Summer Program

In order to reconcile the unique requirements of each year of training with the desire to develop an individualized program for each fellow, the first 6-8 weeks of the summer are relatively constant among the fellows within a given fellowship year. The summer program for the first year fellows is described above. In the summer of the second year, the fellow spends the majority of time defining research directions. It is expected that, by this time, the fellow knows in which research area and laboratory he/she will be working, and can plan and write the relevant protocols. To this end, the fellow usually prepares an individual research grant. This is an excellent way to clearly define research questions, design protocols to answer those questions, and consider the statistical techniques to evaluate the data. Although successful funding of the grant is not a requirement of the process, it would enable the fellow to have funding for a fourth year of research if desired. The only clinical duties during this time would be to assist in the catheterization laboratory.

The summer of the third year is usually dedicated to performing clinical on call service. Since the first and second year fellows are generally not available for call during the first 6-8 weeks of the summer, the third year fellows need to undertake this duty. This tends to complete or nearly complete the inpatient service requirements of the last year of training, so that the remainder of the year can be primarily dedicated to the research interests of the fellow if so desired.