History of cardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital
Founded in 1948 by Dr. Alexander S. Nadas, the “father of pediatric cardiology,” the cardiology fellowship program at Boston Children's Hospital is the oldest training program in the country. By the mid-1960s, Boston Children’s Hospital had become the largest center for pediatric cardiology in the world, with 15 staff physicians as well as international recognition for cardiac research. Over the ensuing 50 years, the Department of Cardiology has remained at the forefront of clinical and research training, with major contributions to many of the seminal advances in pediatric cardiology. Today, we have more than 70 staff physicians and more than 350 fellowship alumni.
Our mission remains centered around:
- an unwavering commitment to outstanding patient care
- a spirit of altruism and generosity toward patients, trainees, colleagues, and society as a whole
- a commitment to fostering innovation and discovery at all levels
- a commitment to selecting and training fellows who share these ideals
Education and training in cardiology
Standard fellowship
The standard pediatric cardiology fellowship is a three-year program at Boston Children’s Hospital. The program accepts eight fellows each year. The three years of training consists of 24 months of clinical rotations and 12 months of elective and research experience. The first year starts with an innovative, month-long Boot Camp. This program engages new fellows with hands-on training and skill development. Fellows complete a checklist "passport" of tasks in the areas of Cardiac ICU, Electrophysiology, Exercise Physiology, Catheterization, and Echocardiography. Tasks vary widely, from using a state-of-the art vascular access simulator to practice entering a vein before a cath procedure, to obtaining consent for a procedure from a patient's family, to practicing emergency situations with a responsive human mannequin simulator followed by a team debriefing. A core group of committed teaching staff oversee the program and supplement the clinical experiences with lectures that impart fundamental knowledge, including an in-depth cardiac pathology curriculum utilizing the resources of the Cardiac Registry.
The clinical core consists of 24 months of clinical rotations following a 13-block schedule per academic calendar year. These include training in outpatient and inpatient settings and collaboration of multidisciplinary programs. By completion, fellows have completed core rotations in each of the following main subspecialties of pediatric cardiology: Imaging, Cardiac Intensive Care, Inpatient Care, Catheterization, Electrophysiology, Consultation, Outpatient Longitudinal Care, Adult Congenital Heart Disease, and Heart Failure/Advanced Therapies/Transplantation.
Research opportunities are diverse at Boston Children’s Hospital and combine intramural expertise in molecular genetics, cardiac morphogenesis, and cellular adhesion with a wide range of laboratory investigation occurring throughout the Boston medical community. Educating fellows in patient safety and quality improvement science is another important goal of the Core Fellowship, and all fellows take a longitudinal course in Quality Improvement Methods during the first year. Following this, fellows are expected to meaningfully participate in ongoing QI projects in the Cardiovascular Program, or to design and implement their own QI project.
Applying to the Standard Fellowship
To apply to the standard three-year fellowship, download instructions here. Listed in the instructions document is a required Pediatric Cardiology Evaluation Form (to accompany all letters of recommendation), which can be found here.
All standard fellowship application materials must be submitted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) website.
Timeline for application and selection, per NRMP
- Deadline for completed application: Per ERAS (for fellowships beginning July 1 of the following year)
- Interviews: August 1 through October 31
- Final selection: A schedule of dates and other information can be found by visiting the NRMP website.
Contact information
Jenasia Kirksey
Program Coordinator, Cardiology Categorical Fellowship
Boston Children’s Hospital, Department of Cardiology
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
Jenasia.Kirksey@cardio.chboston.org
David Brown, MD
Categorical Fellowship Director, Boston Children’s Hospital Benderson Family Heart Center
Department of Cardiology
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
David.Brown@childrens.harvard.edu
Sarah Teele, MD
Categorical Fellowship Assistant Director, Boston Children’s Hospital Benderson Family Heart Center
Department of Cardiology
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
Sarah.Teele@childrens.harvard.edu
David Kane, MD
Categorical Fellowship Assistant Director, Boston Children’s Hospital Benderson Family Heart Center
Department of Cardiology
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
David.Kane@childrens.harvard.edu