Clinical Cardiac Surgery Curriculum
The clinical experience is central to learning to practice cardiothoracic surgery. A solid command of the pathophysiology of cardiothoracic disease processes and the mechanisms behind their treatments will be critical in providing optimal care. In order to help develop the fund of knowledge required to understand disease processes, formulate optimal treatment strategies, and make appropriate clinical decisions, we have implemented a defined didactic curriculum as a complement to the clinical experience of the residents.
This curriculum, which is based upon the Society of Thoracic Surgery Curriculum, is an 88 week program that covers topics in adult cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, and congenital cardiovascular disease. Assignments are composed of book chapters, journal articles, videos, and other media. Quizzes are available for review and assessment of knowledge. Every week, the material from each assignment is reviewed with faculty. Journal clubs, wet labs, and lectures regularly supplement the defined curriculum.
Research
The CCEP Fellow will participate in research pertaining to clinical or basic electrophysiology.
A meaningful experience will include discussion of hypothesis and study design, data acquisition, data analysis and submitting the study for peer review publication.
Further information is available through faculty profiles and the Cardiovascular Research Laboratories.
Our fellows also publish works that appear in various outlets. View a list of publications by past fellows.
Quality Improvement
The CCEP Fellow will participate in the review, analysis, and improvement of outcomes through quarterly QI conferences. CCEP Fellows will identify an area of potential quality improvement to develop a plan and implement clinical practice modifications to achieve improvement goals.
Curriculum
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology (CCEP) Fellows will spend 24 months training with the Cardiac Electrophysiology Service of the University of Maryland. This time will be distributed among well-defined experiences in a number of specific settings listed below, which are designed to assure that all educational objectives are met. By the completion of training, the CCEP Fellow will be expected to have become highly proficient in all aspects of clinical cardiac electrophysiology. In addition, the fellow will formulate a research hypothesis and design and perform a research project to test the hypothesis.
Trainees will fully learn the indication, contraindications, risks, limitations, sensitivity, specificity, predictive accuracy, and appropriate techniques for evaluating patients with a wide variety of both common and rare heart rhythm disorders. Examples of this content include:
- Sinus and Atrioventricular Node dysfunction
- Atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation
- Supraventricular tachycardia
- Ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation
- Inherited arrhythmia syndromes
- Neurocardiogenic syncope and related disorders
- Arrhythmias in pediatric and adult congenital heart disease patients
- Cardiac implantable electronic device: Implant, programming and management
- Non-Invasive risk stratification of arrhythmias and their sequelae
- Pharmacologic, interventional, and cardiovascular risk factor management of arrhythmias and their sequelae
The content will be gained through a multimodality curriculum that includes:
- Educational conferences and teaching rounds
- Outpatient longitudinal clinical experiences
- Outpatient and inpatient consultations
- Ambulatory care and remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices
- Peri-procedural care before, during and after electrophysiology studies, ablations, device implants and extractions
- Diagnostic electrophysiology studies and catheter ablation
- Pacemaker implantation: Transvenous and Leadless Pacemaker
- Cardiac resynchronization therapy: Biventricular Pacing, His bundle pacing
- Defibrillator implantation: Transvenous and Subcutaneous
- Transvenous lead extraction: Laser, mechanical and snare
- Left atrial appendage closure
- Interdisciplinary programs with cardiac surgery, pediatric cardiology, and cardiovascular genetics