University of Florida Jax (UFHealth Jax)

[cvfellows]

Dear all,

A few of the current cardiology fellows feel compelled to write this to all those who applied and interviewed that UF Jax cardiovascular fellowship. We feel that we should be honest about the current situation of the program. The cardiology fellowship is on probation. Attached is the ACGME letter received by the program which outlines the reasons the probationary accreditation, including, lack of education, service over education, and fear of retaliation. We want you to know everything before making your ranking decisions. This is nothing new for the program, this culture has existed for a long time.

Below are 2 postings from other sdn members. We just want you the applicant to make an informed decision.

1. "At the University of Florida Jacksonville the PD likes to brag that it's a "fellow run" program. What that actually means is the cardiology fellows must personally write the notes and orders on every patient. The residents are not allowed to do any of that because they don't trust their own residents. This means welcome to being an intern again!"

Available at: Cardiology Program Impressions

2. "There are a number of things that I feel obligated to let everyone know regarding UF Jacksonville Cardiology program
1.) I am writing to protect candidates, I have nothing to gain from my comments. There is no cardiology program that is so competitive that you should subject yourselves to this particular program.
2.) This program is not the same as the nationally ranked Gainesville program
3.) You will be a poorly respected super resident
4.) You will leave without appropriate procedural skills and will not be comfortable in even simple cath. This is a very serious problem. I urge all of you who are considering taking the interview to be very cautious. Outwardly it appears to be a good program. Do NOT be duped. There are other options out there
5.) They are unresponsive to the fellows' requests for any sort of change, i.e. nothing has changed in 20 years
6.) You cannot leave for rotations outside of the institution
7.) You are only there to do their work- you are viewed as a guest thus the emphasis is not on your education.
8.) You will have a very hard time going elsewhere for further training at good institutions, esp competitive programs at top places for further sub-specialization

I graduated many years ago and urge caution...."

Available at: Official 2012-2013 Cardiology fellowship application cycle

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[cvfellows]

BTW the attached file is the document from ACGME to the program stating all the violations, and why they were placed on probation.

 

[heartfixens]

i was a fellow at shands chiming and am not surprised by cvfellows thread

1. i wouldnt rank the program even if was my last chance into cardiology
2. i do still call fellows there and now and it does sound like its not improving. faculty overwork the fellows many admissions with no communication New faculty are leaving after hiring and program is with high rate of turnovers
3. cannot leave for outside rotation except for VA and mayo fellows do come to us
4. agree with cvfellows this is not like gainesville program
5. much of the services are coronary based
6. only one faculty does a lot of research
7. we know from trainees and recent grads that some of the fellows r sleeping with medicine residents in fellow areas and call rooms is enoug for termination of fellow in other programs. nonprofesional and not good for programs here in cardiology or medicine
   
8. nothing changes as cvfellows says. no working US on cardiac unit.
9. it is fellow run program as pd says but only some fellows are hard working and some dont care (come late to work. miss shifts. leave the service or units to socialize)

 

[acidropbass]

Never comment ever to these things and come here for SDN to read reviews on programs im applying in looking for pros and the cons but am here to warn another visiting MSIV/resident/fellow like me from my experience visiting in their cards dept

What cvfellows and heartfixens explains are true mostly and here is how my experience there was like it

1. They have consult service but the fellows on their cardiac crit care unit-ccu also take consults and it makes all the work just goes down to their residents and this is based on the fellow. Some fellow do the work and some dont even come to the ward except for rounds to look like they are doing work in front of the attending
2. axle88md its q2 call for the fellows and the im residents are q4
3. Dont know if this is ‘DO’ friendly program but not worth looking into since it would not be worth it for applying there anyway
4. CVFellows is correct- the department is practicaly fellow run as they say and like to brag about- but there are some fellows that can be relied on - and other fellows that cannot be at all trusted and will leave everything
5. Rounding with the attending docs there is ineffecient and slow >1 hr per patient . the teaching is minimal at best
6. I learn more from the emergency room resident on that service [ they rotate in the cardiac crit unit for a block] more than from any fellow. cvfellows is right the emphasis is not on your education…— aT all . cvfellows is right do NOT be duped even though it may look good. One fellow always left the ward to screw around with a resident and abandoned the teams and ward patients completely. It does not look like they are big on any research that fellows are involved in. from asking it looks like most of the trials that they are involved in are from procedures . They have a reasearch group that are there for clinical research and know some of the fellows. from the most i know is that some of their patients are studies but it does look like there are a few of them going on together. one of their third years told me there was reserach done in the past for heart failure but it fell apart
7. What fixens post is real and a lot was the unprofessionalism and it was very offensive . our teams worked with one cuban cardiolgy fellow who was sleeping with the IM resident rotating on the cardiac ward and they were fooling around all the time at the hospital and hide away most of the times in resident and fellow areas disappearin unreachable for hours while the rest of us were working mostly on the ward. we all knew it and some ppl saw it happenning.,,. the nurses and other residents know it when they come up disheveld and messy and late together for rounds or signouts and make excuses for taking days off.’ fixins is right it would be dismissal for both of them anywhere without doubts. That behavior is unheard of in my program and everywhere i have ever rotated before. It was awkward and made the place feel dirty and even the IM and emergency medicine residents were saying it was unprofessional i was a visitor and was not in a spot to say but keep my mouth closed. it made all the time there in that hospital awkward and very uncomfortable when they told me to not say anything. their program directors probably dont know or at least did not know because none of that would pass in any workplace at all. i wouldnt want to be in a place like that for “training’ or even trust any care for patients in that place these behaviors are just fine--- it is disgusting. I would not tell anyone [incl my brother- a msiv] apply to an IM program like that thats ok with obvious nonprofessionalism
8. heartfixens could be not correct . There was a fellow from mayo and they do rotate at mayo for some things and sometimes they go to the V A
9. The program is nothing like gainesville they are right and they send some patients to gville for treatments

 

[heartfixens]

yes acidrobas they go to mayo but no to any place or can not go to anywhere else
VA is easy
the fellow is completing trying for ep ' all of department knows im resident is neph fellow in mayojax and now their problem
they have new facultys now and are taking now DOs
good luck for the match !!

 

[brokenhearted]

Have these issues been resolved? is the program still on probation? Has the program made changes since then?

 

[cvfellows]

Despite these serious issues, no changes made to the program leadership. Should not be surprising as this is how the program has always been.

 

[cardiologynerd]

Dear all,

A few of the current cardiology fellows feel compelled to write this to all those who applied and interviewed that UF Jax cardiovascular fellowship. We feel that we should be honest about the current situation of the program. The cardiology fellowship is on probation. Attached is the ACGME letter received by the program which outlines the reasons the probationary accreditation, including, lack of education, service over education, and fear of retaliation. We want you to know everything before making your ranking decisions. This is nothing new for the program, this culture has existed for a long time.

Below are 2 postings from other sdn members. We just want you the applicant to make an informed decision.

1. "At the University of Florida Jacksonville the PD likes to brag that it's a "fellow run" program. What that actually means is the cardiology fellows must personally write the notes and orders on every patient. The residents are not allowed to do any of that because they don't trust their own residents. This means welcome to being an intern again!"

Available at: Cardiology Program Impressions

2. "There are a number of things that I feel obligated to let everyone know regarding UF Jacksonville Cardiology program
1.) I am writing to protect candidates, I have nothing to gain from my comments. There is no cardiology program that is so competitive that you should subject yourselves to this particular program.
2.) This program is not the same as the nationally ranked Gainesville program
3.) You will be a poorly respected super resident
4.) You will leave without appropriate procedural skills and will not be comfortable in even simple cath. This is a very serious problem. I urge all of you who are considering taking the interview to be very cautious. Outwardly it appears to be a good program. Do NOT be duped. There are other options out there
5.) They are unresponsive to the fellows' requests for any sort of change, i.e. nothing has changed in 20 years
6.) You cannot leave for rotations outside of the institution
7.) You are only there to do their work- you are viewed as a guest thus the emphasis is not on your education.
8.) You will have a very hard time going elsewhere for further training at good institutions, esp competitive programs at top places for further sub-specialization

I graduated many years ago and urge caution...."

Available at: Official 2012-2013 Cardiology fellowship application cycle

I felt compelled to reply to this since there have been many changes since 5 years ago since the probationary status and applicants are ranking programs now.

Regarding the first concern that residents are not allowed to write notes/orders, this is not true. We have residents on consult and CCU services and they do put orders and notes in. We heavily rely on our residents and they are excellent clinically. Thus this first statement is completely false.

Now to address the remaining concerns:
1. I was told by many cardiologists at my residency that this is a clinically strong program and that, especially if you want to do cardiology, to rank this as one of your choices.
2. Of course this is different from the Gainesville program. This program is considered community-based university-affiliated per FREIDA but it is still academic in terms of the didactics we receive (we get very reputable professors esp from Harvard giving grand rounds) and the amount of research we do. This is a clinically focused program but we have lots of research opportunities. Just look at our chief of cardiology Dr. Angiolillo who is world renowned in DAPT therapy and interventional cardiology.
3. You are respected as a fellow. I don't know where this statement came from and there were no specific examples provided. There is one attending however that does treat fellows meanly; this will be addressed during our next meeting with the program director. Though I am sure other programs have their own problems and not all faculty are perfectly collegial or can keep their mood well during times of stress. This is based on my observations during residency and from other friends also in cardiology fellowship.
4. Don't believe this is true. The interventional cardiologists will give you good exposure, some like to teach more than others. But if interventional cardiology is one of your interests, make it known so you can get more opportunities to practice. You can also help out the IC fellow with cath procedures on the weekend as that is an option. If interested in EP you are free to scrub in procedures. First year fellows also can handle the TEE probe. So you will be able to get enough procedures done (high volume here).
5. This is not true. There have been changes proposed by the fellows in the past for instance having the EP fellow interrogate devices instead of the CCU fellow since the CCU fellow is already busy managing CCU patients and triaging ED patients. Moreover we allow the 2nd year fellows to do 2-week blocks of CCU instead of 4-week stretches and there have been positive responses (less fatigue/burnout). This year we are talking about changes to the schedule to decrease burnout for 1st/2nd year fellows (CCU/night float schedule). The program director and CCU medical director are open to changes.
6. Don't believe this to be true. The set schedule has all the core rotations but we do have elective time especially in third year. If you want to do a rotation outside the institution, let the PD know ahead of time and arrange for something.
7. Again don't know where this came from. Of course as fellows we work hard but the faculty value our opinion. We have monthly operations meetings to discuss feedback on each rotation.
8. I don't think this is true. If you look at our history of placement after fellowship, many go into competitive fields and institutions. For instance some have gone on to advanced heart failure at UF Gainesville, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and Emory. Adult congenital heart disease at Brigham and Women's. One fellow is going to Dartmouth for IC. Another going to Vanderbilt for noninvasive. If interested in IC or EP, they have strong record of taking their own fellows.

In general, you will come out of this program with strong clinical acumen and support. The faculty have good connections here and are super helpful.
There is also a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/ufjaxcards) and Instagram profile (UF Jax Cardiology Fellowship (@ufjaxcards) • Instagram photos and videos) if you are curious about the program.