Curriculum
Clinical training
The Cardiology, Echocardiography Fellowship program at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, includes no less than six months of dedicated clinical training in transthoracic echocardiography, stress echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography (including 3-D), interventional echocardiography, and intraoperative echocardiography.
You are encouraged to pursue echo-related research during the fellowship and will be provided ample opportunities, including time to design and participate in prospective and/or retrospective studies. You are expected on completion of one year to have mastered performing and interpreting of all aspects of echocardiography as well as a detailed understanding of running and maintaining an echocardiography laboratory resulting in Level 3 certification in Echocardiography.
In addition, you will be given flexibility in your schedule by way of elective time to enhance and fine-tune your priorities. This time can be used to focus specifically on one or more aspects of echocardiography or to consider the pursuit of advanced credentialing (Level 2) in other imaging modalities including cardiac CT (Computed Tomography), cardiac MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), or nuclear cardiology.
Rotations schedule
The rotations schedule is designed to be flexible as well as to be tailored to your future goals. Rotations are designed to maximize and concentrate exposure to the imaging technique for that rotation. In addition, all rotations will include built-in clinic, research, and education time.
A typical schedule in the fellowship includes:
- Three days a week you will be training in the dedicated imaging laboratory assigned for that rotation. You are expected to participate in quality control, protocolization, and image acquisition for studies coming to that Laboratory. You are expected to interpret the results and enter these results into a standardized report utilizing reporting software and the electronic health record.
- One day a week you will participate in imaging guidance for structural procedures in the catheterization laboratory. This includes reviewing and measuring cross sectional and echocardiographic imaging performed in preparation for the procedure as well as direct participation in image acquisition for procedural guidance. You will also be expected to participate in the dedicated structural planning and selection meetings.
- One half day a week you will be spending it in a rotating cardiovascular subspecialty clinic, these clinics include but are not exclusive to Adult Congenital, Structural/Valvular Heart Disease, Heart Brain Clinic, Cardio-Oncology, Women’s Heart, and Vascular Disease.
- One half day a week in education/research time you are expected to create and present at least one research project and fulfill the requirements for the dedicated lecture series for general cardiology fellows and medicine residents.
Call frequency
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science follows the recommendations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This fellowship does not require any overnight, in-house, or at-home call.
Research training
You are required to conduct some type of scholarly activity during the fellowship. Research projects can be in the form of a chart review, a case report, or an original investigation. You will be paired with a research mentor chosen in your area of interest to assist in guidance of all aspects of your project. This ensures completion of the project as well as providing one-on-one time to learn the intricacies of IRB (Institutional Review Board) management and medical publication. There is an expectation of completion of the project prior to the completion of the final fellowship rotation. You are expected to formally present your project. You are strongly encouraged but not obligated to present your works at society meetings during that year and subsequent.
Didactic training
Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs, and one-on-one instruction are integral parts of this fellowship. You are expected to observe and actively participate in these conferences. You will be expected to create an educational curriculum during your fellowship presenting and educating general cardiology fellows and medicine residents. This includes the expectation to present monthly one-hour didactics for general fellows and residents spanning a variety of topics in Echocardiography and cardiac imaging. An outline of this curriculum will be created between you and the program directors during the first rotation of the year.
.jpg)
Evaluation
To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop appropriate technical skills, individual performance is monitored carefully during the course of the program. At the start of the fellowship, you will review with the program directors the expectations for the year including a review of the milestones and expectations for knowledge and expertise. These expectations will be in a graded fashion with outlined benchmarks for mastery of specific aspects of Echocardiography. Failure to meet expectations or complete mastery of specific concepts will result in loss of elective time to ensure adequate exposure to master expectations.
You will be evaluated formally by supervising faculty members after each clinical rotation and meet with the program director to review these evaluations. This is accomplished through the MedHub electronic process available 24/7 from any Mayo Clinic workstation or via remote access. MedHub is linked to the six core competencies identified by the ACGME (Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism, Practice-Based Learning and Improvement, and Systems-Based Practice).
Completed faculty evaluations are reviewed by the program director and are immediately available to you electronically in the MedHub system. You also have an opportunity to complete an evaluation of faculty after each rotation, as well as an evaluation of the program on an annual basis to ensure that your educational needs are being met.