Thank you for your interest in the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program at Albert Einstein Medical Center. We take pride in our commitment to offering high quality graduate medical education programs and to providing high quality medical care to the North Philadelphia community.

In addition to the three year cardiology fellowship program, Einstein offers a one year ACGME-accredited interventional cardiology program. The program accepts two qualified fellows each year.

To learn more about our program, please contact us. Contact information can be found under Application Information.

Application Information

The outstanding and special features of the program include the following:

In June 1999 Einstein Heart Institute opened in the newly constructed Minerva and Fred Braemer Heart Center - a state-of-the-art digital catheterization laboratory and outpatient cardiac center, The facility also includes a 16-bed coronary care unit (CCU), an eight bed CICU (post-angioplasty patients), three permanent cardiac catheterization laboratories, a state-of-the-art electrophysiology laboratory, two stress ECG laboratories, state-of-the-art SPECT nuclear technology, three diagnostic echocardiography laboratories, four color flow Doppler imaging units with transesophageal capabilities and a cardiac MRI unit. In addition, three extensive cardiovascular surgical operating suites are available and a separate post-operative heart surgical unit (HSU). A dedicated color flow, two-dimensional echo machine with transesophageal echocardiography capabilities is currently stationed in the operating room. In addition, intravascular ultrasound capability is present in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

The program has a diverse patient population with multiple pathologies which include both acute and chronic heart disease. The patient volume far exceeds the number of interventions required for each interventional cardiology resident during his one year of training. There is a nice mix of cases which present acutely to the Medical Center and patients referred from tertiary centers.

The quality of the faculty is excellent. Each of the three key faculty members have extensive experience in interventional techniques as well as research in cardiovascular disease. The other professional faculty also is excellent and contribute significantly to the education of the interventional cardiology residents.

The interventional laboratory has a close working relationship with other areas of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. Specifically, the catheterization laboratory has 24 hour cardiothoracic coverage to assist in the evaluation of acutely ill patients with cardiac disease. There are three cardiothoracic operating rooms which provide constant surgical support for the catheterization laboratory.

The interventional laboratory has a long tradition of clinical research. The key faculty members participate in independent projects as well as multi-center clinical interventional trials.

The interventional laboratory has a computerized database for tracking the results and complications of interventional procedures. The system is set up to compare the results to those of the national standards set up by the American College of Cardiology. The interventional laboratory has a dedicated quality improvement nurse to assist the interventional cardiology resident in learning the details of the quality improvement process.

The interventional faculty is fully experienced in the use of new interventional technology. These devices include doppler wire, intravascular ultrasound, TEC, directional coronary artherctomy, rotational arthrectomy and stent placement.

The interventional program has graduated several excellent intervenetionalists. The alumni have been extremely successful in their careers in intervention.

Fellow Duties/Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the interventional cardiology resident generally pertain to the planning, performance and follow-up of interventional cardiology procedures. Specifically, the interventional cardiology resident is expected to evaluate patients requiring interventional procedures. This evaluation should include a focused history and physical as it pertains to the indications, contraindications and planning of the proposed interventional procedure. In addition, the interventional cardiology resident is responsible for reviewing the pertinent laboratories and diagnostic procedures already performed. This certainly includes but is not limited to the review of the diagnostic catheterization. The interventional cardiology resident is expected to discuss the indications, contraindications, risks and alternate therapies with the patient prior to the interventional procedure.

The interventional cardiology resident is expected to write any pre-procedural orders such as sedation, intravenous fluid and anticoagulants. Prior to the interventional procedure, the interventional cardiology resident is expected to present his/her plan for performance of the intervention to the responsible interventional cardiology attending. During the interventional procedure, the interventional cardiology resident performs procedures under the direct supervision of the interventional cardiology attending. Following the procedure, the interventional cardiology resident is expected to write a procedure note indicating the diagnosis, the type of procedure performed, the relative success of the procedure and any complications that may have occurred. Additionally, the interventional cardiology resident writes post-procedure orders and reviews the angiographic and hemodynamic findings with the interventional cardiology attending.

If the interventional patients are being cared for by a cardiovascular disease resident, the interventional cardiology resident is expected to discuss the findings of the case in detail so that the cardiovascular disease resident can take care of the patient at this point. If the patient is being cared for by a medical resident or a physician assistant, the interventional cardiology resident is expected to communicate the findings with the appropriate responsible physician or physician assistant. The interventional cardiology resident is expected to arrange or perform removal of the arterial sheath following the procedure. The following day the interventional cardiology resident is expected to round on the patient to assess for the benefits of the procedure and to assess for any possible complications.

These duties and responsibilities are in contrast to the cardiovascular disease resident who may, depending on his/her service assignment, follow the patient throughout the hospital stay under the supervision of the attending cardiology staff. Often the cardiovascular disease resident serves as consultant and although he/she follows the same patient as the interventional cardiology resident, he/she follows them from a cardiac and non-interventional point of view. Alternatively, cardiovascular disease residents performing a cardiac catheterization rotation may work under the guidance of the more senior interventional cardiology resident. This is specifically true in the preparation of cardiac catheterization conference where the more senior interventional cardiology resident may supervise the cardiovascular disease resident in the preparation of conference.