Accredited in 2014, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program at Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center is a comprehensive 36-month training program aimed at shaping proficient cardiologists equipped to lead in their field.
“Our program is very robust, focusing on a wide range of patients and diagnoses, ranging from heart failure, arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, structural heart disease and more,” Mohammed Taleb, MD, (pictured above, left) a faculty member of the program, shares. “The number and variety of patients provides a very rich training for our fellows.”
Designed to offer a deep dive into the intricacies of heart health, the program immerses fellows in a variety of clinical settings, from inpatient care to outpatient clinics, with specialized training available at our cutting-edge Heart and Vascular Institute. Here, the six chosen fellows gain hands-on experience in a range of both invasive and non-invasive procedures, complemented by robust didactic sessions to enhance their clinical knowledge.
“Not only is the program providing the fellows with excellent education, but it’s also providing them with the real-world aspect of cardiology,” Sinan Alo, DO, (pictured above, right) another faculty member of the program, says. “Our fellows are coming out of the program very well trained, and very capable of handling all sorts of volume and patient experiences. It gives them the experience and the confidence to care for a large variety of patients.”
Dr. Taleb adds, “We also have a dedicated faculty comprising electrophysiologists, interventional cardiologists, structural cardiologists and general cardiologists who provide excellent supervision for our fellows. Our program offers hands-on experience in the lab, as well as exposure to outpatient clinics and in-hospital rounds.”
He continues, “The fellowship program offers fellows a rich experience, including advanced procedures and high-level training in prevention and coronary artery disease interventions. Graduates emerge confident and well-prepared, with many successfully matching into top interventional fellowship programs.”
The core objectives of the Fellowship program are ambitious, aiming to cultivate not only clinical expertise and procedural competency but also a commitment to scholarly pursuits and leadership development. Through dedicated research opportunities, fellows are encouraged to contribute to the advancement of cardiovascular medicine, while leadership training equips them to navigate the complex challenges of modern health care with confidence.
“Every fellow who has come through our program who’s wanted an additional subspecialty, or wanted additional Fellowship training, has been able to get it,” Dr. Alo explains. “We have fellows who were interested in interventional cardiology, they were able to get an interventional fellowship. We have fellows who are interested in cardiac MRI, and they were able to get their cardiac MRI fellowship. We have fellows who are interested in heart failure, and they were able to get their advanced heart failure fellowship. It’s a really remarkable feature of the program.”
In close collaboration with our ministry’s internal medicine program, the fellowship program offers a comprehensive and transformative learning experience. It is also extremely beneficial for the patient experience.
“Having a cardiology fellow on your case is a huge benefit to the patient,” Dr. Alo says. “Not only are they able to see the patients before us and earlier than us, but they’re also always readily available. They’re at the bedside, they’re responsive. They’re able to go evaluate the patients and get in touch with their attendings. It’s 100 percent improving the overall care of cardiology patients.”
And Dr. Taleb adds, “Having this dedicated forum of teaching helps a lot with the quality of care, because the patients are being cared for at multiple levels – by the fellow, but also by the nurses, residents and attendings. It certainly helps with the quality of care the patient receives.”
Learn more about our Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship at St. Vincent Medical Center.
Also, learn about the heart and vascular services we provide at Mercy Health.
