Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center is a tertiary care center with a robust cardiology program and consequently a very active cardiac catheterization laboratory. Our facility consists of three adult cardiac catheterization suites and a hybrid OR equipped with state of the art image acquisition and storage system. In 2019, our cardiac catheterization lab performed approximately 3,800 procedures, including diagnostic right and left cardiac catheterizations, balloon angioplasty, coronary stent placement (including complex and high-risk coronary stenting), peripheral angiography and intervention, and transcatheter valve replacement. Fellows get training in both radial as well as femoral access during their rotations in our laboratory.

The fellows participate in the pre-procedure evaluation of patients and are mentored by attending physicians in the performance of the catheterization. All our fellows easily attain the minimum competence requirement specified in the COCATS guidelines. Third year fellows can elect to spend up to six additional months in the laboratory in to obtain in-depth training. We offer a dedicated curriculum with weekly didactic conferences and film review.

In addition to clinical activities and teaching, fellows have opportunities to participate in the research activities of the cardiac catheterization laboratory. They are expected to take part in a quality improvement project during their training.

We are very pleased with the education offered in our cardiac catheterization laboratory. As a point of pride, fellows from other cardiology fellowship programs sought to rotate through our lab given the high volume of cases and the quality of training.