Cardiology
The internal medicine residency provides opportunities to work directly with cardiology attendings and fellows on the inpatient cardiology wards (Zoll rotation) and in the cardiac care unit (CCU) with a focus on management of patients with cardiovascular issues. Residents and interns have the opportunity to work with numerous experts in cardiology who are also fantastic teachers such that the CCU rotation is one of the residents’ most highly ranked rotations. The cardiology rotations are all staffed by residents, interns and fellows. With the exception of the VA rotation, all the cardiology rotations occur on the west campus at BIDMC.
Inpatient rotations:
ZOLL:
Zoll is the cardiology floor service where teams of two interns and one resident care for patients with a variety of cardiac issues. One cardiology fellow is on service, and all attendings are cardiologists. The cases range from chest pain evaluation and post catheterization patients to arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies. Teaching sessions occur daily, usually as a part of attending rounds, and are orchestrated by both the attending and fellow. Additionally there is weekly Zoll conference where interesting cases are discussed by staff cardiologists. There are also various other ECG, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, and echocardiogram conferences to attend.
An intern’s census ranges from 2-8 patients. Call is every third night, admitting until 8:30 pm (utilizing the night float system).
The Zoll rotation was named after the famous Dr. Paul Zoll who was a pioneer of the development of the cardiac defibrillator during his time at BIDMC.
CCU:
The CCU is an 8 bed intensive care unit. It is staffed by a cardiology attending, fellow, 3 residents and 3 interns. Each team of one resident and one intern take overnight call every third night. Additionally, the CCU team is responsible for responding to, and running (with the assistance of the ICU team) every code within the hospital. The census averages 6 CCU patients with additional floor patients and typical cases include patients with end-stage congestive heart failure, ST elevation myocardial infarctions (frequently complicated by shock requiring intraaortic balloon pump) and life-threatening arrhythmias. Unlike the MICU, CCU patients are followed by the team once leaving the unit allowing for continuity of care and longitudinal learning. The CCU team attends both general cardiology conferences with the Zoll teams and specific CCU-based teaching conferences directed by the fellow and/or attending in the afternoon.
VA Cardiology: Like all of the VA experiences at BIDMC, this is a unique opportunity to work with attendings, fellows and residents from other programs (Brigham and Women's and Boston Medical Center) while caring for the unique veteran's population. Each patient often has a number of cardiac diagnoses creating a valuable educational experience through the evaluation and management of complex cardiac issues . The cardiology service at the VA involves caring for patients on the cardiology floor and in an intensive cardiac care setting.
