Burnout and Well-Being Among Cardiology Fellowship Program Directors.

Objectives: The third annual Cardiovascular Diseases (CV) Fellowship Program Directors (PDs) Survey sought to understand burnout and well-being among CV fellowship PDs.

Background: Physician burnout is a common phenomenon. Data on burnout among cardiologists, specifically CV PDs, remain limited.

A Novel Two-Dimensional Echocardiography Method to Objectively Quantify Aortic Valve Calcium and Predict Aortic Stenosis Severity.

Aortic valve calcium (AVC) is a strong predictor of aortic stenosis (AS) severity and is typically calculated by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). We propose a novel method using pixel density quantification software to objectively quantify AVC by two-dimensional (2D) transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and distinguish severe from non-severe AS. A total of 90 patients (mean age 76 ± 10 years, 75% male, mean AV gradient 32 ± 11 mmHg, peak AV velocity 3.

Program Directors Survey on Diversity in Cardiovascular Training Programs.

Background: Women and minorities are under-represented in cardiovascular disease (CVD) specialties. It remains unknown how characteristics of the CVD learning environment affect diversity and how program directors (PDs) approach these critical issues.

Objectives: The second annual Cardiovascular PD Survey aimed to investigate characteristics of the CVD learning environment that may affect diversity and strategies PDs use to approach these issues.

Medical education focus in published articles related to COVID-19.

Objective: The ongoing pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected >2 million patients with approximately 900,000 cases in the United States alone. Medical education has possibly suffered during this time, due to disease mitigation strategies and stress on both students and teachers. We aimed to quantify the publications describing the impact of COVID-19 on medical education in the early stage of the pandemic.

Best practices in teaching echocardiography to cardiology fellows: a review of the evidence.

Background: Best practices in the teaching of performance and interpretation of echocardiography to cardiology fellows are unknown, and thus, it has traditionally been performed through an apprenticeship model. This review summarizes the existing literature describing evidence-based teaching of echocardiography.

Methods: A comprehensive search of multiple scientific and educational databases included prospective studies describing an educational intervention for teaching echocardiography to physicians.

Mind the Gap: Representation of Medical Education in Cardiology-Related Articles and Journals.

Background: Cardiology fellowship programs are at the interface of medical education and the care of patients suffering from the leading cause of mortality in the United States, yet there is an apparent lack of research guiding the effective education of fellows.

Objective: We sought to quantify the number of publications in cardiology journals that pertained to the education of cardiology trainees and the number of cardiologists participating in education research.

Methods: For the period between January and December 2012, we cataloged cardiology-specific and general medical/medical education journals and sorted them by impact factor.

The Essential Role of Educator Development: 10 Years of the ACC Emerging Faculty Program.

The American College of Cardiology Emerging Faculty program was developed in 2005 to promote a systematic approach to "educate the educators" through training and mentorship. A primary focus of the program is the biennial Teaching Skills Workshop, which has had 130 participants since its inception and is focused on the concepts of effective adult learning, curriculum design, and optimization of presentation skills. A survey of participants (80 respondents of 130 total participants) found that the majority stated that participation in the program had a large impact on their ability to apply instructional design principles (49%) and present in face-to-face settings (47%), and it had a moderately large to large positive impact on their personal careers.

Successful efforts to increase diversity in a cardiology fellowship training program.

Background: A large volume of literature has documented racial disparities in the delivery of cardiovascular care in the United States and that decreased access to procedures and undertreatment lead to worse outcomes. A lack of diversity among physicians is considered to be a major contributor. The fellowship training program in cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University Medical Center had never trained a fellow from a minority group underrepresented in medicine (URM) before 2007.

Defining characteristics of early adopters of multimodality cardiovascular imaging.

Background: The prototype for the cardiovascular imager has evolved to necessitate some degree of competency in multimodality imaging (MMI)-defined as expertise in at least 2 of the 4 modalities (echocardiography [ECHO], nuclear cardiology [NUC], cardiovascular computed tomography [CCT], and magnetic resonance [CMR]). Uncertainty exists about the effects of this change.

Methods: Information detailing the current totals of board-certified practitioners in MMI was collected and organized into groups of 1, 2, and 3 modalities.

Identification of incidental hepatic malignancy as photopenic defect on 99mTc-sestamibi myocardial perfusion imaging.

A 63-year-old male patient undergoing cardiac SPECT examination was incidentally found to have a large, photopenic (tracer-deficient) region in the right lobe of the liver. Follow-up abdominal CT scan demonstrated a corresponding large (7.8 cm × 6.

Chemotherapy-induced takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Stress cardiomyopathy, also known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, is a rapidly reversible form of acute heart failure classically triggered by stressful events. It is associated with a distinctive left ventricular contraction pattern described as apical akinesis/ballooning with hyperdynamic contraction of the basal segments in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease. The traditional paradigm has expanded to include other causes, in particular chemotherapeutic drugs.

The important but underappreciated transgastric right ventricular inflow view for transesophageal echocardiographic evaluation of cardiac implantable device infections.

Device infection is a potential complication of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices. We report a case of a 40-year-old man with nonischemic cardiomyopathy, status post biventricular implantable cardiac defilbrillator placement on continuous home dobutamine, who presented with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Transesophageal echocardiography showed a 2.

Real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography-guided placement of left atrial appendage occlusion device.

real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3D TEE) is a novel imaging technique whose full utility is still being evaluated. We present a case utilizing 3D TEE for percutaneous placement of a left atrial appendage occlusion device. This evolving technology has potential application in other cardiovascular interventional procedures.

Impact of 64-slice multidetector computed tomography on other diagnostic studies for coronary artery disease.

Background: The clinical role of cardiovascular multidetector computed tomography (CT) remains in evolution, and application varies widely. Understanding its impact on the utilization of other cardiovascular diagnostic modalities could help define best practices.

Methods: Utilization of diagnostic testing was examined for the initial 1053 consecutive patients who underwent cardiovascular multidetector CT examinations after scanner installation in 2005.

Methods of teaching and evaluating electrocardiogram interpretation skills among cardiology fellowship programs in the United States.

Background: This study examines the methods used by cardiology training programs within the United States to teach electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation and prepare fellows for the American Board of Internal Medicine board examination.

Methods: A link to an 18-question Web-based survey was electronically mailed to 198 fellowship directors in the United States.

Results: The response rate was 45%.

Logistical barriers to career development in academic cardiovascular multimodality imaging-challenges for future mentors.

Objectives: To define the practical logistics involved in the training, maintenance of technical proficiency, credentialing, and board certification for academic multimodality cardiovascular imaging specialists.

Background: Trends in cardiovascular imaging reflect a new paradigm emphasizing expertise in all four major modalities. In order to become a faculty member responsible for educating fellows-in-training, academic imagers face a daunting process with a shortage of senior mentors.

Isolated cleft posterior mitral valve leaflet: an uncommon cause of mitral regurgitation.

A 53-year-old woman with a history of hypertension was referred for an echocardiogram by her primary care physician after an unspecified abnormal ECG. The echocardiogram showed normal left ventricular size and function; however, an isolated cleft posterior mitral valve leaflet was identified with concomitant bileaflet prolapse and mild mitral regurgitation. She was subsequently referred to a cardiologist for clinical evaluation.

Newly diagnosed arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia in an octogenarian.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is thought to be a disease of the young, with the majority of newly diagnosed patients under 40 years of age. Establishing this diagnosis in elderly patients may be challenging, and a few reports exist of patients older than 70 years diagnosed with ARVD/C at autopsy. We report the case of an octogenarian with antemortem newly diagnosed ARVD/C.