The University of Connecticut/Hartford Hospital Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program consists of a 3-year blend of Clinical Cardiology, subspecialty training, and research. Hartford Hospital is one of the largest cardiovascular volume hospitals in the New England area and exposes the fellows to a wide range of cases, to prepare the fellow for future cardiovascular practice.

The 1st year is primarily clinical and includes the consultation service, coronary care unit, and subspecialties of arrhythmia, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology, cardiac catheterization, and congestive heart failure including a month set aside for research. The duties of the fellows are to gain knowledge in the various subspecialties and how they interact with clinical cardiology. Early exposure to subspecialties that separates the cardiology fellow from their internal medicine background prior to CICU and Consultation rotations is an important factor of the first year.

The 2nd year is a similar format to the 1st year rotation with the exception of 2 months of research, one month of preventive cardiology and elective time. In the 2nd year the fellow has more in depth exposure to clinical cardiovascular medicine as well as each of the subspecialties, and assumes greater responsibilities.

The 3rd year fellow can choose two pathways between invasive and non-invasive cardiology. If the fellow chooses the invasive pathway, 9 months are spent in the cardiac catheterization laboratory and 3 months in research. A non-invasive pathway includes rotations in nuclear cardiology, echocardiography, and 3 months of research, which can be tailored to the individual fellow needs. Opportunities for training includes Vascular Medicine, CT/MR, Coronary CTA, and Cardiac CTA.

Conference Schedule

The fellows attend daily conferences, which include non-invasive cardiology, cardiac catheterization, arrhythmia/ECG, journal club, cardiology grand rounds, lipid management, research combined surgical/cardiac rounds and chief’s rounds. For each lecture series, presentations include basic descriptions of the subspecialty as well as clinical discussions. Cardiology grand rounds consists of nationally recognized speakers discussing all relevant topics in cardiology. Once a month the fellows have the opportunity to meet with and present cases to an outside expert.

In addition, the fellows undergo a 2-month course in cardiovascular diseases in July and August of each year. This course is designed to acquaint the incoming fellows with acute situations they may encounter as well as topics that may not be covered in other venues.