Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation Fellowship

Established in 2005, the Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplant program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is overseen by Sanjiv J. Shah, MD, Director of the Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Program, and Edwin C. McGee, MD, Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Assistance. The Medicare-approved heart transplant program has a one-year survival rate among the best in the country at 96% and it is ranked among the top 20 programs nationally and number one in Illinois, performing 25-30 transplants yearly.

A Blue Distinction Center for Transplants and an Optum Health Center of Excellence, Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Medicare Destination Therapy Ventricular Assist Device Program has been awarded a Certificate of Distinction from The Joint Commission as a result of our ventricular assist device procedures volume, patient care, exceptional level of expertise among specialists, and excellent outcomes. Our center currently implants 30 ventricular assist devices every year, being part of some of the most novel clinical trials in the field.

With over 3,000 outpatient clinic visits annually, more than 120 heart transplant and 50 ventricular assist device patients, the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute’s Center for Heart Failure has also achieved a lower 30-day mortality rate for hospitalized heart failure patients than the U.S. national average.

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Heart Failure and Transplantation fellowship training program is a one year, non-ACGME accredited program within the Division of Cardiology. Offering two fellowship positions annually, we follow a standard GME academic calendar (July 1 through June 30). Our fellows’ twelve months of training are devoted to inpatient and outpatient clinical experiences, caring for heart failure and heart transplant patients who benefit from a multi-disciplinary team of surgeons, cardiologists, nurses, psychologists, social workers and dietitians.

Specifically, our fellows gain exposure and achieve competency in the following areas:

Outpatient heart failure management including use of standard and novel pharmacological, electrical and surgical therapies
Advanced inpatient heart failure management using invasive hemodynamic monitoring, tailored therapy with vasodilators, and use of inotropic agents
Management of patients with percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (including intra-aortic balloon counter pulsation, Tandem Heart, Impella 2.5L and 5.0L), and implantable mechanical circulatory support with HeartMate XVE, HeartMate II and HeartWare
Diagnostic cardiovascular studies (cardiopulmonary exercise testing, right heart catheterization and endomyocardial biopsies)
Evaluation of potential heart transplant candidates, evaluation and management of donors, institution of immunosuppressive protocols for patients immediately post-transplant and management of chronic immunosuppressive therapy as out-patients
Pathology reviews of endomyocardial biopsies performed; immunology lectures regarding concepts of antigen/antibody testing, cross-matching and principles of rejection
Evaluation of patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators, implantable hemodynamic monitors and cardiac resynchronization therapy (including echo guided optimization)
Participation in clinical trials including recruitment of patients in novel drugs or devices for heart failure, use of stem cell therapy

At the time of graduation fellows will meet requirements for UNOS certification and will be able to sit for the ABIM Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology subspecialty board examination.

The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute’s Center for Heart Failure has clinical and research conferences for which the Advanced Heart Failure fellows are expected to present clinical cases, review recent literature and participate in Journal Club.

Fellowship Requirements:

Completion of ACGME-accredited Cardiovascular Disease fellowship training, as per ABIM guidelines
Illinois State Medical License
ABIM board certification or board eligibility

* We are not currently accepting applications. *

For those planning to apply in the future for Academic Year 2014-2015, we will require all of the following from each candidate:

Application
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Statement
MSPE
USMLE Transcript
One Letter of Recommendation from CVD Program Director
Two Letters of Recommendations form Cardiologists familiar with candidate's work.

Program Director: Sanjiv J. Shah, MD

Program Coordinator: Jackie Shields

Contact:

Jacqueline (Jackie) Shields
jshields@nmff.org / 312-695-0788
676 N Saint Clair St Ste 600 / Chicago, IL 60611