Advanced Cardiac Imaging Fellowship

Advanced Non-Invasive Cardiac Imaging Fellowship

The BIDMC Advanced Non-invasive Cardiac Imaging Fellowship is intended to provide Level III training in CMR and echocardiography to future leaders in non-invasive imaging. The program is rigorous in training and research expectation. The fellowship was established in 1998 to accommodate the educational needs of recent graduates of a cardiovascular disease fellowship program who desired additional training in advanced non-invasive cardiac imaging.

Facilities

Echocardiography: The BIDMC Echocardiography laboratory is a state-of-the-art fully digital laboratory that includes 10 high end systems (GE Vivid e95 echocardiographs with full 2D and 3D capabilities), four portable systems (GE Vivid s70 echocardiographs), and 3 hand held echocardiographs (GE V scan; Butterfly IQ). In addition, there are three 3D and one pediatric TEE probes. The laboratory performs over 20,000 echocardiographic studies annually, including ~16,000 TTEs, 1000 TEEs, and 1800 stress echoes. All studies are interpreted by attendings who have passed the American Board of Echocardiography special competency examination in echocardiography.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance: The BIDMC Cardiac MR Center was established in 1995 as the second such dedicated CMR center in the United States. A joint effort with the Department of Radiology, the Center includes a state-of-the-art 3T dedicated CMR system [Siemens Vida] located on the EAST campus. The center performs over 1500 CMR studies annually, of which -50% are clinical studies (ventricular function, viability, cardiomyopathy, pericardial disease, valvular disease, and coronary anatomy). Daily clinical readout occurs with both cardiology and radiology attending and fellowship staff.

Curriculum

A dedicated 12-24 months advanced cardiac imaging program is offered in which the individual will focus on one or more aspects of advanced cardiac imaging. Active participation in the CMR/Echo Center research and clinical activities is expected with advancement to Level III training.

In the first 12 months, the fellow will complete training in cardiovascular magnetic resonance consisting of:

A minimum of 50 hours of didactic lectures to include CMR related issues of physics, studies of biologic effects, instrumentation, contrast agent mechanisms, cardiovascular anatomy, cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology, magnetic resonance techniques and pulse sequences, understanding the indications, methods for interpretation, use of stress agents, and quality control.
Supervised interpretation of at least 300 CMR (original and case review) studies representing the range of abnormalities observed in clinical practice – including but not limited to assessment of valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, pericardial disease, and aortic disease and to include substantial proportions (>25%) of both cardiac and vascular studies. For at least 100 studies, the trainee will be present at the time of the scan and the trainee will perform the analysis and make the initial interpretation.
Attendance and active participation in weekly cardiology grand rounds, weekly cardiology clinical conference, weekly non-invasive cardiac imaging research conference, weekly advanced cardiac imaging conference, weekly CMR research conference, bimonthly case based cardiac imaging conference, and annual Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance.
Active participation in an imaging research program.

The second 12 months the fellow will complete training on Echocardiography consisting of:

A minimum of 10 hours of didactic lectures to include principles of stress echo and transesophageal echocardiography including instrumentation, echocardiography techniques, understanding the indications, methods for interpretation, use of stress agents, and quality control.
Supervised interpretation of at least 300 transthoracic resting echocardiograms, 100 stress echocardiograms and 100 transesophageal echocardiograms representing the range of abnormalities observed in clinical practice. For all transthoracic studies, the trainee will make the initial interpretation. For at least 30 stress studies, the trainee will be present at the time of the stress echo. For at least 100 stress echocardiograms, the trainee will perform the initial interpretation. For all TEE studies, the trainee will perform the scan, the analysis and make the initial interpretation.
Attendance and active participation in weekly cardiology grand rounds, weekly cardiology clinical conference, weekly non-invasive cardiac imaging research conference, weekly advanced cardiac imaging conference, and biweekly case based cardiac imaging conference.
Active participation in imaging research program.

Leadership

Warren Manning, MD
Director of the Advanced Cardiac Imaging
Fellowship Program

How to Apply

Deadline

Applications are considered year-round.

Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements for application are:

Completion of a 3-year cardiovascular fellowship or general radiology residency
Personal statement
Curriculum Vitae
Three letters of recommendation. One letter must be from the program director of your internal medicine training and one from the program director of your general cardiology fellowship.
It is not mandatory but helpful for you to submit a photograph and your USMLE scores. Please note that this is not an ERAS application.

Prerequisite Training/Selection Criteria

CMR applicants: All applicants are expected to be ABIM certified in internal medicine and to have completed an ACGME accredited fellowship in cardiovascular diseases; or to be board certified in radiology or nuclear medicine.

Echocardiographic applicants: All applicants are expected to be board certified in internal medicine and to have completed an ACGME accredited fellowship in cardiovascular diseases.

Number of Trainees

Maximum of 2/year in CMR
Maximum of 2/year in echocardiography

Submission

Please email your materials to:

Warren Manning, MD
c/o Jacquelynn White