Training & Curriculum
The one-year clinical fellowship includes experience in inpatient care (intensive care, step-down and consultative services), outpatient clinics, and time in the endomyocardial biopsy suite.
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship training is outlined below:
Heart Failure
- Inpatient care services for:
- Patients with heart failure after cardiothoracic surgery
- Patients for whom specialized heart failure management is requested
- Patients admitted for heart transplant evaluation
- Patients actively listed for heart transplantation admitted with cardiac or non-cardiac diagnoses
- Patients with heart failure after cardiothoracic surgery
- Inpatient management of patients with advanced heart failure, including:
- Managing acute decompensated heart failure
- Managing cardiogenic shock, including inotropic therapy
- Indicating, placing and interpreting right heart catheterization
- Indicating, placing and troubleshooting intra-aortic balloon pumps
- Indicating emergent mechanical circulatory support
- Managing end-of-life care and hospice
- Managing acute decompensated heart failure
- Outpatient management of patients with advanced heart failure, including:
- Optimizing the heart failure medication regimen
- Diagnosing, interpreting and managing arrhythmias in heart failure
- Identifying candidates for defibrillator and cardiac resynchronization therapy
- Interpreting noninvasive tests, such as echocardiography and cardiopulmonary stress testing
- Managing patients after hospital discharge
- Managing outpatient inotropic therapy
- Managing end-of-life care
- Optimizing the heart failure medication regimen
- Evaluation of patients for heart transplantation, including:
- Identifying candidates for transplantation (indications, contraindications and evaluation process)
- Identifying candidates for mechanical circulatory support
- Evaluating and managing patients with anti-HLA antibodies awaiting transplantation
- Identifying candidates for transplantation (indications, contraindications and evaluation process)
Heart Transplantation
- Inpatient management of heart transplantation, including:
- Evaluation of the potential transplant donor
- Understanding the process of organ procurement and harvesting
- Assistance/observation of cardiac transplant surgery
- Immediate postoperative management of heart transplant recipients
- Understanding the role of induction therapy
- Management of post-transplant arrhythmias
- Diagnosis and management of hemodynamically compromised rejection
- Treatment of heart transplant recipients re-admitted with cardiac or non-cardiac diagnoses
- Evaluation of the potential transplant donor
- Outpatient management of heart transplantation, including:
- Appreciation of the role of the heart transplant coordinator in the heart transplant clinic
- Understanding the tailored approach to interpretation and management of immunosuppression
- Interpretation of echocardiograms post heart transplantation
- Performance and interpretation of endomyocardial biopsies
- Indications for and interpretation of anti-HLA antibody assessment
- Diagnosis and management of acute cellular and humoral rejection
- Performance and interpretation of coronary angiograms for diagnosis and management of transplant vasculopathy
- Management of non-cardiac complications, including nephropathy, infections and malignancy
- Appreciation of the role of the heart transplant coordinator in the heart transplant clinic
Mechanical Circulatory Support
- Evaluation of patients for mechanical circulatory support, including:
- Identifying indications (bridge to recovery, bridge to transplant, or destination therapy)
- Identifying devices (percutaneous vs. implanted; biventricular vs. left-ventricular)
- Consulting with cardiothoracic surgery regarding indications, timing and device selection
- Identifying indications (bridge to recovery, bridge to transplant, or destination therapy)
- Device management, including:
- Working closely with cardiothoracic surgery for immediate and long-term management
- Managing postoperative complications
- Troubleshooting device complications
- Working closely with cardiothoracic surgery for immediate and long-term management
Have Questions or Need Help?
If you have questions or would like to learn more about Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology (AHFTC) Fellowships at Cedars-Sinai, please call or send us a message.