Education

Fourth-year subspecialties offered by The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program include:

Interventional Cardiology Fellowship

Heart Failure Transplantation Fellowship

Interventional Cardiology Fellowship

David Lasorda, DO, FACC, Director

The Interventional Cardiology Fellowship is an elective 4th year subspecialty fellowship.

The interventional cardiology fellowship was established and accredited at Allegheny General Hospital in 1999.  The interventional cardiology faculty has been dedicated to the goal of providing a comprehensive educational environment that fosters the development of fellows, thereby enabling them to become proficient interventional cardiologists.  To achieve this goal the interventional cardiology curriculum integrates the basic sciences as applied to clinical cardiology with in-depth interventional procedures that will provide the opportunities for the attainment of technical proficiency with balloon angioplasty, atherectomy, coronary stents, Doppler/Pressure Wire, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), peripheral interventions, distal protection devices, and primary angioplasty.  A broad base of knowledge and skills encompassing all phases of interventional cardiology will enable the fellow to provide the total management of patient care in a broad range of practice settings.  The interventional cardiology curriculum, therefore, incorporates comprehensive teaching conferences, teaching rounds, and clinical experience in all facets of interventional cardiology.  While the faculty believes that clinical experience is the principal foundation of interventional cardiology education, they also believe that a significant portion of the fellow’s education is achieved through lectures, conferences, teaching rounds, research, and an up-to-date comprehension of interventional cardiology literature.  Therefore, the interventional cardiology curriculum is designed to afford fellows the opportunity to attend lectures, conferences, participate in teaching rounds, conduct research, and also, have sufficient time for review and study of current literature.

The interventional cardiology fellowship program at Allegheny General Hospital exceeds the established requirements and performs approximately 1,800 procedures annually including percutaneous coronary angioplasty, coronary stenting, atherectomy, thrombectomy, distal protection devices, intravascular ultrasound, and coronary flow reserve/fractional flow reserve.  The interventional cardiology fellows have exposure to and participate in mitral valvuloplasty and aortic valvuloplasty, atrial septal closure devices, intra-aortic balloon pump, brachytherapy, devices for cardiogenic shock, and peripheral angiography/interventions.  The Allegheny General Hospital interventional cardiology fellowship has achieved substantial compliance with the educational requirements established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Program Requirements for Residency Education in Subspecialties of Internal Medicine, and Program Requirements for Residency Education in Interventional Cardiology (Internal Medicine).

For more information on applying to the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program at Allegheny General Hospital located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, please apply on-line through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) or contact our office:

Carolyn Bowers, Fellowship Coordinator
cbowers3@wpahs.org
412.359.6270
412.359.4779  (Fax)