The purpose of the training program is to prepare physicians for academic careers in cardiovascular medicine. The program emphasizes training in molecular biology and genetics of cardiovascular disease. Most trainees will be immediate graduates of internal medicine residencies entering our four-year fellowship in cardiology, composed of 24 months of clinical training (not supported by this grant request) and 24 months of research training. Some trainees will extend the period of research training to three or four years. A core curriculum is established. Didactic teaching includes divisional conferences, seminars, topically organized lecture series, and School and University courses. Each trainee will associate primarily with one faculty member to receive research training in a well-circumscribed area for two or three years in most cases. The program has been changed for this grant period to emphasize training opportunities in molecular biology and genetics in eight basic research laboratories, each with ties to clinical research programs, and in one gene-based patient therapy program. Fifteen additional faculty will offer a full compliment of research choices as in the past, but we expect most fellows to opt for molecular biology and genetic training or training in the translation of basic genetic discoveries to the bedside. The link between basic and clinical research is a prominent theme in our program, a result of long standing collaborations between basic and clinical cardiovascular scientists in this medical school. Training facilities include laboratories in the Medical School, the Wintrobe Research Building, University Research Part, the Nora Eccles Harrison Research and Training Institute, the Eccles Human Genetics Building, the Biomedical Polymers Research Building, the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Salt Lake VA Medical Center; and clinical facilities in the University of Utah and Salt Lake VA Medical Centers. All of the primary training faculty and most other participating faculty have extensive federal and other research funding. Graduates of this fellowship are capable of designing and performing hypothesis-oriented biomedical research projects and are qualified for full-time medical school faculty appointments in academic programs. During the previous 14 years of this NRSA-supported program, we have achieved an 81% ate of entry into academic positions by our trainees.
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