Cardiovascular Medicine
About the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
The Division of Cardiovascular (CV) Medicine’s mission is to enhance the quality of CV disease care through education and cutting edge research. Our program has been regularly cited by Solucient Top Hospitals as among the 100 top CV hospitals and U.S. News and World Report as among the top 50 CV programs. Our faculty are dedicated to education and quality CV care at the state, national, and international levels. They include past president of the American College of Cardiology, as well as other national and state cardiac societies. These professional societies are dedicated to education and quality of care missions. Activities within our three mission areas (quality CV care, education, and research) are summarized below.
The Division is responsible for the care of patients with known or suspected CV diseases at the University of Florida Shands Hospital and the Gainesville Malcom Randall VAMC. There is an inpatient Cardiology Service staffed by a full-time faculty member and medical housestaff at Shands Hospital. At both Shands and the VA, the coronary care unit (CCU) is staffed by a full-time faculty member, medical housestaff and a cardiology fellow. The division also staffs a cardiology consultation service for inpatients at each hospital. Additional specialized services (Echocardiography, Electrophysiology, Heart Failure/Cardiac Transplantation, Interventional Cardiology, Nuclear Cardiology, and Cardiac MR/CT) are provided by the relevant specialists within the Division. The Division also provides outpatient care though on site (CV Clinic) and off-site clinics (Cardiology West).
There are 22 full-time and 7 part-time cardiology faculty, 16 cardiology fellows, 2 Physician Assistants and 1 Advance Registered Nurse Practitioner who provide clinical services, teaching, and/or research for the University of Florida Health Center. Housestaff have frequent contact with faculty and fellows. Three housestaff are assigned to each CCU (Shands and VAMC) each month along with other residents and interns assigned to the inpatient cardiology services at Shands Hospital.
The faculty and fellows of the Division provide the vast majority of all of the teaching in cardiovascular disease so exposure of housestaff is considerable. At any time, there are at least eight housestaff working in the CCUs at VAMC and Shands. In addition, at least six housestaff are assigned to inpatient cardiology services in both hospitals throughout the year. The resident staff has responsibility for day-to-day management, while oversight, as well as overall patient care is the responsibility of the faculty. The Division provides prompt consultation at any time of day or night.
The Division is actively working, or has participated, in numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored trials, as well as, industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated trials in congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and electrophysiology. These include SOLVD, TIMI, ACIP, and PIMI, WISE, INVEST, DEFINITE, PACING, RACE, RESTORE US, PROSPECT to name just a few. The Division is currently one of 40 centers participating in the Women's Health Initiative, a NIH-sponsored 11 year study evaluating hormone therapy, dietary change and calcium plus vitamin D supplements on heart disease in postmenopausal women. Other trials include novel ways to induce angiogenesis, use of cell therapy and many new devices like spinal cord stimulation and interventional efforts.
The fellowship program is a combined clinical and research post graduate training experience spanning a minimum of three years. The division's goal is to train physicians to enter academic medicine. Fellows are trained in all aspects of clinical cardiology, and all are eligible to take the ABIM CV exam at completion of training.
Jamie Beth Conti, M.D., F.A.C.C, Interim Chief