Educational Purpose

The primary purpose of the advanced training program in Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant and Pulmonary Hypertension is to provide subspecialty training for the individual who has completed a 3-year cardiology fellowship and wishes to specialize in advanced heart failure, cardiac transplant, and pulmonary hypertension medicine. The 12 month clinical training program will be divided into approximately 50% inpatient care and 50% spent developing clinical skills in the ambulatory setting including; outpatient evaluation of patients with heart failure, cardiomyopathies, pulmonary hypertension, post-transplant cardiac allograft, and adult congenital heart disease. During this ambulatory time, invasive laboratory skills will be developed focusing on endomyocardial biopsies and invasive hemodynamic assessment of the heart failure patients.

The primary purpose will be met by developing and enhancing the trainee’s skills: 1) in the clinical assessment of the advanced heart failure patient (e.g ACC/AHA clinical stages C and D) and assessing candidacy for advanced heart failure therapeutics (including inotrope support, intraaortic balloon pump (IABP), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), ventricular assist device (VAD), and cardiac transplantation); 2) in the clinical assessment of pulmonary hypertension and use of pulmonary vasodilator therapy; 3) in communicating findings and diagnostic/therapeutic plans to the patient and family as well as the patient’s primary care physician; and 4) in leadership and teaching of residents and general cardiology fellows that are otherwise caring for the patient or rotating through the Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant service.