New Heart Imaging Capabilities for Cardiology Fellows at MercyOne North Iowa

MercyOne North Iowa is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Iowa, training over 40 residents and fellows and hosting hundreds of medical students and other learners from over 100 different colleges across a variety of medical specialties.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the cardiology fellowship program recently acquired a new ultrasound-training model to help learners improve their heart imaging skills. The model will allow fellows to learn how to recognize fluid around the heart and other heart problems that may require further intervention in the clinical setting.

This state-of-the-art full torso training model is also particularly beneficial to physicians needing to train in ultrasound-guided procedures for draining fluid from around the heart, outside of emergency and critical care settings.

Dr. Michael Spooner, Director of MercyOne North Iowa’s Cardiology Fellowship, speaks further on how this new tool will benefit both learners and patients:

Pericardiocentesis is an emergent procedure that all cardiologists and cardiology fellows need to be able to perform at a moment’s notice. Given this procedure is “higher-risk” and is not performed on a routine basis, utilizing this hyper-realistic simulator allows trainees to practice this procedure to improve their skill and comfort. This translates to our cardiology fellows being among the best trained nationally. It also guarantees the safety of the procedure should it need to be performed, leading to better outcomes for patients throughout the region.

This tool provides a realistic training ground for doctors to learn techniques for the insertion and positioning of needles and catheters into the space around the heart before encountering an actual life-threatening emergency in the field. The entire MercyOne North Iowa team is immensely grateful for the donor funds that supported our educational program’s purchase of this invaluable teaching tool. The team looks forward to seeing how it will continually help us fulfill our Mission of providing clinical excellence to every patient in our community.

Make a gift to the MercyOne North Iowa Foundation by visiting MercyOne.org/NorthIowa/Giving.