Morehouse launches training to develop more minority cardiologists

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) announced the creation of a Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training Program—an effort that helps address both an increasingly aging population suffering with heart disease and the nation’s shortage of minority cardiologists.

“The presence of a cardiology fellowship training program strengthens our internal medicine program by attracting the best and the brightest minds to the medical school as students, residents, and faculty,” said Dr. Rajesh Sachdeva, the inaugural program director. “The program will enhance our research enterprise across multiple fields as well.”

Dr. Sachdeva is a board-certified interventional cardiologist and fellow of the Society for Coronary Angiography and Interventions. He completed his cardiology and interventional cardiology fellowships at Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut.

Recruitment for the first two cardiology fellows is already under way. Successful candidates will begin the three-year program at Grady Memorial Hospital and the Veteran Affairs Medical Center starting July 1, 2017. By summer 2019, the program will train up to six cardiology fellows annually at the Morehouse School of Medicine.

“This program is integral in the effort to close the gap in cardiovascular disease outcomes and dovetails with MSM’s mission to improve health outcomes across all populations,” explains Chief of Cardiology Dr. Anekwe Onwuanyi. “With this program, MSM is creating its own pipeline of exceptional physicians specializing in cardiac patient care and research.”

Founded in 1975, MSM is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians and was recognized by Annals of Internal Medicine in 2011 as the top institution in the first study of U.S. medical schools for our social mission based on our production of primary care physicians, training of underrepresented minority doctors and placement of doctors practicing in underserved communities.

For more information, visit www.msm.edu.