A combined Cardiology Fellowship can uniquely prepare you to take care of the growing and aging population of adults with congenital heart disease, among other pediatric and adult cardiac patients. This combined, five-year fellowship will prepare a Med-Peds physician to become board-certified in both Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiovascular Disease (adult cardiology).
However, to be board-eligible to take a certification exam in Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD), a subspecialty certification that became available via the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in Fall 2015, training in a five-year Med-Peds Cardiology fellowship will have to be complete by July 1, 2016. Any graduates of a combined Med-Peds Cardiology fellowship after this date will need to complete an additional two-year ACHD fellowship at an ACGME-accredited ACHD program, i.e., seven total years of fellowship training, to be board eligible in all three disciplines. An alternative and historically more popular route to ACHD sub-specialization involves completing either a Pediatric Cardiology or Cardiovascular Disease fellowship followed by a two-year ACHD fellowship, i.e., five years of fellowship training, to be board eligible in either pediatric or adult cardiology and ACHD. These changes in ACHD training and certification have led many of the combined Med-Peds Cardiology programs to adjust their training pathways in favor of a two-year ACHD fellowship after either a three-year fellowship in pediatric or adult cardiology. For more information on this topic, visit the following article on the ACC.org/FIT website.
Of note, should you still like to arrange a five-year Med-Peds Cardiology fellowship, this will need to be approved by both ABIM and American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), ideally before training begins or before the third to sixth month of the fellowship:
Programs Offering Fellowship:
Baylor College of Medicine
Boston (BACH)
Columbia-Presbyterian
Emory
Mayo Clinic
National Institutes of Health
Ohio State University
University Hospitals of Cleveland/Rainbow Babies and Children’s’ Hospital
UCLA
University of Colorado Health
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester (Preventative Cardiology Fellowship)
University of Texas at Houston
Vanderbilt University
Additional Contacts
Mary Ann Cruz, MD
Curt Daniels, MD*
Wayne Franklin, MD
Christopher Learn, MD*
Wilson Lam
Larry Markham, MD
Jeremy Nicolarsen, MD
