Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship

105

Active Clinical Trials Underway

10

Appointed Endowed Faculty

283

Peer-Reviewed Publications in 2023

About the Fellowship

Eligibility and Application

Thank you for your interest in Houston Methodist's Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program. Our program participates in the; National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) and is registered with Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS); ACGME Program ID 1414813292 - July Application Cycle.

There are certain eligibility criteria that must be met to apply for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program:


Criteria
  • Must apply via the Electronic Residency Applicant Service (ERAS) and must enroll in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP)
  • Be of good professional character with at least three letters of recommendation attesting to your academic and personal qualifications
  • Graduate of a U.S. or Canadian Medical School accredited by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), or a medical school outside the United States and Canada with a current valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)
  • Graduate of an ACGME-accredited or RCPSC-accredited (Canadian) three-year cardiovascular disease training program
  • Board-eligible in internal medicine by time of fellowship appointment
  • Applicants must be eligible for licensure (Physician in Training or Full License) by the Texas Medical Board
  • All applicants must have taken and passed all three steps of USMLE exams (first attempt preferred). DO graduates must have taken and passed all three steps of COMLEX USA.
  • Our program sponsors J1 visas. If you are an J1 visa holder, you must be eligible for three years of training at the beginning of the fellowship.

Houston Methodist is committed to improving the health of our patients, employees, and communities around us. As a health care provider, it’s our responsibility to promote a healthier environment for our employees.


Responsibility
  • Drug and Tobacco Screening- Job seekers will be tested for nicotine and drug usage during the post-offer physical. If a job seeker tests positive for nicotine use, including nicotine gum and patches, the offer will be rescinded, and individuals will be given the opportunity to participate in a free Houston Methodist-provided tobacco cessation program. Job seekers wishing to reapply after testing positive for nicotine may do so 90 days after the date the initial offer was rescinded. If the job seeker tests positive for drug use, the offer will be rescinded. Job seekers wishing to reapply after the drug screening is positive may do so one year after the date the initial offer was rescinded.
  • Background Check - Prior to employment start date, job seekers must complete a criminal background check.
Fellowship Events
2018_Bootcamp_Cardiology
Bootcamp
Our cardiovascular disease fellows and other trainees from around the country are in Houston every August for our CV Fellows' Boot Camp. This is an extremely popular three-day course in the fundamentals of cardiovascular sciences. The course is designed to upgrade knowledge early in training by providing a combination of interactive didactic lectures and hands-on skills training.
2018_Cardiology_Mixer
Mentorship Program
Key cardiology faculty members serve as mentors for each fellow. They routinely meet on a quarterly basis and mentors are available to fellows at any time to discuss issues ranging from careers or fellowship advice to personal problems. Our mentors are frequently called upon to provide guidance in obtaining research experience, to assist the fellow in preparation for subspecialty fellowship applications or to support with other career goals. 
Women In Cardiology
In November 2018, our department established a Women In Cardiology group. The goal of the initiative is to strengthen the professional support system of our female cardiologists and encourage our fellows to engage in conversations with female colleagues. We hope to foster personal and professional development, and promote leadership, career, and research opportunities, both during fellowship and after graduation.

Training, Education & Research

Educational Conferences
The Department of Cardiology reserves protected didactic time each day at Noon. Conferences cover topics in general cardiology as well as sub-specialties. For fellows, the Monday/Wednesday/Friday weekly Noon conferences offer a core didactic curriculum: Professor Rounds/Core Curriculum Conference, Preventive Cardiology/Heart Failure/Research Conferences, Heart & Vascular Center Grand Rounds, and Cardiac Catheterization Conference. Other conferences are optional but highly recommended, especially on specific rotations or based on the fellow's own interest, to increase knowledge in the sub-specialties.

Weekly Schedule (*required)

Monday
Cardiac Catheterization Conference*
CV Imaging MRI Conference

Tuesday
Multi-Modality Imaging Conference

Wednesday
Preventive Cardiology Conference*
Heart Failure Conference*
Research Conference*
Cardiovascular Research Seminar (bi-monthly)
Heart Valve Conference (bi-monthly)

Thursday
Heart & Vascular Center Grand Rounds*
Interventional Journal Club (monthly)

Friday
Multidisciplinary Ischemic Heart Conference (bi-monthly)
Professor Rounds*
Core Curriculum Conference*
CV Imaging Research/Journal Club

CV LAUNCH
In order to provide our PGY4 fellows early education and training, we created our summer lecture series - CV LAUNCH (Competency-based Vital Learning & Accelerated Understanding for New Cardiology Fellows). This six-week lecture series engages our newest fellows early on in their training with vital lectures and in-services necessary to start off in Cardiology as prepared as possible.

Visiting Professors
The Department of Cardiology invites many prominent professors to visit Houston Methodist each year. They present their work during lectures, participate in hospital rounds and have informal discussions with fellows. A listing of our upcoming Grand Rounds speakers can be found here.

Many of these conferences, including our Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center Grand Rounds and Multi-Modality Imaging Conference, are recorded live on our DeBakey YouTube Channel. We encourage you to take advantage of these free educational opportunities.

Our Team

About the Program Director
Stephen H. Little, MD, FRCPC, FACC, FASE is the program director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program at Houston Methodist Hospital.

He has been heavily involved in education and national teaching activities for the last decade. He is an alumnus of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Emerging Faculty Program (2008), and is currently a member of the ACC working group to define structural heart disease training criteria. He is a member of the ACC writing group to define valvular heart disease systems of care, and is coeditor of the ACC EchoSap educational DVD series.

Little holds the John S. Dunn Chair in Clinical Cardiovascular Research and Education, is the director of the Houston Methodist Valve Institute, and director of the Cardiovascular Hemodynamics Imaging Laboratory. His recent research activities have focused on novel use of 3D echocardiography for the quantification of native and prosthetic valve dysfunction as well as imaging guidance for percutaneous structural heart interventions. His team has created a robust in vitro flow system for multimodality functional valve imaging under tailored hemodynamic conditions. In collaboration with research scientists and mathematicians, Little’s research group creates complex 3D printed heart valve constructs to address an increasingly important clinical need: To improve our understanding of heart valve dysfunction by employing multimodality imaging to better characterize and quantify complex intracardiac flow conditions.

Little is an associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. He received his medical degree from McMaster University and completed postgraduate training in internal medicine and cardiology at Western University. He completed research fellowships in echocardiography at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Society of Echocardiography.

Little has presented more than 130 invited lectures nationally and internationally, and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. His current research activities are funded through grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, and industry partnerships.

Stephen H. Little, MD, FRCPC, FASE, FACC
Program Director, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
John S. Dunn Chair of Clinical Cardiovascular Research and Education
Associate Professor of Clinical Cardiology, Weill Cornell Medical College
Cardiovascular Imaging Section, Department of Cardiology
Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center
Our Fellows
Gina Lazzara, MD
Gina Lazzara, MD - Chief Fellow
Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Residency: Vanderbilt Univ. Med. Ctr. (IM)
Taha Mohamad, MD
Mohamad Taha, MD - Chief Fellow
Medical School: University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions
Residency: Wayne State Univ. SOM (IM)
Syed Ali, MD
Syed Ali, MD - PGY-6
Medical School: Baylor College of Medicine
Residency: Baylor College of Medicine (IM)
Priyanka Bhugra, MD
Priyanka Bhugra, MD - PGY-6
Medical School: Lady Hardinge Medical College
Residency: New York Medical College (IM)
Rody Chaaya, MD
Rody Bou Chaaya, MD - PGY-6
Medical School: Université Saint-Joseph Faculté de Médecine
Residency: Indiana Univ. SOM (IM)
Madiha Khan, MD
Madiha Khan, DO - PGY-6
Medical School: Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Houston Methodist (IM)
Yasser Sammour, MD
Yasser Sammour, MD - PGY-6
Medical School: Faculty of Medicine Ain Shams University
Residency: Univ. of Missouri-Kansas City SOM (IM)
Samarth Thakkar, MD
Samarth Thakkar, MD - PGY-6
Medical School: Medical College Baroda
Residency: Rochester General Hospital (IM)
headshot of Gabriel Lora Ferreira, MD
Gabriel Lora Ferreira, MD - PGY-6
Medical School: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Residency: Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud (IM)
headshot of Mustapha Amin, MD
Mustapha Amin, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: University of Aleppo Faculty of Medicine
Residency: Cleveland Clinic (IM)
headshot of Rotimi Asemota, MD
Rotimi Asemota, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: University of Benin School of Medicine
Residency: Cook County Health and Hospitals System (IM)
headshot of Freddy Duarte Lau, MD
Freddy Duarte Lau, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: Universidad Francisco Marroquín Facultad de Medicina
Residency: Yale-New Haven Medical Center- St. Raphael (IM)
headshot of Sita Garapati, MD
Sita Garapati, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences
Residency: New York Presbyterian Hospital- Cornell Campus (IM)
headshot of Ryan Nguyen, MD
Ryan Nguyen, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Houston Methodist Hospital (IM)
headshot of Muhammad H. Maqsood, MD
Muhammad H. Maqsood, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: King Edward Medical University
Residency: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center (IM)
headshot of Mustapha Amin, MD
Jonathan Na, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Residency: University of Maryland (IM)
headshot of Muhammad F. Anwaar, MD
Muhammad F. Anwaar, MD - PGY-5
Medical School: Dow Medical College
Residency: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Program (IM)
Aangi Shah, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad
Residency: University of Louisville (IM)
Joseph Elias, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine
Residency: Icahn School of Mount Sinai Hospital (IM)
Basha Behrman, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: New York Medical College
Residency: Westchester Medical Center (IM)
Davis Leaphart, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: University of South Carolina School of Medicine
Residency: Cleveland Clinic Foundation (IM)
Roshni Mandania, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Residency: Houston Methodist Hospital (IM)
Sumitabh Singh, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: All-India Institute of Medical Sciences
Residency: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (IM)
Saliha Erdem, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: Gazi Universitesi Tip Fakultesi
Residency: Wayne State University School of Medicine (IM)
Mohak Gupta, MD - PGY-4
Medical School: All-India Institute of Medical Sciences
Residency: Cleveland Clinic Foundation (IM)
Message from the Chief Fellows
Dear Applicant,

Houston Methodist is an internationally recognized institution with historic achievements and discoveries in the fields of cardiology and cardiovascular surgery. Our world-renowned faculty are leaders in their fields and include those who are past presidents of the American College of Cardiology, American Society of Echocardiography, and American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, as well as chairs and authors of multiple guidelines. Not only are they leaders in their respective fields, the faculty are also incredibly approachable and make fellow education their top priority. The relationships between faculty and fellows are collegial with fellows treated more as junior partners and colleagues.

In the heart of the Texas Medical Center, the Houston Methodist cardiovascular fellowship offers a wide breath of exposure. You will experience all areas of cardiovascular medicine and be at the forefront of innovation. We pride ourselves especially on exceptional clinical training, such that fellows can comfortably handle a wide range of complex cases by their second year of training. You will emerge a heart failure expert, taking care of cardiogenic shock, post-transplant and VAD patients, and all types of temporary mechanical circulatory support with ease. There is no shortage of procedures in the catheterization laboratory with everyone easily hitting their Level 2 and Level 3 COCATs requirements while seeing complex PCI and cutting-edge structural cases.

Our prolific imaging department allows fellows to come out Level 2 and above in any imaging subspecialty from echocardiography to cardiac CT. It’s truly a blessing to have these advanced imaging modalities under one roof and gain an understanding of when and how these modalities are best used for our patients. In your second year, you’ll have the opportunity to go to our community affiliate and spend a month putting all your clinical knowledge and skills to work in a low-resource environment. You’ll see your patient as a consult in the morning, interpret the nuclear in the afternoon, and then do the diagnostic catheterization (and sometimes the intervention!) before discharge.

On completion of your general cardiology fellowship, you’ll be aptly prepared for an advanced subspecialty fellowships in interventional cardiology, structural heart disease, advanced heart failure, advanced imaging (echocardiography, CT, nuclear [SPECT and PET], cardiac MRI) or electrophysiology. Having these specialties in house gives general fellows an opportunity to decide what part of the field will best suit them. Former graduates have gone on to thrive at both academic institutions and community practices throughout the nation.

For those who are interested in research, our department offers fellows abundant opportunities for impactful clinical research to excel in both academic and clinical practice. Fellows are given the opportunity to choose one of our prolific mentors who can guide them through the research process from identifying a hypothesis to presenting an abstract and publishing the manuscript. Other available opportunities include reviewing and contributing to the Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal.

We are a tightly knit and diverse group of fellows and faculty from all over the world with fellows routinely hanging out inside and outside the hospital. The program leadership works with us to continually change our program and strive to balance our educational needs and our well-being. Consequently, rotation schedules are highly flexible with over 12 electives months offered throughout general cardiology fellowship and time off accommodating. This allows each fellow to tailor his/her schedule according to their long-term goals and interests. Educational conferences are ample (check out our YouTube channel!), bedside teaching poignant, and clinical diagnostic reasoning rigorously challenged in our monthly Professor Rounds.

Houston is one of the largest and most diverse cities in America. The food and drink scene rivals the biggest cities in the country and is right on par with the likes of New York City (yes, we just went there!). It’s incredible cost of living for a metropolis makes starting and raising a family here a reality, with no state taxes a real plus. No matter what you like to do or where you are on your life journey, Houston can be a home for you.

We look forward to meeting you during the interview season and welcoming you to our cardiology family here at Houston Methodist. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us directly.

Sincerely,

Gina Lazzara, MD & Mohamad Taha, MD
2024-2025 Chief Fellows
Our Alumni

We are extremely proud of our Cardiovascular Disease fellowship program graduates. Each year the Houston Methodist Department of Cardiology hosts an alumni reception at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting.

Class of 2024

Smitha Narayana Gowda, MD                    
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Bharat Narasimhan, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, , Nashville, TN

Saleem Toro, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

Victor Okunrintemi, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY

Safi Khan, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Isadora Mathias, MD
Cardiovascular Imaging Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

 

Class of 2023

Hyeon (HJ) Ali, MD
Cardio-Oncology & Pulmonary Hypertension Specialist, MD Anderson & Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Hassaan Arshad, MBBS
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Michelle Nsahlai, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, Ascension St. Vincent, Indianapolis

Summit Pandat, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Yehia Saleh, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Montefiore Medical center, NY

Priyanka Satish, MBBS
Private Practice Prevention Clinic, Ascension Seton Medical Center/UT Austin, TX

   

   

Class of 2022

Tanushree Agrawal, MBBS
Warren Clinic, St. Francis Hospital, Tulsa, OK

Joe Aoun, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX|

Stephanie Fuentes Rojas, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Salil Kumar, MD
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

George Waits, MD
CCEP Fellowship at Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC



Class of 2021

Brian Hsi, MD
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

Hasan Rehman, MBBS
Interventional Cardiology, University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

Peter Rothstein, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Isaac Tea, MD
Interventional Cardiology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Akanksha Thakkar, MD
Interventional Cardiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN



Class of 2020

Faheem Beg, MBBS
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Jiken Bhatt, MD
General Cardiologist, Private Practice, San Diego, CA

Miguel Castro, MD
Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Mikhail Narezkin, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Anusha Sunkara, MD
Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

 

   

 

Class of 2019

Wahaj Aman, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX

Omar Jeroudi, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Paul Karagiannis, MD
Staff Physician, Piedmont Heart Institute, Atlanta, GA

Maan Malahfji, MD
Cardiovascular Imaging Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Class of 2018

Bashar Hannawi, MD
Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

John Neill, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Alpana Senapati, DO Cardiovascular 
Imaging Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Ahmed Soliman, MD
Cardiology Faculty, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Houston, TX

 

Class of 2017

Eric Bansal, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH

Mahwash Kassi, MD
Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology Fellowship, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

Jeffrey Parker, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Santhisri Kodali, MD
Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA

 

  

 

Class of 2016



Paulino Alvarez, MD
Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiology Fellowship, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

Nadia Fida, MD
Cardiology Faculty, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Houston, TX

Joshua McKay, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Robert Schutt III, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

 

Class of 2015


Nicholas Gramze, MD
Cardiovascular Imaging Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Homam Ibrahim, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Duke University, Durham, NZ

Shaun Smithson, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Rasheed Zaid, MD
Staff Physician, Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, Houston, TX

 

Class of 2014


Jeffrey Dela Cruz, MD
Staff Physician, Sweeny Community Hospital, Sweeny, TX

Mohamed El-Beheary, MD
Staff Physician, Pearland Medical Center, Pearland, TX

Carlos Orrego, MD
Staff Physician, Abrezo Central Campus, Phoenix, AZ

Corey Scruggs, MD
Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX

Get In Touch

Program Contact

Cardiology Education Office
6550 Fannin St, Smith Tower 18-209
Houston, TX 77030
Tel. 346.238.5039
Email: CardioFellowship@houstonmethodist.org

Program Director

Stephen H. Little, MD
Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program
6550 Fannin St., Ste. SM1801
Houston, TX 77030

Upcoming Academic Events

Grand rounds, tumor boards, regularly scheduled series and case presentations are offered in multiple clinical disciplines and Houston Methodist locations.
Effective Strategies for Writing NIH K Award Applications

Shailaja K. Mani, PhD, Mary Ann Ottinger, PhD

Oct 09 @ 12PM

See Details
Heart Center Grand Rounds: Coronary CTA Plaque Imaging: From Research to Clinical Applications

Oct 10 @ 8AM

See Details

55

Grand Rounds conducted in 2023
These educational events are held according to varying schedules by departments and divisions within the Houston Methodist Academic Institute

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