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Lectures and Conferences

There are several formal conferences that are held on a monthly or weekly basis as part of the Cardiology training program. These conferences have various formats and are viewed as critical to the education of the Cardiovascular Fellow. Attendance by all fellows is mandatory.

1. Monday Morning Invasive Laboratory Conference:

Held every Monday August through June. Cardiology 3 weeks, Electrophysiology 1 week. A weekly case based conference is held specifically relating to Invasive Cardiology and Electrophysiology. The primary format of this conference is case based. A fellow presents the clinical highlights of the case. This case is then used as an introduction to a more formal lecture style discussion of a specific topic relevant to the case. During their third year of fellowship, the fellow that is on the Cath lab rotation will be scheduled to present one Monday of their rotation with the assistance of the Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. The participants in this conference include but are not limited to the Cardiology Faculty, the Cardiothoracic Surgery Faculty and Radiology Faculty. Once a month, the focus of the conference shifts slightly in that an Electrophysiology case is presented, again the format is similar but the focus of the subject is a specific electrophysiology case.

Basic educational goals of this conference include but are not limited to:

  • Understanding basic concepts involved in cardiac catheterizations and interventions including indications and techniques. Similar discussions are also applied to electrophysiology
  • Interpretation of results from catheterization and electrophysiology procedures and management decisions based on those results
  • Review of current concepts and literature related to invasive Cardiology and electrophysiology
  • Understanding hemodynamic information obtained from cardiac catheterizations
  • Understanding data obtained from electrophysiology procedures
  • Basic principles involved in implantation and management of pacemakers and ICDs.

2. Echocardiography/Nuclear Conference:

Echocardiography conference is held every Tuesday. Nuclear/Imaging Cardiology Conference is held on Friday.

Echocardiography 2 weeks, Nuclear Cardiology 1 week, Pediatric Cardiology 1 week and nuclear board review 1 week. A weekly conference is held revolving around noninvasive evaluation of the heart. The echocardiography portion of this conference is based upon review of various cases. Twice a month these cases are derived from the adult population evaluated in the echocardiography at Upstate Medical University Hospital as well as the Crouse Hospital. In addition to review of the specific studies, literature review and/or discussion of basic ultrasound principles are presented. Once a month these conferences involve the presentation of interesting cases performed by the Pediatric Cardiology department. The presenter is one of the Pediatric Cardiologist who provides a discussion of some problems specific to congenital heart disease. Once a month the Nuclear Medicine Department of Upstate Medical University Hospital gives the conference. Specific nuclear cardiography studies are presented. There is a portion of this conference that is dedicated to a formal type lecture on basic nuclear principles.

Nuclear Board Review will be held twice a month - start the second Tuesday in September through June 30th. There will be a minimum of 20 lectures per academic year to meet the required 80 hours of lecture time for the Nuclear Board requirement.

Fellows must:

  1. Attend 60% of lectures per academic year. Based on 1.5 hour lectures, this will give the fellows 80 hours of lecture time.
  2. The letter of certification will not be signed if more than 40% of lectures are missed per academic year.
  3. Each fellow will require a minimum of 2 months of exposure in the lab per COCATS

3. Electrocardiography Conference:

Held every Wednesday. A weekly EKG conference is held in which interesting and challenging tracings are presented. The tracings are reviewed as a group with the discussion and interpretation being led by one of the Electrocardiographers. In addition, specific relevant literature or basic electrocardiography principles may be discussed in the context of a specific tracing. Fellows will learn to evaluate these tracings and are expected to actively participate in the interpretation as part of the goal improving their skills in analyzing electrocardiograms.

The third Thursday of the month: The fellow on Imaging/EKG will be responsible for presenting at the noon resident conference.

4. Dr. Robert Eich Fellows’ Conference:

Held every third Monday from July through mid June: A lecture type conference is held once a week in which the Cardiology Fellows serve as the primary presenter of specific topics relevant to adult clinical cardiovascular disease. A yearly schedule is made up in which pertinent or controversial topics, as well as more basic subject matter is presented. Faculty members at times will present, but the primary focus is the fellow. This allows the fellows the opportunity not only to more critically review specific topics in cardiovascular disease, but also an opportunity to practice presentations to their peers.

The article or articles are to serve as a starting point for the topic to be presented. This is not to be Journal Club in another format; rather the article is to provide a starting point for the conference. The expectation is that the fellow will choose an aspect of the topic that is of particular interest in the broader review and concentrate on that.

5. Journal Club:

Held the second and fourth Monday of every month. A review of a current article is presented in an informal discussion type format. A fellow is specifically assigned, with an attending mentor, to present an article of recent nature and relevance to adult cardiovascular disease. The fellow with the approval of his attending mentor selects the article and the fellow conducts appropriate review of that article. Again, this provides the fellow the opportunity to not only critically review important current topics but also an opportunity for development of skills in both critically reviewing scientific articles and presenting that material to an audience of his or her peers.

6. Renal Transplant Conference:

Held every Friday, the fellow on the SUH Echo rotation will attend the Renal Transplant Conference. The purpose of the conference is for the potential renal transplant patient’s chart to be reviewed and a determination made if the patient is cleared by cardiology or if further testing is needed for the patient to be cleared. This has expedited for renal transplant patients the actual transplant procedure when a kidney is available for their procedure.

7. Pediatric Cardiology surgery Conference:

Held every Friday by the Pediatric Cardiology department at Crouse Irving Physician Office Building. Fellows that are on a non clinical rotation or on a pediatric elective are encouraged to attend. A weekly case based conference is held specifically relating to surgery on Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart patients.

8. Pediatric Cardiology Conference:

Held every Friday by the Pediatric Cardiology department at Upstate Medical University Hospital. Fellows that are on a non clinical rotation or on a pediatric elective are encouraged to attend. A weekly case based conference is held specifically relating to the care of Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart patients.

9. Thoracic Surgery Conference:

Held quarterly by the Thoracic Surgery department at Upstate Medical University Hospital. Fellows that are on a non clinical rotation or are on the Catheterization Laboratory rotation at either Upstate Medical University or the VA Medical Center are encouraged to attend.

10. QA Cardiology Catheterization laboratory Conference:

Held quarterly the director of the Upstate Medical University Catheterization Laboratory meets with the fellows as a whole to review mortalities and complications that occurred in the Upstate Medical University Catheterization Laboratory. Charts will be acquired from medical records, films and reports reviewed and a formal write up of each case will be filed in the fellowship administrators office.

11. Braunwald Club:

Held the first Monday evening of every month. A conference that is held specifically relating to a chapter in Braunwald Heart Disease that has been assigned to the fellow. The expectation is that the fellow will choose an aspect of the topic that is of particular interest.

12. Case Presentation Conference:

Held every Thursday morning. A conference that is held weekly based on specific rotations. A rotating schedule has been created based on rotation. The fellow assigned to that rotation is to present a case that is of particular interest.

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