The goals of the cardiology fellowship program trainee are to acquire Level 1 training in cardiac MRI and cardiac CT which focuses on basic understanding and familiarity with these newer cardiac imaging modalities. This is accomplished by reviewing the ACC-SAP in Cardiac MRI and CT and attending the core curriculum lecture series geared to cardiac CT and MRI. Cardiac MRI studies maybe reviewed at the workstation in Radiology or in the UI Hospitals & Clinics echocardiography laboratory. Cardiac CT studies maybe reviewed at the workstation in Radiology or the workstation installed in the Cardiology Division in the Cardiac Catheterization laboratory film review area. Fellows will be expected to participate in the performance and interpretation of cardiac CT studies during the VA outpatient and inpatient blocks and occasionally on the UI Hospitals & Clinics consult and echocardiography laboratory rotations. Fellows are encouraged to participate in the performance and interpretation of Cardiac MRI studies during their UI Hospitals & Clinics echocardiography laboratory rotation. Level 1 training in cardiac CT and MRI includes mentored interpretation of 50 cases.

Advanced training in CT and MRI are offered for fellows who select cardiac imaging as their major career focus. The fellowship will allocate 12 months’ fellow effort to this training, either as a component of the individual fellow’s academic/research block, or as an additional year of training following completion of 36 months in the Cardiovascular Diseases fellowship. Each fellow will assume graduated responsibility for completion of CT or MRI studies, including patient selection, image acquisition, image analysis, data reporting and consultation with the referring physician. In addition, each fellow who selects this career path will engage in at least one research project that is centered on advanced imaging. COCATS 3 certification at our institution requires demonstration of independence in all aspects of clinical CT or MRI and, in addition, requires at least one peer review publication.