Cardiology Education

Physicians at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute hold teaching appointments within the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine. Our teaching programs cater to learners at the undergraduate (medical school) level all the way through to those wishing to pursue fellowship training.

At the undergraduate level, trainees are encouraged to undertake any of several elective rotations based at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine Undergraduate Medical Electives website for more information.

Postgraduate trainees are also encouraged to spend clinical time at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. This is especially true for senior residents in internal medicine intending to apply for subspecialty training in adult cardiology. Elective opportunities are available on the Lyall Higginson Teaching Service (for junior residents) and in the Coronary Care Unit and on the Cardiology Consultation and Arrhythmia Services (for senior residents). Applications should please be sent to:

Michael Froeschl, MD
Director, Adult Cardiology Training Program
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
40 Ruskin St
Ottawa, ON K1Y 4W7

The heart of cardiology education at the University of Ottawa resides in the Adult Cardiology Residency Training Program. This three-year program, fully accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, is described in detail below.

Cardiology Residency Training Program

The Adult Cardiology Training Program at the University of Ottawa is fully accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. It is a three-year program whose primary objective is to train specialists with a high degree of knowledge and skill in all aspects of modern clinical cardiology and with a demonstrated ability to act as consultant to other physicians, including family physicians, other specialists and surgeons.

The clinical curriculum of the Cardiology Residency Training Program at the University of Ottawa is based on the 2010 Subspecialty Training Requirements in Adult Cardiology established by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The year of training is divided into 13 four-week blocks, for a total of 39 blocks distributed as follows:

  • 16 blocks of clinical residency: ten blocks clinical cardiology (including three blocks cardiology CTU, three blocks consultation service and one block each of prevention and rehabilitation, general cardiology, community cardiology and advanced heart failure); four blocks acute cardiac care; and two blocks pediatric cardiology, including adult congenital heart disease. NB: three blocks ambulatory cardiology, required by the RRCPSC, are undertaken as one year-long longitudinal cardiology clinic.
  • 15 blocks of laboratory-based residency: six blocks echocardiography: four blocks cardiac catheterization (or three blocks cardiac cath plus one block cardiac CT); three blocks electrophysiology; and two blocks nuclear cardiology.
  • Two blocks research (clinical and/or basic).
  • Six blocks elective, three of which can be pursued outside of Ontario. These are in addition to the community selective, which can also be pursued outside Ontario.

For residents wishing to pursue more training in a specific area, and within the three years of cardiology training, application can be made to the Residency Program Committee to modify the above curriculum as long as all RCPSC requirements are met. With respect to both the content of the clinical curriculum and the timing of its components, there is flexibility built into the program.

Residents are given graded responsibility, with close supervision of their activities in the first year and increasing autonomy in the second year. Third year residents provide consultative support and procedural back-up to their more junior colleagues; they have limited in-house call responsibilities.

As part of the above clinical curriculum, cardiology residents in their third year are also given the opportunity to spend one week in Iqaluit, capital city of Nunavut, as part of the Baffin Island Program. Three times each year, one senior cardiology resident, one staff cardiologist from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and one echocardiography technologist travel to Nunavut to serve the inhabitants of Baffin Island. The cardiology resident and attending run clinics while the sonographer performs echocardiograms. The experience exposes trainees to different cardiac pathologies, including rheumatic heart disease, while also exposing them to different language, culture and landscape.

In addition to the clinical cardiology curriculum detailed above, cardiology residents at the University of Ottawa also benefit from and actively participate in a rich didactic teaching program. This program is anchored in the weekly academic half-day. For three hours each Tuesday afternoon, cardiology residents are excused from their clinical rotations and receive dedicated cardiology teaching. Basic topics are presented by the residents themselves, with input and supervision from a faculty member, whereas more complex subjects are presented by experts, usually staff cardiologists based at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Other rounds that make up the formal teaching schedule include: morning rounds five times per week, including two morning reports, one graphics show and tell rounds, one Division Rounds and one Landmark Journal Club; and three afternoon rounds, including ECG rounds on Mondays, Professor (physical exam) Rounds on Wednesdays and cath/echo rounds on Thursdays.

The Adult Cardiology Training Program at the University of Ottawa is overseen by a dedicated Residency Program Committee (RPC). The RPC is chaired by the Program Director and made up of the following members: Chief of Cardiology; Director of Cardiology Education; Chief Cardiology Resident; a second Cardiology Resident elected by his/her peers; attending physicians representing the various core rotations, including representation from all core training sites. The RPC meets quarterly but can be convened on an ad hoc basis. Sub-committees of the RPC include the Resident Selection Committee and the Resident Promotions Committee.

Prospective applicants to the Cardiology Resident Training Program at the University of Ottawa are directed to the website of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). Sponsored residents should apply directly to our program:

Michael Froeschl, MD
Director, Adult Cardiology Training Program
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
40 Ruskin Street
Ottawa, ON K1Y 4W7
Canada 

Cardiology Fellowship Training Programs

The University of Ottawa Heart Institute offers Clinical Fellowships and Research Fellowships in the following fields: