The core curriculum covers all important topics in cardiovascular innovation such as identification of unmet clinical needs, idea generation, stakeholder research, product/solution development, business development, intellectual property and commercialization, grant proposals, and manuscript preparation. Faculty and staff across the Cardiovascular Institute and Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center at Indiana University School of Medicine will lead 60 to 90-minute didactic and group discussion sessions covering these topics over the course of a year. Additional core conferences within the Adult Cardiovascular Medicine fellowship, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine Grand Rounds, and other special sessions will be available for additional educational content.
Mentorship
All Cardiovascular Innovation fellows will participate in research and development (R&D) with the support of a mentor. The relationship between the trainee and their R&D mentor is central to the program. Mentors provide research training and career development support in cardiovascular innovation that will enable graduates to achieve productive careers as cardiovascular physician innovators. The program's mentors have excellent funding and strong training records, and IU School of Medicine offers a research environment that provides both state-of-the-art research facilities and outstanding educational and career development opportunities.
Prior to beginning the period of mentorship, the trainee and the mentor sign a written agreement known as a “Mentorship Agreement.” This mechanism helps ensure that the expectations that the mentor and trainee have of each other are aligned. The mentor is responsible for providing the trainee with all of the skills necessary to pursue a career in cardiovascular innovation. The overall function of the mentor network is to provide active, day-to-day support across a variety of areas to the individual, which is accomplished by being fully aware of, or engaged in, the specific research and development effort as well as accepting full accountability for the trainee’s progress in the program.
Before completing the first six months of fellowship, trainees will work with the mentor to ensure that everything such as IRB approval, in the case of patient-oriented research, is in place to allow the research program to commence efficiently. To assist the trainee in this endeavor, didactic lectures are given throughout the year to introduce the fellow to different topics pertinent to being successful.
Didactics
While the cornerstone of the program is the mentored research and development experience, all trainees participate in didactic modules to develop a broad appreciation for the methodologies and opportunities in contemporary cardiovascular research. This didactic coursework will ensure fellows achieve the core competencies for clinical and translational researchers. A few examples of key areas of competency include formulating a hypothesis; study design; data acquisition and storage; data analysis; scientific communication; and ethics and responsible conduct of research.