Cardiology Fellowship 

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RUPSA YEE: There is growth.
There is leadership qualities being built into these fellows.
And they really become these incredible, mature adults
in so many levels who are able to think on their feet
and yet maintain their sense of compassion.
In addition, we laugh a lot.
They become my friends and my confidantes at so many level.
So it is absolutely what you think of medical.
We rely a lot on the fellows to become great teachers
by interacting with the house staff and the medical students
that are on our team.
So there are team leaders.
They definitely have to know the literature.
They do have to know what they're talking about.
And they have to display a sense of confidence and a clarity
during their time in the CCU.
ANDREW ROSENBLATT: We have among the highest volumes in San
Francisco and draw patients from the entire Northern California
area in which Sutter serves.
Fellowship programs always evolve,
and they're never static.
It's no good to be static.
The major changes that occurred over the last few years
have really been changes that mimic or track
changes in cardiology, in heart failure,
in structural heart disease, and really
remained on the cutting edge of cardiology.
We are very interested and capable
of having our fellows suggest and perform in particular areas
that are of greatest interest to them.
And we will support them in that endeavor.
CHRISTIAN SPIES: That I have now 12 years of post graduate
experience, post fellowship experience.
And as an interventionist, you accumulate a lot of little tips
and tricks along the way, which you sometimes
learn as a success, sometimes as a failure.
And it's extraordinarily enjoyable
to teach a lot of those tips and tricks
because you know that someone in the future,
whether that's a year from now or 10 years from now,
that fellow within the OR will remember that moment
that you said this and will avoid a mistake.
JARED HERR: Patients here at CPMC on the heart failure
service are incredibly complex.
We see patients who come from all over Northern California.
We are a large referral center for cardiogenic shock.
We have a large temporary mechanical circulatory support
program.
We perform a large number of heart transplants
and durable mechanical support device implants every year.
So fellows have the opportunity to see and take
care of patients who are critically
ill on a regular basis.
One of the best parts of my job is
being able to work with the fellows
and having seen them grow over the course of three years.
And each individual fellow in their own way
becomes their best clinician that they can be.
I think that the training here and the teaching at CPMC
is really top notch.
I think the size of the program is
a real advantage to the fellow and allowing
them to really individualize the kind of education
that they want, make sure that they get exposure in all things
that they need to be a good cardiologist,
but also have an opportunity to be
able to tailor their interests and be
able to become very successful in whatever field they choose.

HO-HIN CHOY: When people ask me about what
it's like to be a cardiology fellow at CPMC,
my answer usually is, it's been an amazing experience.
What makes CPMC special, in my opinion,
is that as fellows we really are very closely and heavily
involved in all aspects of cardiology in this hospital,
whether that be on the floors leading the primary cardiology
service or in the cath lab doing procedures
and diagnostic caths.
We really are able to get our hands dirty
and really get in there and learn firsthand what
it means to be a cardiologist.
I think what I am going to miss the most is really being part
of this family-- all the attendings that I look up to,
all the attendings that I consider my mentors,
my cofellows and all the amazing, hilarious times
that we've had, and really being an integral part
of this cardiology family here at CPMC
I think is what I'm going to miss the most.
STEPHANIE MATTAHIL: Well, our fellowship--
we are nine fellows.
We are a pretty tight, close-knit bunch.
We spend a lot of time together even though we have rough days.
We have actually a mix of people all different personalities
that gel together.
We are strong, opinionated people,
but we also interact well together as a group.
We all kind of had similar feelings beginning fellowship
and grew together where we knew absolutely nothing
about cardiology.
You don't really know what you're doing.
You hope what you're doing is right.
We would call each other.
And you get to bounce ideas off of them
and discuss complex patient management.
And no one's there to judge you.
And having the freedom to do that and them having your back
and telling you what they think, even
if they're not on-call, that is actually--
that's been a great support and one
highlight of the fellowship.
RICHARD HONGO: I remember when I interviewed as an applicant--
that was 20 years ago--
leaving the interview day really feeling like there
was a family bond between the fellows and the faculty here.
And that holds true till today.
I credit that to Dr. Rosenblatt.
Andy was the program director for 20 years
and really shaped this program.
He, I think, really rallied the faculty around the fact
that we, as a service, as an program,
are really here for support the training
and the development for fellows.
We are in a very exciting time right now within cardiology
where structural heart, advanced heart failure are all
seeing significant advancements to what we do in cardiology.
Here at our institution, those services have also expanded.
And in response to that, this fellowship program
has changed its curriculum almost on a yearly basis.
This process heavily involves the fellows.
I think what makes this fellowship the most unique is
the fact that this fellowship really
tries to tailor each fellow's training experience,
their own career goals.
This is a program that will spend time trying to figure out
with each fellow what they're actually trying to achieve
in their training and gives them the flexibility to tailor
their experience here .

STEPHANIE HSIAO: One thing I really
like about CPMC is the collaborative effort
of all cardiology subspecialties, which
has structural cardiology, heart failure, CT surgery, to provide
patients the best care possible.
This was just one of my most memorable cases
involving a patient with an impossible valve problem
to fix.
And we were fortunate enough to have the expertise
to offer him a procedure that has rarely ever been done.
And I hope that this patient continues
to make a meaningful recovery.
And nothing is as rewarding as knowing now there
is a chance that they could potentially spend more quality
time with family and loved ones.
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