Program Director: Hayah Kassis-George, MD
Associated Program Director: Craig Alpert, MD
Accreditation: ACGME
Program Length: 1 year (PGY-7)
Fellows per year: 1
Welcome to the Allegheny Health Network Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Fellowship program.
Our one-year ACGME accredited program strives to create excellent clinicians with comprehensive skills enabling their success and confidence immediately following graduation.
Our program integrates a multi-disciplinary team-based approach to explore and ultimately develop the best plan of care for our patients. Highlights include:
We welcome you to explore our website and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Hayah Kassis-George, MD, FACC
Advanced Heart Failure Fellowship Program Director
The mission of our Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Program is to set the standards of excellence by offering an outstanding experience that thoroughly prepares the trainees for leadership careers in any facet of
Cardiology-clinical or academic. To accomplish this, our program draws on the expertise and strong teaching commitment of large, full-time and voluntary teaching facilities, a large stream of patients from western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, superb resources for tertiary-care cardiology, and extensive resources.
To develop superior teaching skills amongst faculty and fellows
To promote continuous programmatic and faculty improvement through continuous self-assessment and evaluation
To advance the quality of fellow education and training
To promote advanced, innovative training in advanced heart failure and transplant, mechanical circulatory support, and pulmonary hypertension
To improve the fellows' exposure to short term mechanical circulatory support devices
To enhance the outpatient experience of care for patients with Left Ventricular Assist Devices
To increase the fellows’ exposure to heart failure remote monitoring devices and pulmonary hypertension
To provide opportunities in scholarship (discovery, integration, application, and
dissemination) that will promote the development of life-long learning habits
and opportunities for professional growth.
The Cardiovascular Institute at the Allegheny Health Network Medical Education Consortium offers two positions for a one-year ACGME Accredited Fellowship Training Program in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology (AHFTC) at its flagship hospital, Allegheny General Hospital (AGH).
With 571 licensed beds, including separate 24-bed cardiac and CT surgical ICUs as well as a 24-bed step-down unit for advanced heart failure and pulmonary hypertension patients, AGH is a clinically active program averaging 25 transplants, 30 durable LVADs, and 80 ECMO procedures each year. In addition, our program offers unique training in pulmonary hypertension alongside internationally-recognized experts and serves as a national CTEPH referral center. In addition, fellows will participate in our multidisciplinary cardiogenic shock team, our multidisciplinary amyloidosis program, and our cardiac palliative care team.
Trainees will have hands-on procedural training in hemodynamics, cardiac
biopsy, CardioMEMs implantation, exercise hemodynamics, and percutaneous
support devices. In addition, they will collaborate on scholarly clinical and translational research with internationally renowned faculty. Through
AGH’s partnerships with Highmark Insurance and Carnegie Mellon University,
there are special opportunities to participate in quality improvement,
including a celebrated heart failure readmission reduction program, and
computational sciences.
The program includes comprehensive training in advanced heart failure, transplantation, mechanical circulatory support and pulmonary hypertension, as well as opportunities for clinical and translational research.
In accordance with UNOS certification, our trainees develop expertise across the broad spectrum of heart failure from diagnosis to treatment, be it medical or surgical including both device-based therapies and cardiac transplantation.
In addition, the trainee will develop an understanding of both the indications and
contraindications for cardiac transplantation, selection criteria for transplantation, and the management of UNOS Status I candidates awaiting transplantation. Also, the trainee will obtain experience in care after cardiac transplantation, including knowledge of various immunosuppressive regimens as well as diagnosis and management of post-transplant complications.
The trainee will similarly develop knowledge of the selection criteria for left ventricular and right ventricular assist device insertions, selection of the appropriate device, and management of patients on device support, both acutely and with long-term complications.
Finally, the trainee will develop an understanding of the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension, including diagnosis and treatment options in this syndrome.
The Heart Failure Fellowship program is part of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) opportunities offered by the AHN Medical Education Consortium. Learn more about Graduate Medical Education.
For more information, email us at HFfellowship-AGH@ahn.org.
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship Training Program
Allegheny General Hospital
320 East North Avenue, 16 Floor, South Tower
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Program Director
Program Coordinator
(412) 359-6270, Option 6
Jessica.Rihely@ahn.org
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