CVCA/Pursuing Cardiology vs GP

[mabellene]

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Has anyone had any experience with CVCA? I'm looking into their residency program, but there isn't a lot of information online about it. I was wondering if it follows the typical course of requiring an internship beforehand, but because it is a private residency and doesn't go through VIRMP I didn't know if they got to make their own rules or not.

I am highly interested in pursuing cardiology, but I have always pictured myself as a general practitioner. I am deciding in whether I want to pursue an internship or not, as I am ready to get on with my life and start generating and income, but I know I could do really well and would love pursuing additional education.

I am doing an externship with CVCA within a few months, so if anyone else is interested I'll let you know what they say 🙂) Thanks in advance

 

[supershorty]

Of the DVMs/VMDs who post regularly on this forum, the chances of any one of them having worked at a specific hospital are pretty slim - plus most people may not want to say they've been affiliated with a particular clinic to avoid doxxing themselves.

Your best bet is asking that practice for contact info for previous or current house officers and getting more information on the program.

 

[JaynaAli]

I don’t know anything about that specific program, but I would be extremely surprised if they didn’t require a rotating internship prior to residency, especially in a field as competitive as cardio. Usually places that are outside of the match are outside of it because they want to be choosy about their applicants and have more control over the application process and selection timeline (meaning they often want to try to secure their top candidates before match) so they’re often even more stringent and often come down to who you know. But I agree with shorty that you need to ask the practice for contact info of former trainees to really learn about the program.

 

[ESD_2029]

Has anyone had any experience with CVCA? I'm looking into their residency program, but there isn't a lot of information online about it. I was wondering if it follows the typical course of requiring an internship beforehand, but because it is a private residency and doesn't go through VIRMP I didn't know if they got to make their own rules or not.

I am highly interested in pursuing cardiology, but I have always pictured myself as a general practitioner. I am deciding in whether I want to pursue an internship or not, as I am ready to get on with my life and start generating and income, but I know I could do really well and would love pursuing additional education.

I am doing an externship with CVCA within a few months, so if anyone else is interested I'll let you know what they say 🙂) Thanks in advance

ACVIM residencies all require a rotating or equivalent experience prior, maybe except for nutrition.

 

[battie]

Has anyone had any experience with CVCA?

I mean, they're a great group to refer to and they're very good about keeping GPs in the loop. But I bet that is dictated in part by where you are. It is very likely similar to doing residency with any VCA or BluePearl. The only real difference is the fact they are only cardio.

As others have said, get contact info for the residency coordinator and previous residents to get better info.

 

[vetsquared]

Yes, you would need to do a rotating internship. Most of their residents have also done at least one cardio specialty internship, which is almost the norm now for cardio 🥲 You can scroll through their website to read everyone’s background if you feel so inclined. Just because they don’t go through VIRMP doesn’t mean it’s any less competitive for a residency spot with them. They also do sponsored residency positions at universities (or at least they did one this year), so that’s something else to be aware of. I haven’t personally worked with CVCA before, but doing an externship with them will give you a good sense of how they operate. Talking more to various cardiologists in different types of practice can also give you a sense of what type of residency program you may be interested in down the line.