Cardiology Fellowship

Program Director’s Welcome

Welcome to the MercyOne Des Moines Iowa Heart Center fellowship training program in cardiovascular disease. Our mission is to train exceptional clinical cardiovascular disease specialists for the state of Iowa. Our program received ACGME accreditation in 2018.

The program is sponsored by the MercyOne Des Moines/PHC Consortium in association with MercyOne Des Moines. The cardiology faculty draw from the broad and deep tradition of excellent cardiovascular care provided by the Iowa Heart Center. The group was first formed by a single cardiologist in 1970. Today, we’ve grown into a large group with more than 30 cardiologists providing cardiovascular care in the Des Moines metropolitan area and more than 60 total cardiologists and surgeons providing care throughout our system across the state.

During the three year training period, cardiovascular disease fellows at the MercyOne Iowa Heart Center program will be exposed to a wide range of cardiovascular disease and a high volume of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

Throughout their training, fellows will gain training in all areas of cardiovascular care including echocardiography (transthoracic and transesophageal), stress testing, diagnostic angiography, cardiac MR, nuclear imaging, cardiac CT, temporary and permanent pacing, ECG interpretation, care of the advanced heart failure patient, cardiovascular disease prevention, adult congenital heart disease, clinical cardiac electrophysiology and critical care cardiology. In addition, fellows will gain additional exposure to percutaneous interventions, structural heart interventions including ASD/VSD closure, balloon valvuloplasty, TAVR, and TMVR, advanced EP device and ablation procedures, and mechanical circulatory support including percutaneous LVAD, ECMO and durable surgical LVAD.

The faculty interact with the fellows in both the inpatient and ambulatory settings. The training program is structured in a traditional block system with thirteen 4-week rotations. Rotations take place at MercyOne Des Moines, MercyOne West Des Moines and the Iowa Heart Center office in West Des Moines. Fellows participate in continuity clinic ½ day per week and have their own templates of patients. There is a robust didactic program including core curriculum lectures, in-training review, journal club, M&M/QI, echo conference, cath conference, EKG conference, pediatric and adult congenital conference, and Grand Rounds.

Thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about our program. We encourage you to continue to explore and please reach out to us with any questions.

Sincerely,