Heart Failure/Transplant Fellowship
The University of Utah welcomes applicants interested in training at our program with a rich history of advancing the fields of heart failure (HF), mechanical circulatory support (MCS), and transplant cardiology. During training, our advanced heart failure (AHF) fellows will gain a truly unique experience by training in 3 distinct environments. All AHF Fellows rotate between the University of Utah Health Science Center, George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Intermountain Medical Center. The three hospitals serve as major referral centers for advanced heart failure and transplantation for the state of Utah, states from the surrounding intermountain region and veterans from around the country. The program has been in continuous operation since 1985 and more than 1,700 patients have received heart transplants (only a handful of programs worldwide have achieved this). On an annual basis, the combined program performs 55-60 heart transplants, 40-45 durable VAD/TAH implantations, and more than 200 temporary mechanical circulatory support device placements.
For fellowship verifications, please email Missy Grow at missy.grow@hsc.utah.edu .
Why the Utah AHFTC Fellowship?
With respect to clinical experience, AHF fellows will function as cardiologists who are obtaining subspecialty expertise training within HF, MCS and transplantation. Fellows will provide consultant care for inpatients with cardiogenic shock, those awaiting transplantation with and without MCS, and patients immediately after and post-transplantation. Importantly, AHF fellows will not be expected to take call from home and will not be asked to come in after hours. Fellows will have access to multiple fellow didactic conferences per week and actively participate in two weekly meetings regarding transplant listing of our HF patients.
From a procedural standpoint, fellows will gain sufficient exposure in heart catheterization and endomyocardial biopsy to obtain Level III training. AHF fellows will have meaningful exposure to heart procurement and heart transplantation working with our cardiothoracic surgeons. Lastly, within the outpatient experience, fellows will gain expertise level of exposure and training on the management of unique cardiomyopathies including cardiac amyloidosis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and cardiac sarcoidosis.
The faculty you will train with have a breadth of experience and bring knowledge and insight from many of the top cardiovascular institutions around this country. Many are considered international experts within the fields of transplantation, heart failure, and MCS. The network and academic opportunities afforded by training here are truly unique: research opportunities and scholarly projects are available during the one year of training in our AHF fellowship and previous fellows have presented their work at scientific meetings including the ISHLT and HFSA Scientific Sessions.
Life in Salt Lake City will provide a safe home with true exposure to beautiful mountain views, affordable housing, significant outdoor recreation, and some of the best skiing in the country! We appreciate your interest in our training program.
- Rotations
- Fellows will have 13 rotations divided up at each of our institutions, University of Utah Hospital, Veterans Hospital and Intermountain Medical Center.
- Each institution will include rounding in the intensive care service, primary heart failure service and consultations.
- Procedures
- Under the direct supervision of a HF Attending at UofU, fellows perform diagnostic procedures such as:
- Right Heart Cath
- Exercise Hemodynamics
- Endomyocardial Biopsies
- Cardiomems Implantation
- Diagnostics Angiographies
- Under the direct supervision of a HF Attending at UofU, fellows perform diagnostic procedures such as:
- Clinics
- Fellows will attend at least one half-day outpatient advanced Heart Failure Clinic a week to provide continuous care for patients with:
- Advanced Heart Failure
- Heart Transplantation
- Mechanical Circulatory Support
- Fellows will also attend one half-day intracardiac defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization clinic a week when at the VA to develop skills to interrogate different kinds of devices in patients with cardiomyopathy and/or heart failure to determine the burden of arrhythmias, diagnostic information, and basic device functionality,
- Fellows will attend at least one half-day outpatient advanced Heart Failure Clinic a week to provide continuous care for patients with:
- Meetings
- Tuesdays at 7AM – Heart Transplantation Meeting (HF Fellow will actively participate in discussions)
- Tuesdays at 12PM - Mechanical Circulatory Support Meeting (HF Fellow will actively participate in discussions)
- Conferences
- Mondays at 7AM – Fellows Case Conference (HF Fellow will present at once in the year)
- Wednesdays at 12pm – Heart Failure Conference
- Thursdays at 5pm (1 a month) - Journal Club
- Fridays at 12pm – Cardiology Grand Rounds (HF Fellow will present at once in the year)
Get to Know our Faculty
Dr. Alharethi talks about the strengths and variety of training opportunities at Intermountain Medical Center, flagship hospital of Intermountain Healthcare, one of the largest systems nationwide and a renowned leader in health care delivery.
Dr. Fang talks about the Division of Cardiology, the Cardiovascular Service Line, our institution and our state.
Dr. Shah talks about our Cardiorenal Program, our COVID and myocarditis initiatives, and emphasizes how the status and nationwide networking of our faculty can specifically help your career progression.
Dr. Drakos talks about our historic Mechanical Support program, SHOCK TEAM and Cardiac Recovery Program. Through his personal story from our fellow to to faculty, shares how this place equips and inspires fellows to meet future clinical and academic challenges.
Dr. Kemeyou talks about her personal journey from our HF fellow to faculty, the unique experiences gained while delivering advanced HF therapies to vets coming to our VA from all over the country, and our Sarcoidosis Program.
Dr. Stehlik talks about the uniqueness of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospital (U.T.A.H.) Cardiac Transplant Program as a model of clinical and academic collaboration. Also refers to our strengths in immunosuppression clinical experience, AMR, ISHLT registry, and other.
