UC Davis Health
Department of Pediatrics

Clinical Training | Pediatric Interventional Cardiology Fellowship | Academic Programs | Department of Pediatrics | UC Davis Health

Pediatric Advanced Interventional Cardiology

Clinical Training

  • Doctor examines baby while mother holds baby in her arms.

    The majority of clinical rotations will be in the Pediatric Heart Center at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

    The Pediatric Heart Center at UC Davis Children’s Hospital is inland Northern California’s full-service cardiac care facility for infants, children, and teens. Our multidisciplinary team includes pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, pediatric and fetal cardiologists, nurses, anesthesiologists, and respiratory therapists providing world-class care to families who come to us for our expertise in diagnosing and treating heart conditions.

  • Goals

    • To gain the skills to train a graduate of a standard three-year pediatric cardiology fellowship who wish to become an expert in cardiac catheterizations in congenital heart disease and pursue an academic career post-training.
    • To perform procedures of gradually increasing complexity under the supervision of an attending pediatric interventional cardiologist until they become competent as the sole or primary operator.
    • To become proficient in the applicable techniques and devices available during training, as well as competent to evaluate and learn new techniques as they emerge.
    • To render appropriate judgement and decision-making in the cath lab and to act as an independent provider of diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization procedures for affected infants and children, and to act as a primary or consultant provider of these procedures in adults with congenital heart disease.

  • Objectives

    By the end of training, the PAIC fellow will have demonstrated an understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and treatment options for the vast variety of congenital heart defects to provide the best care; this includes an understanding of the natural history of congenital defects, which is required to determine if treatment of a defect is indicated at all.

  • Procedures

    • Carotid artery and internal jugular vein exposure and cannulation for ECMO
    • Carotid artery exposure for sheath placement
    • Radial artery cut-down procedures for catheter placement
    • Femoral artery cut-down procedures for catheter placement
    • Percutaneous drainage of the pleural space
    • Percutaneous drainage of the pericardial space
    • Balloon atrial septostomy and other bedside interventional procedures (with or without hybrid approaches).

  • TEE Training

    The hybrid interventional fellowship will include TEE training as related to catheterization, interventional and hybrid procedures.

    Performance of TEE requires understanding of oropharyngeal anatomy, endoscopic techniques, and the indications, contraindications, and risks involved in the procedure, particularly if one is responsible for probe insertion.