Fellowships
The opportunities
This full-time position will provide training in the full gamet of paediatric cardiological care including foetal, neonatal, paediatric and adult congenital care with skill development in foetal, paediatric and adult congenital heart disease echocardiography, 320-slice cardiac CT, interventional procedures and electrophysiology. This fellowship position is aimed at trainees who have finished their core paediatric cardiology training and wish to further develop their skills in advanced paediatric training and clinical research.
Foetal Service
We provide a busy foetal service in conjunction with our foetal diagnostic service. The fellow is encouraged to contribute to planning and delivery of perinatal and neonatal care.
Echocardiography
The fellow will be exposed to the full range of diagnostic echocardiographic modalities including transthoracic echo and transoesophageal echo. We are a large tertiary referral centre for obstetric services (including prenatal and neonatal diagnosis) and have a significant population of children and adults with congenital heart disease. The echo lab currently performs more than 12,000 studies per year. The echo training program is well established, with cardiologists who are actively involved in teaching fellows. The fellow will be exposed to procedural echo in the cath lab, using TOE guidance to support closure procedures for paediatric patients.
The echo lab offers a strong teaching program. There are dedicated echo teaching sessions including a fortnightly neonatal session, a weekly formal case review session (congenital and acquired disease), consultant and fellow presentations, and many opportunities for one-on-one reporting of transthoracic studies with consultants.
Cardiac CT
Our luminary site state-of-the-art 320 slice cardiac CT scanner commenced services in mid September 2008 and was the only such dynamic volume CT scanner in the southern hemisphere. A dedicated weekly paediatric and congenital CT session is conducted each week, supervised by Dr Sarah Hope, Head of Paediatric Cardiology Services, MonashHeart. All CT scans are co-reported by a cardiologist and radiologist.
The paediatric/congenital experience has been excellent including:
- No non-diagnostic studies
- Young patients (down to 3 years of age) can be scanned without a parent in the room when necessary
- Very low radiation; as little as 0.2mSv (dependent on size).
The fellow will work closely with the Head of Paediatric Cardiology Services and Head of Cardiac CT, MonashHeart in the performance and reporting of clinical and research studies. MonashHeart will be active in cardiac CT-based research projects with a focus on paediatric and adult congenital heart disease.
Other paediatric cardiology services
Other services include the full range of diagnostic testing including 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, 12-lead ECG services and exercise stress testing.
A fortnightly paediatric EP and device implantation list is conducted in the cardiac cath lab; MonashHeart being the only centre in Victoria and Tasmania which offers both electrophysiology and device implantation for paediatric patients.
Late in 2010, MonashHeart will start a paediatric interventional cath lab list where experience is gained in shunt closures, balloon valvuloplasty and other congenital heart disease interventions.
Candidate prerequisites
- Medical degree registrable in Victoria
- Previous experience in paediatric cardiology desirable
- Candidates with an interest in concurrent research and or a PhD degree are preferred
Application process
Enquiries and applications to
Associate Professor Sarah Hope
Head of Paediatric Cardiology
T: +61 3 9594 7855
F: +61 3 9594 6239
Contact
Mail: MonashHeart, Monash Medical Centre, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton 3168