Evaluating EP fellowships is difficult. Not a lot of information is available compared to the statistics you can find regarding IM and cardiology programs.
Things I would look for include:
1. Who are the EP faculty at the program?
2. What kind of volume does the program have? (more is better). Do they do complex ablations? The vast majority of programs have adequate device volume and the learning curve for devices is less steep. The variable that separates acceptable and excellent EP fellowships is complex ablations (Afib, VT). That said, the program should also have an adequate volume of SVT procedures.
3. To what extent are the fellows at that program "hands on"? (believe it or not, when I interviewed at various programs, I was amazed how at some programs the fellows have very little "hands on" time with the catheters.) EP is a procedural field. Learning by doing is everything. You must also read and learn the literature, but without significant hands on time, you cannot be properly trained.
4. Two years of training. One year is not enough in my opinion.
Job prospects are excellent if you are trained in A fib. The majority of jobs state that they prefer people who can do Afib, VT and other left sided procedures competently out of training.
I think the best programs in the country are (in no particular order)
U Penn
Michigan
Brigham
Indiana
That said, there are lots of very good programs across the country. EP programs are a lot more sensitive to faculty changes than general cardiology programs. As a result, programs that a few years ago were huge have declined in reputation (and arguably quality of training). The flip side of this is that there are less well known programs ( to non EPs ) what have good EP fellowships due to an exodus of faculty from another program. A good example of this would be Duke and MUSC.
I didn't sense a lot different about EP interviews compared to cards interviews.
Get as much EP training as you can during general cardiology before you start your EP fellowship. Learn as much as you can about devices, device follow up, EP pharmacology, the principles of basic electrophysiology and EP studies, etc. If you cannot take most of your final year of general cards in EP, spend as much time as you can in the cath lab working with your hands. Manual dexterity and having "good hands" is more important in EP than in any other field of cardiology.
I hope that helps.
