The fellowship program
is an integral part of an internal medicine residency program
that has been in existence since 1956, with continued full accreditation
since its inception. The UTGSM has over 190 residents and fellows training
in 11 ACGME accredited core residency programs and 11 ACGME accredited
subspecialty fellowship programs.
UTGSM provides fellows
with an excellent support system, including nursing, pharmacy,
library, laboratory, nutritional support, social workers, consultative
support from subspecialists, and an excellent Resident Assistance
Program. The medical center has state-of-the-art diagnostic and
therapeutic facilities with an electronic medical record system,
the CoPath pathology information system, and the PACS radiology
information system.
The University of Tennessee Medical Center draws patients from
a large geographic area in East Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky
, Northwest North Carolina , and Western Virginia . The University of Tennessee Medical Center is a
Level 1 Trauma Center, with three helicopters providing transport
of critically ill patients, including numerous acute myocardial
infarction patients. Due to the tertiary referral nature of the
university program, a large number of patients with a broad spectrum
of clinical pathologies are available for both clinical experience
and research studies.
The fellowship faculty practice, University Cardiology, is located in offices connected
to the hospital and is part of the UTMC Heart, Lung and Vascular
Institute. The large University Cardiology practice sees more than 200 patients daily from all over the East Tennessee region and
neighboring states.
The volume of cardiovascular
procedures performed annually at UTMC, in both the hospital and
clinic, is substantial, with over:
9,000 echocardiograms,
4,500 cardiac catheterizations,
including interventional and pediatric cases,
4,000 cardiac nuclear
studies, including PET scans,
44,000 ECGs,
4,800 stress tests,
600 diagnostic and therapeutic
electrophysiological studies (including catheter ablations and
implantable devices).
The program director,
Dr. Dale Wortham, has had a distinguished academic career, with
6 years as Program Director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
program at Walter Reed Hospital , Chief of the Cardiology Division
at Walter Reed, and Consultant to the Surgeon General of the Army.
Dr. Wortham has served as a Cardiology Consultant to the FDA Center
for Drug Evaluation and Research and a member of the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Advisory Council. He has over
50 publications.
The fellowship faculty
have trained at some of the best training programs in the country,
including Baylor, Johns Hopkins, Brown, University of Michigan,
Boston University, Emory, LSU, Harvard, Tulane, Southwestern,
Vanderbilt, Duke, Cleveland Clinic, and University of Pennsylvania.
All of the faculty are board certified in Cardiovascular Disease.
In addition, there are faculty members board certified in Interventional
Cardiology, Nuclear Medicine, and Electrophysiology and Pacing.
The fellowship faculty
are enthusiastic about the fellowship program and are dedicated
and committed to providing excellent training to the fellows.
All of the faculty have extensive teaching experience, including
medical students, residents, and fellows. The University Cardiology
faculty also conduct a well-attended annual two-day educational
conference that includes renowned guest faculty presenters and
draws attendees from multiple states.
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Department of Medicine
