Welcome
Cardiovascular prevention is an essential and fundamental component in the management of patients with cardiac and vascular disease, including stroke and peripheral arterial disease. It is a wide field encompassing risk assessment and evaluation and management of a range of cardiovascular risk factors. While General Internal Medicine and Cardiology training provide trainees with basic knowledge of cardiovascular prevention and cardiovascular risk factor evaluation and management, it is important to train physicians with advanced knowledge in this field. Additional focused and specialized training will provide fellows with the knowledge required to provide and lead Cardiac Rehabilitation services, manage patients with complex dyslipidemias, hypertension, diabetes, renal disease, obesity and other risk factors and provide comprehensive risk factor management of patients with atherothrombotic cardiac and vascular disease.
The Cardiovascular Prevention fellowship will provide in depth training in cardiovascular prevention, including:
- Cardiovascular risk assessment and risk stratification.
- Lifestyle and pharmacological management of major cardiovascular risk factors including dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking, diabetes, obesity, thrombosis, renal disease and to a limited extent genetics.
- Pharmacology of drugs used in cardiovascular prevention.
- Cardiovascular Prevention guidelines.
Training will include a formal curriculum addressing the cardiovascular risk assessment and the management of cardiovascular risk and participation in cardiovascular risk assessment and risk reduction clinics, such as the Cardiac Health and Rehabilitation Clinic, the Lipid Clinic, the Thrombosis Clinic, the Stroke Prevention Clinic, the Vascular Clinic, the Cardiac Rehab Clinic and the new Enhanced Secondary Prevention Clinic, which is expected to provide comprehensive, evidence-based and guideline directed lifestyle and pharmacological secondary prevention therapies and risk factor management for patients with established cardiac disease, previous stroke and peripheral arterial disease. The formal curriculum will also include a selection of major publications in this field and of cardiovascular prevention teaching rounds.
The fellow will have the opportunity to participate in various research projects including Quality Improvement projects of preventative health care delivery in our institution, epidemiological studies and clinical trials. Ample research opportunities exist in each of the clinics listed above and additionally through the Population Health Research Institute. Each fellow will be expected to complete at least one research project.
Fellows will be expected to participate and present rounds and participate also in teaching of more junior trainees.
Certification Outcome
The successful completion of the fellowship will grant a Fellowship McMaster Certification.
Entry Requirements
Applicants are required to have completed training in Internal Medicine, or a subspecialty of Internal Medicine.
Application Deadline
12 Months prior to start date
Goals of Training
The Cardiovascular Prevention Fellowship objectives include:
- Trainees will acquire knowledge for in depth cardiovascular risk assessment.
- Trainees will acquire in depth knowledge of pharmacotherapies in the treatment of dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, atherothrombosis, obesity, cardiovascular risk associated with renal dysfunction.
- Trainees will acquire knowledge of lifestyle assessment and lifestyle modification interventions; this will include dietary assessment and dietary advise/interventions, implementation of smoking cessation through behavioural therapies and smoking cessation aids, interpretation of cardiopulmonary stress tests and providing an “exercise prescription” and exercise plan for patients in cardiac rehabilitation and other vascular disease patients, basic assessment and management of depression and anxiety as contributors to cardiovascular risk.
- Trainees will acquire the ability to provide education to patients with cardiovascular and their families aimed at self-care management and enhanced adherence.
- Trainees will acquire knowledge of fundamentals of clinical cardiovascular prevention research.
- Trainees will be expected to be able to teach cardiovascular risk assessment and management to other health care providers and physicians.
Length of Training
12 months
Learning Activities
- Grand Rounds
- Journal Club
- Rounds
- Monthly Academic Half-Days
Topics include:
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- CV Risk Assessment
- Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease
- Review of Pharmacological Management of Dyslipidemias and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Assessment and Management of Dyslipidemia Guidelines
- Review of Pharmacological Management of Hypertension and the Hypertension Canada
- Management of Diabetes in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease; Core Competencies for Cardiovascular Specialists
- The Exercise Prescription in Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Use of Antiplatelet and Antithrombotic Drugs in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease
- Overview of the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines
- Formal Review of Pharmacological Management of Smoking
Supervision & Feedback
Evaluations will be distributed to supervisors every block (1 block is 28 days).