Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship
Program Director's Welcome
Our three-year program offers comprehensive training in the field of pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease within a diverse and multicultural environment. The unique infrastructure provided by the University of Miami/Jackson Health System allows for the seamless care of the fetus through adult with congenital heart disease.
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Fellows will learn pediatric cardiology under experienced faculty mentors. The trainees have the opportunity to work as part of a multidisciplinary team in helping coordinate the care of a complex patient population with diverse needs. This includes exposure to fetal cardiology, adults with congenital heart disease and transplant cardiology. They will also participate in the education of trainees at multiple levels including fellows, residents and medical students (local and international).
Additionally, fellows are encouraged to develop their own research projects or participate in ongoing research under the mentorship of the faculty, and present at local and national meetings.
-Sethuraman Swaminathan, MD
Clinical Experience
Rotation/Call Schedule
The chief fellow organizes the yearly rotation schedule which is sent for approval by the program director prior to start. The rotation schedule is divided in 2 week blocks (with the exception of cardiac cath which is instituted in 4 week blocks). In keeping with the ACGME accreditation requirements, over the three year period fellows will be expected to complete 6 months of cath, 6 months of inpatient/consult service, 6 months of echocardiography, 3 months of CICU, 2 months of electrophysiology and 10 months of research. Fellows will gain exposure to all the major subspecialty areas within Pediatric Cardiology and have the opportunity to manage the fetus through adult with congenital heart disease within the same health system. Exposure to management of advanced heart failure including transplant evaluation and the care of the patient post-transplant is obtained during the inpatient, CICU and ambulatory cardiology experiences. Fellows will also have 4 weeks of vacation per year. The clinical commitment is less than 80 hours/week (averaged over 4 weeks) including call and for time spent coming in while on at-home call.
Weekly Conferences
Monday: cardiology service sign out. Wednesday: cardiac cath and case management conference (presented by cardiac catheterization and echocardiography fellows). Tuesday-Thursday-Friday: morning lectures.
Echocardiogram
The congenital heart center non-invasive imaging laboratory is a busy lab, performing approximately 4000-5000 transthoracic and 500 fetal echocardiograms each year. Our fellows work alongside our faculty and sonographers and become proficient in performing and interpreting transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms during their three years of fellowship. Fellows who desire to become proficient in performing and interpreting fetal echocardiograms are encouraged to do so in their 3rd year of training. Opportunities also exist for exposure to cardiac CT and MRI through collaboration with our Pediatric Radiologist.
Inpatient Service
The day consists of rounding with the service attending on admitted patients to our cardiology service and CICU, as well as consults from the PICU, NICU, adult congenital and pediatric inpatients. Additionally, fellows will have the opportunity to teach residents and medical students (both local and international students) and attend weekly conferences.
Cardiac Catheterization
Each fellow will spend 2 months per year in the cardiac catheterization lab. Our fellows learn how to adequately prepare for cases referred for cardiac catheterization including understanding the patient’s diagnosis and indication for cardiac catheterization. Alongside the Pediatric Interventional Cardiologist, our fellows also actively participate in obtaining informed consent, performance of the cardiac catheterization, interpretation of the hemodynamic data and preparation of the catheterization report. The fellow will also be expected to prepare and present the cases at the weekly cath/case management conference. Our fellows gain proficiency in obtaining a complete set of hemodynamics, saturations and angiographic data as the rotation progresses. Fellows will also participate in simple to complex interventional procedures with the assistant of the attending physician. Cath fellows will also be responsible for assisting the attending electrophysiologist in intracardiac electrophysiology studies and ablations during the months when there is not an electrophysiology fellow.
Electrophysiology
Our fellows will spend a total of 2 months in electrophysiology throughout their training. During this time, fellows are expected to review pending electrocardiograms, Holter monitor and Event recorder reports and submit to the attending electrophysiologist for review. Fellows will attend ambulatory electrophysiology clinics supervised by the attending physician and gain knowledge in device interrogations and management of arrhythmias. The fellow will also assist the attending electrophysiologist in intracardiac electrophysiology studies and ablations.
Cardiac Intensive Care
Fellows spend 3 months in the CICU over the course of the fellowship. The fellow will share clinical responsibilities with a critical care fellow and a nurse practitioner. The fellow in the CICU will learn how to manage patients admitted for medical stabilization as well as post-op care including patients requiring mechanical circulatory support. Fellows will be directly supervised by a critical care attending who is responsible for providing direct supervision of patient care and teaching during daily rounds. Training will focus on cardiac pathophysiology and intensive care management, as well as opportunities for critical care procedures. Fellows will also be responsible for covering the CICU on the weekends while on an assigned call. The fellow rotating in the CICU would do about 2 to 3 in-house calls in a 2-week block.
Ambulatory Cardiology Clinic
Fellows are assigned to a weekly half day clinic supervised by an attending cardiologist. The complexity of patients seen in clinic varies from referrals for common cardiac complaints such as chest pain, cardiac murmur and syncope, to complex structural and congenital heart disease and arrhythmias. During clinic fellows are expected to evaluate, treat and plan the medical care of patients referred to the clinic while also providing continuity of care to those patients with simple to serious cardiac problems.
Research
Fellows have a total of 10 months of research over the course of the fellowship. Under mentorship by faculty, fellows are expected to complete at least one hypothesis driven project, ready for publication, by the end of their training. Faculty will assist fellows in identifying projects and resources to complete their research. Faculty will also aid in writing and submitting to IRB for approval of new projects. Most projects over the years have been chart review type however, opportunities for prospective and translational research exist through alignment with the appropriate mentor. Fellows are also encouraged to attend and present at national and international conferences.
Meet our Fellows
PGY-6
Daniella Santi-Turchi, MD, MHA
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Residency: Valley Children's Hospital, CA
PGY-5
Keerthana Banala, MD
Hometown: Nizamabad, India
Residency: Ascension St. John Hospital, MI
Anusha Kalithkar, MD
Hometown: India
Residency: SUNY Downstate, NY
PGY-4
Carmen Ceron, MD
Residency: Broward Health Medical Center, FL
Ajay Kumaraswamy, MD
Residency: University of Miami/Holtz Children's Hospital, FL
Isatou Ceesay, MD
Residency: NY Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, NY
Faculty and Staff
Sethuraman Swaminathan, MD
Interim Chief of Pediatric Cardiology
Program Director, Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship
Professor, Pediatrics
Medical Director, Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Catheterization
Medical Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Professor, Pediatrics
Medical Director, Pediatric and Adult Congenital Cardiac Electrophysiology
Cardiac Intensivist
Medical Director, ECMO and MCS
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Paolo Rusconi, MD
Medical Director, Heart Failure/Transplant
Professor, Pediatrics
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Cardiac Intensivist
Interim-Director, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Cardiac Intensivist
Medical Director, Pediatric Intensive Care
Associate Professor, Pediatrics
Michele Jadotte, APRN
Cardiac Electrophysiology, Advanced Nurse Practitioner
Mary Cousins, APRN
Interventional Cardiology, Advanced Nurse Practitioner
Roseangel Coloma, RN
Clinical Nurse Coordinator
Rose Oriental, APRN
Heart Failure, Advanced Nurse Practitioner
Barbara Sears, APRN
Congenital Cardiothoracic Surgery, Advanced Nurse Practitioner
Maylene Gonzalez, APRN
Transplant Cardiology, Advanced Nurse Practitioner
Application Information
Interested applicants are encouraged to reach out to us for more information, should they have any questions regarding training in our fellowship program.
Program Coordinators
Aliana Valenzuela
e-mail: aliana.valenzuela@miami.edu
ph: 305-585-6017
Christopher Garcia
e-mail: ceg157@med.miami.edu
ph: 305-585-6042
Elegibility
We participate in the National Resident Matching Program. All of our categorical and advanced training class positions are filled through the NRMP.
How to Apply
Applications are accepted via the Electronic Residency Application System.
Deadline
Applications are accepted beginning in July. While there is no deadline for applications, well-qualified applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Interviews are held from August to November.
Address
1611 NW 12th Ave
Holtz: 6006
Miami, FL 33136
Phone
305-585-6017
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