Training Program in Pediatric Cardiology at Yale
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.
The Program
The Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Program at Yale School of Medicine is a three-year program designed to train board-eligible pediatricians for a career in academic pediatric cardiology. The fellowship's strength lies in the close working relationship between faculty and fellows and a strong emphasis on participatory learning. A total of 6 fellows matriculate through the program at any given time.
The faculty includes members with specific expertise in echocardiography, exercise physiology, interventional catheterization, adult congenital heart disease, heart failure, electrophysiology, genetics, developmental biology, and general cardiology.
The entire training is received at Yale School of Medicine and the Children's Hospital at Yale New Haven. The clinical facilities include a fully digital echocardiography laboratory, a state of the art pediatric hybrid catheterization laboratory, pediatric exercise laboratory, and cardiac MRI and CT.
The first year of training is designed to provide concentrated exposure to clinical pediatric cardiology in order to facilitate rapid knowledge acquisition and clinical skill development. Fellows are assigned to echocardiography, invasive cardiology, and inpatient service in month-long blocks that rotate throughout the year. In addition, fellows are assigned to a weekly half-day outpatient clinic throughout the 3 years. The clinic day and faculty member rotate every 6 months. The third year of fellowship is quite flexible and allows individual fellows to concentrate their learning within a specific area for much of the year. For example, some fellows opt to spend dedicated time in the echo lab to advance their echo reading skills and their transesophgeal echocardiography skills.
In addition to the hands-on learning opportunities, teaching conferences occur on multiple days of the week. These include weekly echocardiography, catheterization, and electrophysiology conferences. EKG reading sessions and a Chief conference occur weekly as well. A weekly multidisciplinary “core lecture series” provides didactic sessions on a wide variety of topics. In addition a Pediatric Department wide fellows conference occurs weekly and addresses topics common to all pediatric fellowship programs – biostatistics, research design, abstract writing, ethics, etc.
The congenital cardiology program at Yale has a long history of major contributions to the field of pediatric cardiology and congenital cardiac surgery. Clinical and basic science research opportunities abound within the division and across multiple disciplines within the medical school. Dr. Martina Brueckner, a member of the cardiology faculty, heads up the “Genetics of human heterotaxy and aortic arch malformations study,” a project under the larger multicenter Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium. Fellow projects often span multiple disciplines and involve faculty from areas such as surgery, adult cardiology, ICU, and nuclear medicine. Fellows are assigned two two-week research blocks in their 1st year. Research time increases to 5 months and 6 months in the 2nd and 3rd years. Recent fellow projects can be reviewed on the Pediatric Cardiology Research page.
New Haven is a vibrant and exciting small city. The picturesque Yale University campus lies at the heart of downtown New Haven. The city offers a wide variety of exceptional restaurants and entertainment opportunities. Hiking, biking, swimming and other outdoor activities are minutes away. New York City is accessible by train in about 90 minutes.
Those interested in applying for fellowship training should address inquires to Dr. Robert Elder, Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Program Director.
c/o Massima Lunato
Section of Pediatric Cardiology
Yale University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 208064
333 Cedar Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8064
Phone: (203) 785-2022
We participate in the National Resident Match Program and accept applications through ERAS.