Education
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine:
EDUCATION
John Dent, MD (center), instructing patient care team in principles of “Rounding With Heart”
Cardiovascular Medicine faculty are active as teachers and mentors in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. John M. Dent, MD, who directs the division’s Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program, has received the Basic Science Teaching award from the Mulholland Society, the UVA medical students’ organization; he also received the Department of Medicine’s Outstanding Educator award. In 2014, division faculty involved in undergraduate medical education received an outstanding review from first-year medical students.
The division offers a total of 15 graduate medical education fellowships. Most are in general cardiology, with advanced fellowships in electrophysiology, percutaneous coronary intervention and cardiac imaging. There are two paths for completing cardiovascular disease fellowships: a four-year research/clinical program for those interested in an academic career, and a three-year clinical program for those wanting careers in private practice.
Fellows and faculty, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, May 2014. The division has the largest fellowship program in the Department of Medicine.
The division’s Cardiovascular Imaging and Research Training program, established in 2005 with a T32 grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and directed by Christopher Kramer, provides trainees with dual mentorships – an imaging scientist and a physician-clinician investigator. For the 2013-2014 academic year, two new physician-fellows were accepted into the two-year program: Jorge Gonzalez and Peter Shaw. Trainees who have completed the program hold academic positions at institutions that include the Mayo Clinic, the University of Chicago, the University of Arizona, and UVA.
The Advanced Heart Failure and Mechanical Support fellowship program, which received accreditation by the ACGME in 2013 and is directed by James Bergin, MD, had its first fellow in FY 2014, Julie Massey, MD. Dr. Massey completed her residency at UVA.
Cardiology fellow Benjamin Shepple was selected as Chief Fellow for 2014-15, replacing 2013-14’s Chief Fellow, Will Camnitz, who did an excellent job. Ben also received the Internal Medicine Residents’ award for “Outstanding Fellow of the Year.
Rhianna Laker, a postdoctoral researcher in the Yan Lab, received the 2013 Outstanding Trainee Award from UVA’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center; she also published a paper in the journal Diabetes describing the positive epigenetic impacts of maternal exercise for offspring.