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Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Training & Education

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Fellowship Programs

The mission of the multifaceted and multidisciplinary USC Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Program is to educate fellows in the comprehensive assessment and management of patients with cardiovascular disease processes. The Division’s faculty remains committed to the training of the future generation of cardiologists as leaders of fellowships in Advanced Heart Failure, Cardiology, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology, Interventional Cardiology and Vascular Medicine.

Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship

Mission Statement

The mission of the USC Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Program is to educate fellows in the comprehensive assessment and management of patients with cardiovascular disease processes for subsequent careers in academic or community-based practice. The Cardiovascular Medicine Fellowship Program is a multifaceted, multidisciplinary and comprehensive program providing training in all areas of Cardiovascular Medicine.

USC Cardiovascular Fellowship Commitment and Mission Statement

The unique strengths of this program include:

  • A rich, comprehensive clinical experience combining training at the Los Angeles General Medical Center, one of the largest medical centers in the country, and at Keck Hospital of USC, a tertiary-care academic university hospital. Both facilities are located on the same physical campus as the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
  • A curriculum with training and exposure to all aspects of Cardiovascular Medicine, including Clinical Cardiology, Cardiovascular MR, Cardiovascular CT, Echocardiography, Nuclear Cardiology, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Cardiac Intervention, Congenital Heart Disease and Congestive Heart Failure
  • Exposure to the full array of cardiovascular surgical approaches, including minimally invasive and robotic surgical approaches, provided by the USC Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Opportunities for clinical and basic science research through the division of cardiovascular medicine

  • The division of cardiovascular medicine is heavily involved in the education of house staff residents and medical students. Medical students are assigned to the CCU and the Cardiovascular Medicine Consultation Service and participate in all rounds and educational activities. There are eight interns and eight residents assigned to Cardiovascular Medicine on a monthly basis who take care of cardiac patients under the supervision of the fellows and staff on the medicine ward, CCU and Consult Service. The residents also participate in the outpatient clinic. In addition, residents spend elective time on cardiovascular medicine in the inpatient areas.

    The division has a full conference schedule available to students and faculty on a weekly basis, including Cardiology Grand Rounds, Visiting Professor Rounds alternating with the Griffith Professor Rounds, M & M Conference, Research Conference, EP Morning Conference, Cath Conference, EP Lecture alternating with Echo Lecture, and the Invasive Cardiology Conference. The Journal Club is held twice a month. Recent articles are selected by a faculty member and presented and discussed by the fellows. This conference provides fellows with the ability to critically analyze the literature and helps to familiarize them with biostatistical methods. The division also sponsors occasional special lectures featuring well-known visiting cardiologists who offer our medical students, residents and fellows their unique knowledge and experience.

    At the beginning of each academic year, a series of 20 lectures, known as the Core Curriculum, are given by the cardiovascular medicine faculty to the fellows on basic and clinical topics in cardiovascular disease.

  • We are a comprehensive clinical- and research-oriented cardiology training program with the aim of providing a wide variety of exposure to the different subspecialties of cardiology: Interventional, Electrophysiology, Adult Congenital, Echocardiography, Nuclear and Advanced Cardiac Imaging, Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation. Our ultimate goal is to educate and train cardiology fellows to not only meet the basic requirements of evidence-based cardiovascular clinical practice, but to greatly exceed these requirements to meet their full potential as doctors. We want our fellows to thrive in both academic- and community-based medical institutions and to become leaders in cardiology. We want our cardiology fellows to be exemplary role models for professional medical practice at Los Angeles General Medical Center and Keck Medical Center of USC.

    1. Thursday Morning Education Day
      The Core Curriculum for all subspecialties, focused topics on echocardiography and other imaging modalities, cardiology basics, in-training sessions for VADs, PPM/ICD interrogation, IABP and LifeVest
    2. Tuesday Morning Cardiac Catheterization Conference
    3. Cardiovascular Research Topics by Dr. Kloner
    4. Advanced Imaging Rounds with Dr. Shinbane on Monday and Thursday mornings
    5. Monthly Journal Clubs moderated by Dr. Elkayam
    6. EKG Conference with Drs. Ostrzega and Konecny
    7. Monthly Interventional Cardiology Didactic Series: Thursday mornings
    8. Vascular Medicine Didactic Series
    9. Electrophysiology: Friday mornings
    10. Congenital Lecture Series with guests from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
      Guest Lecture Series
    11. Cardiology Grand Rounds
    12. Combined Emergency Department/Cardiology Conference held each quarter
    13. Visiting Professorships

  • L. Julian Haywood, MD Visiting Professorship

    2018

    Gary Gibbons, MD
    Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

    “Advancing Discovery Science for Public Health Impact”

    2017

    Jackson T. Wright Jr., MD, PhD, FACP, FASH, FAHA
    Emeritus Professor of Medicine,
    Case Western Reserve University
    Director of Clinical Hypertension Program,
    University Hospitals Case Medical Center

    “Hypertension Management – 2017: What We Know. What We Need To Learn.”

    2016

    Clyde W. Yancy, MD
    Vice Dean, Diversity and Inclusion
    Magerstadt Professor of Medicine
    Professor of Medical Social Sciences
    Chief, Division of Cardiology
    Northwestern University
    Feinberg School of Medicine and
    Associate Director
    Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute
    Northwestern Memorial Hospital

    “Heart Failure in African Americans: A Journey from Bench to Bedside to Community”

    2015

    Kim A. Williams, MD
    Chief, Division of Cardiology
    Rush University Medical Center
    President, American College of Cardiology

    “Heart Disease and Diet”

    Shahbudin H. Rahimtoola,MD Visiting Professorship

    2016

    Melvin Scheinman, MD
    Walter H. Shorenstein Endowed Chair in Cardiology
    Chief of Cardiology Genetics Arrhythmia Program
    Cardiac Electrophysiology
    University of California, San Francisco

    “Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias Then & Now: The Role of Catheter Ablation”

    Uri Elkayam,MD Visiting Professorship

    2017

    James S. Forrester, MD
    Emeritus Professor, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
    Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles

    “Current Perspectives and Future Directions in Cardiology”

  • Los Angeles General Medical Center

    • Coronary Care Unit
    • Consult Service (Con A, Con B)
    • Echocardiography
    • Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory
    • Electrophysiology
    • Nuclear Medicine
    • Advanced Imaging
    • Elective

    Keck Medical Center

    • Heart Failure Service
    • Consult Service
    • Electrophysiology
    • Advanced Imaging
    • Nuclear Medicine
    • Electives
     Sample Rotation Schedule  Sample On-Call Schedule

     

  • 2022

    Pooya Banankhah, MD
    Wesley Ghasem, MD
    Wilson Kwan, MD
    Grace Liu, MD
    Stephen Yau, MD

    2021

    Kristen Burton, MD
    Jonathan Natttiv, MD
    Peter Xu, MD

    2020

    Merije Chukumerije, MD
    Leah Raj, MD
    Sumit Patel, MD
    Lena Awar, MD

  • Recent Cases from Los Angeles General Medical Center and Keck Medical Center of USC

    Dr. David Shavelle’s “AngioVAC Case RA Mass”

  • Applications for a General Cardiology Fellowship are available in early July via ERAS. The deadline to submit an application is September 1. Please visit ERAS to apply.

    Application Requirements: MD degree and at least three years of residency before fellowship begins.

    Applications accepted only through ERAS. All parts of the ERAS application are required (Common Application Form, CV, Personal Statement, three letters of recommendation (one must be from your program director,) MSPE (dean’s letter), medical school transcript and USMLE.

    Foreign Medical School Graduates

    International Medical Graduates interested in a fellowship must be certified by ECFMG and enter the training program on a J-1 visa, unless they are a citizen of the United States.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    If I am a foreign medical graduate, how do I go about obtaining a Letter of Evaluation from the Medical Board of California?

    • In order to complete a fellowship here, you must be board-certified or board-eligible in medicine. If you are licensed in another state, you do not need to obtain a letter of eligibility. If you are not licensed, obtaining the letter is very similar to applying for licensure. Please contact the Medical Board of California for more information and to receive the letter or license.

    Does your training program accept visas?

    • We can only support J-1 visas for our clinical trainees.

    When will interviews be held?

    • We typically hold interview dates in September and October. Interviews are by invitation only. Notification of which applicants will be offered interviews is provided in late August.

    Sleep Alertness and Fatigue Education in Residency ACGME Required Presentation

  • Helga Van Herle, MD
    Director, Cardiology Fellowship Program
    Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
    Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
    Keck School of Medicine
    Email: Helga.VanHerle@med.usc.edu

    Sarah Luna
    Fellowship Coordinator
    Phone: (323) 442-7419
    Email: sarahlun@usc.edu

    Ajay Vaidya, MD
    Associate Program Director, Cardiology Fellowship Program
    Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
    Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
    Keck School of Medicine
    Email: ajay.vaidya@med.usc.edu

Advanced Heart Failure Fellowship

The one-year fellowship will provide specialized training in the inpatient and outpatient management of the spectrum of patients with heart failure, from initial diagnosis to consideration of high-risk cardiac surgery, transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, medical management and end-of-life care.

Training will include hospital management, pre- and post-transplant evaluation and therapy, adult congenital heart disease evaluation, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, cardiac biopsy and CRT/ICD device management. The fellow will also be integrally involved with the busy Mechanical Circulatory Support Service and will participate in ventricular assist device (VAD) patient selection, perioperative care and outpatient management. The fellow will also have the opportunity to participate in research which spans the gamut from translational research to pharmaceutical and device therapy.

Quick Links

Contact

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

c/o Heart Failure Transplant Program Coordinator
1510 San Pablo Street, Suite 322
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Kruti Pandya, MD

Director, Heart Failure and Transplant Fellowship Program
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Email: kruti.pandya@med.usc.edu

Sarah Luna

Fellowship Coordinator

Phone: (323) 442-7419
Email: sarahlun@usc.edu

Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship

The mission of the USC Electrophysiology Service is to educate fellows in the comprehensive assessment and management of patients with “electrophysiologically” relevant disease processes.

The Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Program (CCEP) is a multifaceted, multidisciplinary and comprehensive program, providing training in all areas of clinical cardiac electrophysiology, including noninvasive diagnostic assessment, invasive diagnostic assessment, pharmacologic therapy and invasive therapies, including ablation, pacemaker and defibrillator placement, as well as comprehensive patient follow-up.

The program also provides didactic educational and research opportunities providing fellows with a training milieu which provides depth and breadth in order to achieve excellence in cardiac electrophysiology management.

USC Cardiovascular Fellowship Commitment and Mission Statement

Contact

Ivan Ho, MD

Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Director of Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Program
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Email: Ivan.Ho@med.usc.edu

Sarah Luna

Fellowship Coordinator

Phone: (323) 442-7419
Email: sarahlun@usc.edu

Interventional Cardiology Fellowship

The Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program is designed to train fellows in the use of percutaneous interventional techniques in the management of coronary, vascular and valvular heart disease. The one-year program is comprehensive, structured and carefully supervised by a Board Certified Staff, including senior staff with collectively more than 100 years of interventional experience. Program fellows train at the Los Angeles General Medical Center.

The training includes didactic conferences, weekly case conferences, and individual fellow and faculty clinical patient reviews (pre- and post-procedure) to discuss risk, benefit, results, treatment strategies and complications. Trainees also assist in teaching diagnostic fellows, medicine residents and other student groups (biomedical, undergraduate, etc.). Included in the training is an opportunity to lead the case discussions at a weekly cath conference. Program emphasis is placed on giving fellows ample opportunity to learn appropriate technical skills for safe coronary and peripheral intervention, using multiple devices including rotational atherectomy, balloons, stents, filter devices, and to advance and refine diagnostic cath skills. Ample coronary procedures are available to meet required procedure volumes.

Quick Links

Contact

Anilkumar Mehra, MD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Program Director of Interventional Cardiology
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Email: Anilkumar.Mehra@med.usc.edu