invasive and non-invasive procedures in the EP laboratory. These procedures include:

• Diagnostic EP studies
• Arrhythmia mapping
• Catheter ablation for supraventricular tachycardias, ventricular tachycardias and pacemaker
• ICD
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy device implantations
• Cardioversions
• Tilt table tests

Current EP Fellow First Year Case Numbers

Conferences

• EKG Conference
• Cardiology Grand Rounds
• Cardiology Echocardiography Conference
• Cardiology Catheterization Conference
• Cardiology Section or M&M Meeting
• Internal Medicine Grand Rounds

Research

Fellows are expected to initiate a research project pertaining to clinical or basic electrophysiology within the first month. During this time, one half day per week will be allotted for research.

A meaningful experience will include discussion and formulation of hypothesis and study design. Subsequent rotations will allow performance of the study and data acquisition, data analysis, and preparation of a study summary in abstract and/or manuscript form, which will be presented locally and submitted for peer review and publication.