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)

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.

Excellence in Teaching

Cardiology fellows at Houston Methodist are privileged to work one-on-one with leaders in their respective fields during numerous rotations, many of whom have been teaching trainees for more than 20 years. They are recognized both at a national and international level for their contributions and leadership in cardiovascular medicine. We also have an academic Cardiac Intensive Care Hospitalist Team whose main focus is on teaching inpatient cardiovascular critical care medicine. Under the supervision of our highly-skilled clinicians, fellows have tremendous opportunities to manage a variety of cardiac patients, as well as take part in cutting edge research in the field, with active research protocols throughout the breadth of cardiovascular care.

Research Opportunities

Fellows have ample opportunity to spend dedicated time during their fellowship training participating in research projects of their own selection. Houston Methodist offers an ideal environment for scientists and clinicians to come together with common goals of discovery and improving patient care. Our department has over 125 active clinical trials and a large number of active research grants. Under the direction of John Cooke, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, the Heart & Vascular Research Center mentors are available to help fellows find opportunities in areas that most closely match their interests.

Scholarly Activities

Houston Methodist emphasizes the pursuit of research, including publications and presentations, and fellows are able to work together with our well-recognized research mentors on projects. Faculty and fellows average over 180 publications per year. Many of our fellows present their work at important national and international meetings and have been very successful in having their work published.

We also provide scholarly resources to our fellows through our DeBakey Education Journal.