Interventional Cardiology Los Angeles Medical Center

Welcome! We are delighted that you are interested in our Interventional Cardiology Program and have taken the opportunity to visit our website. The goal of the program is to provide the highest quality training in the field of interventional cardiology. Trainees will develop and demonstrate competency in basic and clinical knowledge, procedural skills, clinical judgment, professionalism and interpersonal skills required of an interventional cardiologist. Trainees are also encouraged to participate in research. At the completion of the training program, the trainee will have acquired the competency to pass appropriate specialty boards required to practice independently as a specialist in the field of Interventional Cardiology.

About our program

Kaiser Permanente serves more than 10 million members nationwide and 4.5 million members in Southern California. The Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC) is a large tertiary care and state of the art hospital serving majority of our members. It is the largest heart center in the western United States. The medical center maintains an active teaching program in all major medical and surgical subspecialties. There are 20 programs with 241 residents and fellows.

The Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program at LAMC started in 1990 and has graduated over 70 fellows. It is a one year program that complies with all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements and recommendations of the American College of Cardiology. It has been continuously accredited by ACGME since 1997. We have 5 modern suites with a large pre/post procedure area with 35 beds. In 2015, approximately 6500 diagnostic and 2200 coronary interventional procedures were done. In addition, we have a very active and expanding structural heart disease program doing ASD/PFO closures, TAVR, Mitraclip, Mitral Valvuloplasty, alcohol septal ablation for HOCM, and thoracic aortic aneurysm repair. Fellows also get training in peripheral vascular procedures.

The goal of achieving the aims of the program starts with our faculty. We have a group of highly experienced faculty, including five full time attendings in the cardiac catheterization laboratory who are dedicated to teaching fellows and acquiring new skills required for doing cutting edge procedures and embracing new technology. Most of the attendings have faculty appointments at University of California Los Angeles.

The volume in the cardiac catheterization lab allows each fellow to do approximately 800 diagnostic and 500 interventional procedures during their year of training. We have an active and growing structural heart disease program and our fellows participate in those procedures. Our cardiac catheterization labs are constantly updated with state of the art equipment.

The goal of acquiring basic and clinical knowledge is achieved through daily teaching conferences, monthly journal clubs and Morbidity and Mortality meetings, as well as conferences for quality measures and appropriateness criteria. We participate in multiple single and multi-center trials. Fellows are encouraged and supported to actively participate in research. In addition, fellows are encouraged and supported financially to participate in national and local conferences.

We have a heart team approach with daily multidisciplinary conferences including interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and input from non-invasive cardiologists. Cases are discussed with regards to different approaches and combined decisions are made. This helps fellows improve their clinical knowledge and clinical judgment. There is also post hoc analysis of interventional cases done during the day and fellows are encouraged to be critical of the approaches used. Fellows are given the opportunity to evaluate the program and faculty to help better the program. In return, fellows are given periodic feedback on their clinical knowledge, procedural skills, professionalism and interpersonal skills.

Again, I want to thank you for your interest in our program. Please contact us for any further information.

Sincerely,

Somjot S. Brar, MD, MPH, FACC
Director, Regional Cardiac Cath Lab, Kaiser LAMC
Director, Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program