Didactic Structure

The Cardiovascular Diseases and Interventional Cardiology Fellowship maintains a comprehensive, structured didactic curriculum that fulfills ACGME program requirements for advanced subspecialty education and ensures mastery of the cognitive, technical, and systems-based foundations essential for independent interventional practice.

Faculty-Led Didactic Series

In addition to the fellow-led curriculum, core Interventional Cardiology faculty provide dedicated longitudinal lecture series for the interventional and general cardiology fellows across subspecialty domains, ensuring depth and breadth of exposure consistent with ACGME curricular requirements:

Dr. Fahdi and Dr. DeNeen lead the 24 lecture didactic series on echocardiography and the 12 lecture series on nuclear medicine.
Dr. El Sabbagh conducts a thirteen lecture series on Electrophysiology.
Dr. Chami supervises a monthly case-based learning series which models problem-based learning and centers the didactics around a high yield case.
Dr. Al Saghir delivers eight annual lectures focused on structural heart interventions and neurovascular interventions.
Dr. Syed presents a comprehensive thirteen-lecture series centered on coronary artery disease, including complex PCI strategies, intravascular imaging, physiology-guided intervention, and complication management.
Dr. Khatib conducts an eight-lecture series on peripheral arterial disease and associated endovascular interventions.
Dr. Ali provides an eight-lecture series dedicated to venous disease and venous interventions.
Dr. Lamba leads a focused 13 lecture series series on interventions in advanced heart failure, including mechanical circulatory support strategies and hemodynamic optimization.

Interventional Core Lecture Series

The Interventional Cardiology fellow is required to prepare and deliver a structured 13-lecture foundational series covering essential interventional principles. The curriculum and presentations are curated and supervised by Dr. Al Saghir and Dr. Syed to ensure accuracy, depth, and alignment with current evidence and guideline-directed therapy. This process promotes mastery of Medical Knowledge (MK1–MK2) while simultaneously advancing Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS1–ICS2) through formal academic presentation and scholarly discourse with faculty and cardiology trainees.

Formal core curriculum conferences are supervised by Dr. Syed on the last Friday of every block. At the start of each academic year, a structured set of thirteen pre-designated core lectures is established to ensure systematic coverage of the full theoretical spectrum required of an interventional cardiologist. Topics span coronary artery disease, peripheral and venous interventions, structural heart disease, neuro-interventions, mechanical circulatory support, advanced heart failure interventions, pharmacotherapy, imaging, complication management, and quality metrics.

Collectively, these faculty-led didactic sessions ensure structured coverage of coronary, peripheral, venous, structural, neurovascular, and advanced heart failure interventions, fulfilling the ACGME expectation for comprehensive cognitive training in all major domains of interventional cardiology.

Weekly Cath Conference

A weekly catheterization conference serves as the program’s primary case-based learning forum. During this conference, complex and instructive cases are reviewed in detail, including angiographic findings, imaging interpretation, procedural strategy, device selection, complication management, and outcomes analysis. These sessions are led by Dr. Syed in direct collaboration with the interventional fellow and the cardiology fellow on cath lab rotation.

This conference format emphasizes clinical reasoning, procedural judgment, and reflective analysis, directly supporting progression in:

Patient Care (PC2–PC4): Procedural planning and complication management
Practice-Based Learning and Improvement (PBLI2–PBLI3): Case reflection and iterative performance improvement
Systems-Based Practice (SBP1–SBP4): Resource utilization and team-based procedural coordination

Monthly Journal Club

A structured journal club is conducted monthly and supervised by Dr. Chami. Each session reviews one landmark cardiology trial alongside a contemporary study or updated evidence addressing the same clinical domain. This paired-review format fosters critical appraisal skills, evidence synthesis, and application of evolving data to clinical decision-making. Journal club directly supports Medical Knowledge (MK2) and Practice-Based Learning and Improvement (PBLI1–PBLI3), reinforcing the fellow’s ability to interpret trial design, recognize limitations, and translate evidence into practice.

STEMI and Quality Review Conference

On the second Friday of each month, a dedicated STEMI conference is conducted to review all ST-elevation myocardial infarction cases from the preceding month. The session includes:

Comprehensive review of angiographic findings and procedural strategy
Analysis of door-to-balloon times and systems metrics
Presentation of NCDR quality metrics
Discussion of complications and opportunities for systems improvement

The conference is presented by the Interventional Cardiology fellow, curated in collaboration with hospital abstractors, and supervised by Dr. Syed. This structured quality review process aligns directly with ACGME expectations for education in quality improvement, patient safety, and systems-based practice.

This forum reinforces competencies in:

Systems-Based Practice (SBP3–SBP4): Understanding institutional performance metrics and quality benchmarks
Practice-Based Learning and Improvement (PBLI3): Data-driven self-assessment and improvement
Patient Care (PC3–PC4): Recognition and management of acute coronary syndromes within evidence-based frameworks

Independent Learning

Fellows are allowed protected time at noon every day for independent unsupervised learning with online resources like EKG-Source and Q banks like ACCSap, ECHOSap and Mayo Review Videos. The Chief fellow and the fellow on the inpatient rotation leads these activities which are usually conducted on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Educational Impact

Through a balanced integration of structured didactics, fellow-led academic scholarship, case-based procedural review, journal-based evidence synthesis, and quality-focused STEMI conferences, the programs ensure comprehensive cognitive and systems training consistent with ACGME Interventional Cardiology curriculum standards. This longitudinal educational framework complements procedural training and simulation, ensuring that fellows graduate with not only technical proficiency but also the academic rigor, systems awareness, and clinical judgment required for safe, independent cardiology practice.