Speciality: Cardiology
Cardiology training is provided in both secondary and tertiary care environments. District General hospitals; Borders General Hospital and Victoria Hospital Kirkaldy. Edinburgh Teaching Hospitals; Royal Infirmary (Edinburgh Heart Centre) and Western General. Trainees will usually spend at least 6 months of their first 2 years in a district general hospital and the remainder of their training will be based in Edinburgh predominantly at the Royal Infirmary.
The new 2022 curriculum integrates Cardiology and IMT training from ST4 to ST8. There will be some short blocks of IMT throughout but it is recognised many of the General Medical Competencies in Practice can also be obtained during periods of Cardiology training. The first half of the Cardiology training program will focus on core cardiology with supervised training in practical cardiac procedures, in-patient management at a middle grade level and outpatient clinics. Trainees are strongly encouraged to gain Echo accreditation. From mid-ST6 onwards you will receive more focussed subspecialty training in one of the Advanced Themes (Imaging, ACHD, Heart Failure, Intervention, EP and Devices).
Coronary Intervention:
All elective and emergency cardiac procedures are performed at the Royal Infirmary (RIE). The interventional cardiologists in Edinburgh have an international reputation and provide a 24-h primary PCI service, rotablation, PCI of chronic occlusions, IVUS and OCT. Radial access is the preferred route.
Structural Heart Disease:
RIE is the biggest Scottish centre for structural heart intervention with programs for TAVI, balloon aortic and mitral valvuloplasty, transcatheter edge to edge repair, ASD and PFO closure, paravalvar leak closure, and LAA occlusion.
Pacing and Electrophysiology:
We are a major device implanting centre with a single site volume of more than 750 devices per year between pacemakers, ICD and CRT. We perform approximately 400 therapeutic electrophysiology procedures annually including a large number of AF ablations and a growing number of ischaemic VT ablations.
Imaging:
Imaging facilities include cardiac MR, cardiac CT including CT angiography, cardiac PET, transthoracic and transoesophageal 2D and 3D echo and intracardiac ultrasound. There are weekly echo meetings at both the Western General and RIE, and a TAVI MDT meeting weekly.
Adult Congenital Heart Disease:
Dr Gibson runs a busy ACHD clinic covering the entire spectrum of ACHD. A visiting quaternary centre ACHD specialist also supports these clinics. Complex patients requiring surgical intervention are looked after by the quaternary service in Glasgow and attachments there can be facilitated. There is also a local high risk obstetric clinic run jointly with anaesthetists and obstetricians.
Heart Failure:
The busy Heart Failure service is run by Dr Japp who is the lead of the Scottish National Heart Failure Hub. There are regular HF clinics and MDT’s supported by dedicated HF nurses. Most HF patients are looked after locally but those requiring advanced intervention such as transplant are looked after in tandem with the Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure Service based in Glasgow and to which attachments can be facilitated.
Education/training:
Teaching is embedded in daily practice. In addition there are weekly echo, MDT and TAVI meetings, local case-based teaching on Friday afternoons, and a regional program covering the core curriculum delived by SCNTP (Scottish Cardiology National Training Program). We have recently obtained state of the art simulators for TTE, TOE, coronary and structural intervention, device and EP procedures and small group teaching is available throughout the program. IMT training days are held at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. Trainees are encouraged to attend and the Scottish Cardiac Society and BCS Speciality Trainee training days.
Clinical Research:
We have very strong links with the British Heart Foundation/University of Edinburgh Centre for Cardiovascular Science at the University. This is one of only 6 BHF Centres or Research Excellence in the UK, and one of only 3 BHF Centres for Regenerative Medicine. Trainees are encouraged to enrol in a clinical PhD programme aligned to the strengths of the department: acute coronary syndromes, heart failure, cardiac biomarkers, advanced imaging, experimental medicine and the cardiovascular consequences of air pollution
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Borders General Hospital, Melrose
Where is training delivered?
Cardiology training is provided in both secondary and tertiary care environments. District General hospitals; Borders General Hospital and Victoria Hospital Kirkaldy. Edinburgh Teaching Hospitals; Royal Infirmary (Edinburgh Heart Centre) and Western General. Trainees will usually spend their first year in a district general hospital and the remainder of their training will be based in Edinburgh predominantly at the Royal Infirmary.
| Programme Type | Deanery based or National: Deanery |
| Administration office | West of Scotland |
| Lead Dean / Director | Professor Adam Hill |
| Responsible Associate Postgraduate Dean or Assistant Director (GP) | Dr Jane Rimer |
| Specialty or Sub-specialty | Specialty or Sub-specialty: Specialty |
| Date of GMC recent approval | August 2010 |
| Associated Royal College - Faculty |
Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (web site) |
| Curriculum and Associated Assessment System | http://www.gmc-uk.org/education/cardiology.asp |
| Programme Administrator: |
Named Programme Administrator:
Kerry Anne Ferrie
Address: NHS Education for Scotland, 2 Central Quay, 89 Hydepark Street, Glasgow G3 8BW Tel: Email: kerryanne.ferrie@nhs.scot |
| Programme Director |
Programme Director Name: Dr Anne Scott Address: Tel: Email: anne.scott@ed.ac.uk |
| Quality of Training | Quality Management |