Teaching Faculty

Thomas LaLonde, MD FACC
Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Services
Program Director, Interventional Cardiology Fellowship

Howard Rosman, MD FACC
Program Director, General Cardiology Fellowship

Tom P. Davis, MD FACC
Medical Director, Cardiac Catheterization Lab

Gerald Cohen, MD FACC
Medical Director, Non-Invasive Lab

Luis Pires, MD FACC
Medical Director, EPS Lab
Director, Cardiovascular Research

St. John Hospital and Medical Center sponsors two programs in Cardiology: a three-year fellowship in General Cardiology, which accepts four fellows per year for a total of twelve, and a one-year subsequent fellowship in Interventional Cardiology for an additional four fellows per year. These are two separate and distinct programs but they work closely together to their mutual benefit.

General Cardiology Fellowship

The General Cardiology Fellowship offers a 28-month core curriculum and eight months of elective. The curriculum is structured to meet the standards of the ACGME and the ACC. The core curriculum rotations include five months in the CICU, five months on the inpatient consultation service, four months in the cardiac cath lab, six months in the non-invasive laboratory, two months on the EPS service, one to two months in nuclear cardiology and heart failure/transplant, and a minimum of two months performing cardiac research. Rotations have been developed in Preventive Cardiology and Peripheral Vascular Disease. In addition, each fellow spends half a day per week in an outpatient ambulatory continuity clinic. Elective rotations include but are not limited to heart failure and transplant cardiology, adult and pediatric congenital cardiology, cardiology research, and special tutorials in nuclear medicine. Many fellows elect additional time in the catheterization or non-invasive laboratories. Eight key faculty guide the fellows along with 20 other contributing faculty. The program has active components in teaching and clinical research and is competitive in the national match program.

Interventional Fellowship Program

The Interventional Fellowship also offers a full curriculum in cardiology and an in-depth experience in peripheral vascular intervention. The fellows in their fourth year of training work in six successive two-month rotations. In each rotation they are mentored by teaching faculty and the fellow is involved in ambulatory care half a day weekly with that faculty member as well as care of the interventional patient before, during, and in follow-up post procedure. As with the general fellowship, the fellow has structured time for research (6 weeks per year), participates in, listens to and leads conferences twice weekly, and rounds as a junior faculty member in the CCU for 2 two-week segments per year. Two of the 12 months are performed exclusively in peripheral vascular intervention.

Teaching Program

Our teaching program has eight hours of required conferences per week. These include bedside cardiology conference, non-invasive conference, cardiac catheterization conference, morbidity and mortality conference, board review courses and journal club, cardiac pathology conference, congenital heart disease conference, clinical conference in cardiology, and EKG conference. The fellows teach residents, medical students, and other fellows on a regular basis. The faculty give approximately one-third of the conferences. Fellows in addition to rounding in the CICU and consult service, also provide EKG courses and teaching conferences to residents and students.

Research

All fellows perform research. Two months are set aside for this but additional work continues throughout the three-year fellowship. Each fellow works in at least one multi-center randomized trial and performs a prospective trial that is developed locally. Most fellows are involved in additional projects. The fellows spend approximately 10 percent of their time on research.

Both fellowship programs are well regarded by the St. John physicians as well as by the excellent residents who apply and are accepted in the programs.

St. John Hospital and Medical Center enjoys the academic experience of working with and training residents. The Cardiology division is pleased with the quality of the program and the quality of the experience that our trainees receive to prepare them to be excellent clinical cardiologists.

Contact Information

For more information you may contact Mrs. Kristina Blumenstock at (313) 343-4612, or e-mail Kristina Blumenstock

Applications are only accepted through ERAS. Please visit or e-mail  www.aamc.org/eras for more information.