Structural Heart Fellowship
Introduction
Our Structural Heart Fellowship program provides an opportunity for professional growth and development through exposure to a comprehensive structural heart program. Our fellows have an appropriate blend of patient centric responsibilities, clinical teaching and supervision, didactic educational events, research opportunities and procedural structural heart volume including TAVR, TMVR, MitraClip, PFO/ASD closure, Left atrial appendage occlusion and paravalvular leak closure.
Watch an Introduction to the program by Dr. Talhat Azemi:
Duration
Our fellowship program is a one year dedicated commitment to structural heart disease.
Goals and objectives for training/educational purposes
Our fellowship program focuses on the development of essential knowledge and procedural skills required as a structural heart clinician and proceduralist through a comprehensive patient evaluation, pre-procedural planning, procedural performance and post-procedural follow-up. During the year, our fellows have didactic opportunities which includes participation in our weekly multidisciplinary structural heart team meeting, structural heart morbidity and mortality conference, structural heart council meeting as well as engagement in research projects.
Educational Components
Procedural Experience
Our fellows spend at least 3 days per week in the Hybrid Operating Room and Cardiac Catheterization Lab performing structural heart procedures including TAVR, TMVR, MitraClip, PFO/ASD closure, Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion implant and paravalvular leak closure. The educational experience balances hands-on training in real time with direct supervision by both the interventionalist and the cardiac surgeon.
Initial Assessment of Consults and Ambulatory Experience
Our fellows spend 1-2 days per week in an ambulatory structural heart disease clinic and learn the pre procedural assessment process including appropriateness of therapies and evaluation of patients. They are also involved in seeing new inpatient consults and coordinating their structural heart care with the rest of the multidisciplinary team. Fellows integrate multiple imaging modalities to evaluate structural heart disease patients including transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, computed tomography angiography (CTA), and coronary angiography. Upon completion of the patient evaluation, fellows present the patient at our weekly multidisciplinary structural heart conference and become an integral part of the structural team.
Applications
To apply for the Structural Heart Fellowship program, contact:
Laurie Poulin
Program Coordinator
80 Seymour St., South Bldg. Rm. 217
Hartford, CT 06102-5037
Phone: 860.972.2977
Fax: 860.545.3557
Email: Laurie.Poulin@hhchealth.org
Talhat Azemi, MD
Program Director
Phone: 860.972.3570
Email: Talhat.Azemi@hhchealth.org
Structural Heart Faculty
Dr. Azemi is the Program Director of the Structural Heart Fellowship program at Hartford Hospital and is assistant clinical professor of medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from Hofstra University and his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine. He did all his training including internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at Hartford Hospital. He joined the cardiac catheterization lab at Hartford Hospital since 2012.
Dr. Kiernan is the Co-Director of the Structural Heart Program at Hartford Hospital and medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at Hartford Hospital. He is an associate clinical professor of medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his medical degree from University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He did all his training including internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at Hartford Hospital. He joined the cardiac catheterization lab at Hartford Hospital in 1985.
Dr. McKay is the Co-Director of the Structural Heart Program at Hartford Hospital and is clinical professor of medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He did all his training including internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology at at Beth Israel hospital in Boston Massachusetts. He joined the cardiac catheterization lab at Hartford Hospital since 1988.
Dr. Sadiq is the Program Director for the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship program at Hartford Hospital and is associate clinical professor of medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from Government College Lahore and his medical degree from Allama Iqbal Medical College. He did all his training including internal medicine and cardiovascular disease training at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester Massachusetts. He did his interventional cardiology at Hartford Hospital and Vascular and Endovascular Medicine fellowship training at Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston Massachusetts. He joined the cardiac catheterization lab at Hartford Hospital since 2010.
Dr. Piccirillo is clinical faculty of medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Notre Dame and his medical degree from University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He did internal medicine training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston Massachusetts and cardiovascular disease fellowship at Boston Medical Center. He then completed his interventional cardiology, peripheral vascular intervention and structural heart disease intervention fellowship at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He joined the cardiac catheterization lab at Hartford Hospital since 2018.
Dr. Rizvi is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the Aga Khan University Medical College. He did all his training including internal medicine at University of Connecticut School of Medicine and his cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowship's at Hartford Hospital. He joined the cardiac catheterization lab at Hartford Hospital since 2014.