MUSC Children's Hospital Heart Program

Children’s Heart Program of South Carolina

Training

Fellowships

Program Description

Year 1
The first year of the fellowship is spent learning the clinical skills of a pediatric cardiologist with supervision by Faculty. The first month is split into 3 introductory 10-day blocks that expose the fellow to Inpatient Cardiology, Intensive Care Cardiology and Echocardiography. The rest of the year is spent learning skills in all of these areas as well as Cardiac Catheterization and Electrophysiology. For 3 months, the fellow is responsible for medical, preoperative and postoperative patients in the new, 12 bed, dedicated Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. This rotation provides an excellent opportunity to be exposed to the nuances of perioperative management and the team approach: the fellow is supervised by dedicated Pediatric Cardiology ICU Faculty as well as by the Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon. For 2 months the fellow is responsible for general (floor) inpatients with cardiac problems. He/she reports to the Attending Pediatric Cardiologist on service and conducts daily rounds with the latter, together with the Pediatric Cardiology Nurse Practitioner. The fellow supervises and teaches pediatric residents and medical students. For 3 months the fellow performs and interprets trans-thoracic echocardiograms; on this rotation, pediatric sonographers and faculty work together to train fellows in scanning and interpretation. For 3 months the fellow is assigned to the cardiac catheterization laboratory. He/she evaluates patients who are admitted for hemodynamic and interventional investigation, and interprets echocardiographic data on them prior to the catheterization. The fellow performs the catheterization and analyzes, presents, and reports the hemodynamic data afterwards. The remaining month consists of a rotation in electrophysiology, to develop skills in reading EKG's and Holters, and to assist in the performance of diagnostic and therapeutic intracardiac electrophysiologic procedures.

The outpatient experience for fellows consists of one day a week for the entire duration of the fellowship. This rotation is scheduled on a fixed day of the week, with a designated Faculty member. This provides fellows with the continuity of care that is a desirable part of the outpatient experience. Night and weekend call are taken every fourth to sixth night or weekend during the first year, decreasing in frequency over the subsequent three years.

Year 2
During the second year, trainees have a flexible schedule, with 4-5 months of protected research time; the latter is spent developing and implementing research projects under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Fellows are expected to present the progress and the results of these projects with a view to publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The remaining months are structured based on a combination of the individual fellow's subspecialty interests and the clinical needs of the program. Clinical rotations provide increasing autonomy as the fellow matures in skills and approach.

Years 3 and 4
Enrollment in the Master's of Science in Clinical Research program at MUSC is strongly recommended in the fall of year three. This two-year program is designed specifically to train individuals for leadership roles in academic medicine and clinical research, with the goal of success in obtaining extramural grant funding. This two-year program requires class work two afternoons a week for two years, and consists of a 38 academic credit hour curriculum that includes classroom lectures and seminars. This is a non-thesis program; students demonstrate their proficiency in clinical research by developing a grant suitable for submission to a funding agency. This graduation exercise is expected to occur in the summer of year four. The tuition for this program is covered by our program's institutional training (T32) grant. Our Division is committed to the success of fellows who enroll in this program, but it requires hard work and commitment to be able to balance the demands of the MSCR with the clinical demands of the fellowship training program.

Clinical rotations during the third and fourth year are structured based on a combination of the individual fellow's subspecialty interests and the clinical needs of the program. Clinical rotations provide increasing autonomy as the fellow matures in skills and approach.

Schedule of Conferences
The following schedule of conferences is provided around the year:

Preoperative Patient Care Conference: Weekly, 1.5 hours
Medical Patient Care Conference: Every 2 weeks, 1 hour
Didactic Lecture (78-week rotating curriculum based on ACC guidelines): Weekly, 1 hour
Mortality and Morbidity Conference: Every month, 1 hour
Clinical Research Conference: Every 2 months, 1 hour
Echocardiography Quality Assurance Conference: Every 2 months, 1 hour
Journal Club: Every 2 months, 1 hour

We accept the Uniform Application for Fellowship Application (doc).

Please note the following specific additional applicant requirements:

Due to the requirements of the Institutional Training (T32) Grant, we are only able to fund fellowship training for applicants who are US Citizens or Permanent Residents (Green Card Holders).

In addition to the application, applicants are asked to submit:

CV
A statement about their career goals as a pediatric cardiologist
USMLE scores, Step 1, 2 and 3 (formerly National Board scores, Parts 1, 2, and 3)
Transcript from medical school
ECFMG Certificate (if applicable)
At least 3 letters of recommendation
A recent photograph (optional)

In personal statements, please be sure to include details of special strengths and goals that you believe will be helpful to our consideration of your application. Please mail the completed application packet to:

Girish Shirali, MD
MUSC
165 Ashley Avenue
PO Box 250915
Charleston, SC 29425