Research Training and Education

Through integration of our research curriculum and mentorship during clinical training, our fellows are well prepared and funded to ‘hit the ground running’ during their research year(s). Our approach to research training includes 1) mentor identification prior to day 1 of fellowship, 2) research plan presentation, developed in collaboration with the mentor, to the Cardiovascular Division at Grand Rounds prior to application for funding, and 3) a structured curriculum focused on approaches to grant application and writing that begins during the 1^st year of fellowship. Research activities may be mentored by faculty from the Cardiovascular Medicine Division and/or any of the collaborating divisions and departments at Stanford. Our fellows’ track record of research productivity across the full spectrum of research disciplines (e.g., basic, translational, trials, outcomes, health services, health economics, digital-health, etc.) is evidenced by representation at international conferences, publication in high impact journals, and funding through both fellowship and early career awards.

In addition to a ‘traditional’ training schedule (2 years of clinical followed by 1 year of research), we offer opportunities for additional years of research training both as part of ACGME accredited “short tracking” experiences (with upfront commitment to additional research training) and as a flexible training model to achieve evolving career goals. A sizeable proportion of our fellows invest in these additional research years as they pursue career development grants (e.g., NIH K awards), Master’s-level degrees in research methodology, and transition to academic independence.

The research interests of the members of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and affiliated faculty in other divisions and departments are broad, and include clinical, translational and basic studies.

Fellows are encouraged to tap into the vast educational resources tailored to research offered both with the Division and beyond. The Cardiovascular Institute sponsors weekly cardiovascular research seminars from renowned scientists from around the world. Tutorial lectures are provided each year to provide fellows with basic concepts in biostatistics and clinical epidemiology as well as cellular and molecular biology. The fellows are afforded opportunities to present seminars on clinical or basic research topics as well as to participate in monthly journal clubs held in the homes of faculty members. In addition to these opportunities, fellows can participate in intensive clinical and research courses offered within the Stanford University community, including those through SCCR and SPECTRUM.

Research funding, including stipend support, is available from multiple sources including several NIH training grants (T32s). Individual applications for NIH National Research Service Awards, AHA Fellowships and other corporate and foundation sponsored programs are encouraged. The Division supports dedicated courses on grant writing and employs dedicated personnel to assist fellows and faculty in grant submission. These efforts have resulted in our fellows having an extraordinarily successful track-record of obtaining mentored training grants.

Upon graduation, our fellows have pursued extraordinary careers in many disciplines. Many of our fellows elect to pursue advanced subspecialty fellowships with Advanced Heart Failure Transplant Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology being the most common.

Many fellows have launched successful academic research careers out of our fellowship and over 50% of our fellows remain at academic medical centers and 20% of our graduates have academic tenure track jobs.

Finally, given the entrepreneurial spirit of Stanford and the Bay Area, it is no surprise that several of our fellows have become leaders in industry (devices, pharmaceuticals, genetics and social media companies are represented).