UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship
Dr. Alex Garton leads a discussion on the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program at UPMC Harrisburg, the training their cardiologists receive, and what sets their program apart from others.
Featuring:
Alex Garton, MD
Alex Garton, MD is associate program director of the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program and non-invasive cardiologist at UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. Board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease, Dr. Garton completed medical school at Creighton University in Nebraska, internal medicine residency at Lehigh Valley Health Network, and cardiovascular disease fellowship at Lankenau Medical Center. He is originally from the Midwest. Transcription:
Bill Klaproth: UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute has been serving the community's cardiovascular care needs for well over four decades and the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program serves to mentor and foster the growth of future cardiologists and leaders in the field. So let's learn more about this with Dr. Alex Garton, a non-invasive cardiologist and Associate Program Director UPMC Harrisburg, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute.
This is Healthier You, the podcast from UPMC in Central Pennsylvania. I'm Bill Klaproth. Dr. Garton, thank you so much for your time. It is great to talk with you. So first off, let me ask you this, what sets the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program apart from the others?
Dr. Alex Garton: You know, that's a great question. There are a lot of different fellowship programs around the country that are training cardiologists. I think we've been able to pick apart these programs, not only from programs that we ourselves have trained in, but some of the other programs that we've sought some advice from, to to kind of find out what works best for fellows in their training. So we can use those aspects, but then we also have a lot of diversity of cases in our practice. And we've been practicing here in this area now for many decades and have a lot of volume of different kinds of cardiology cases from our area. And so I think putting those two things combined is really going to set our program apart from others.
Bill Klaproth: Absolutely. So then what types of cardiologists does the fellowship program look to produce?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, another great question. You know, as a newer program, our focus right now is to really train a good all-around overall general cardiologist first. We have all different types of subspecialties of cardiology within our group. And so our fellows, our trainees will have exposure to all the different types of cardiology. And I think that exposure is going to enable them to be a great all-around overall general cardiologist.
Bill Klaproth: Absolutely, all-around general cardiologists. Quick question, are cardiologists more in demand these days as most of us are or hopefully most of us are paying more attention to our cardiovascular health?
Dr. Alex Garton: Oh, definitely. Heart disease is the number one prevalent disease in the country, in the world. It's the number one cause of death by a long margin. And so as population numbers continue to increase as people get older and age, you know, heart disease is very prevalent and cardiologists are always in demand.
Bill Klaproth: Well, it's good to know that the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at UPMC Harrisburg is training the next generation of cardiologists. So where do these people train at? Where do the cardiology fellows train?
Dr. Alex Garton: This was something that we had to come up with because our practice goes to four different hospitals, and we have seven different offices, which is quite unique for a lot of different cardiology practices. And so again, I think this is another aspect of our program that we can kind of highlight. The fellows will be primarily doing their hospital work at Harrisburg Hospital, which is in UPMC Harrisburg, downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. But then they're also going to have an opportunity to have more of like a community-based experience at two of our community hospitals, which is UPMC West Shore and UPMC Community Osteopathic. So they're going to kind of see that high acute care at Harrisburg, more of a community hospital setting at the other two hospitals. But then they're also going to be having some of their rotations at our outpatient offices, which attracts patients from not only the urban setting here in Harrisburg, but also the rural setting of the surrounding areas.
Bill Klaproth: So when you talk about patients from the urban setting and rural settings, what other types of patients can fellows at UPMC Harrisburg expect to have exposure, because that training at the patient level is so important?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, definitely. Having these different types of patients, it translates to different types of cardiac disease. We have some people that are less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic status who may not be able to afford their medications as easily, may not be able to, you know, see physicians on a regular basis. So they can come in with very sick conditions, conditions that have been kind of smoldering, for lack of better description, for awhile. But the same can be said for these rural patients who, you know, they've been kind of working away, doing their own thing for decades and have not seen a doctor, and then they come in with undiagnosed new conditions that, you know, are kind of more rare to be honest. But then we also have the full spectrum. So we have patients that have great insurance and see doctors on a regular basis. And you get to practice more of that preventative medicine, which is great too. So it's the full aspect of patient care.
Bill Klaproth: So these fellows really get to see a wide variety of trauma and/or disease from these different patient communities, which is really important. And then for someone who is interested in research, is there an opportunity to become involved with cardiovascular research studies?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, definitely. We have very large research department in our program. We have several our cardiologists who are kind of on the leading edge of research in their fields. Dr. Amit Vora, who is one of our structural cardiologists, is our director of research for the fellowship program. And he plans on taking these fellows under his wing to help guide them in the research arena. You know, we're you involved in multinational worldwide clinical research trials that they'll have an opportunity to get their foot in the door with. But then we also have a very, not advanced, but hands-on, easy to get through institutional review board that approves research in our institution. And so it'll be easy for the fellows to come up with their own research ideas, to get those approved, and so that they can answer their own clinical questions.
Bill Klaproth: And then lastly, Dr. Garton, and thank you so much for your time, for someone who is interested in learning more about the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program, where can they go to learn more?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, thanks for asking. We have a website that people can visit. It's upmc.com/cpacardiacfellowship. We also have accounts on Facebook, you know, Instagram, YouTube, so you can find us all over the internet.
Bill Klaproth: Well Dr. Garton, that's really good. And once again, that is upmc.com/cpacardiacfellowship. This has really been interesting. And thank you for telling us more about the UPMC cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program. Thanks again, Dr. Garton.
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah. Thank you.
Bill Klaproth: And once again, that's Dr. Alex Garton. And for more information, visit the website upmc.com/cpacardiacfellowship. That's all one word, CPA Cardiac Fellowship. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Healthier You, a podcast from UPMC. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth: UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute has been serving the community's cardiovascular care needs for well over four decades and the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program serves to mentor and foster the growth of future cardiologists and leaders in the field. So let's learn more about this with Dr. Alex Garton, a non-invasive cardiologist and Associate Program Director UPMC Harrisburg, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute.
This is Healthier You, the podcast from UPMC in Central Pennsylvania. I'm Bill Klaproth. Dr. Garton, thank you so much for your time. It is great to talk with you. So first off, let me ask you this, what sets the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program apart from the others?
Dr. Alex Garton: You know, that's a great question. There are a lot of different fellowship programs around the country that are training cardiologists. I think we've been able to pick apart these programs, not only from programs that we ourselves have trained in, but some of the other programs that we've sought some advice from, to to kind of find out what works best for fellows in their training. So we can use those aspects, but then we also have a lot of diversity of cases in our practice. And we've been practicing here in this area now for many decades and have a lot of volume of different kinds of cardiology cases from our area. And so I think putting those two things combined is really going to set our program apart from others.
Bill Klaproth: Absolutely. So then what types of cardiologists does the fellowship program look to produce?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, another great question. You know, as a newer program, our focus right now is to really train a good all-around overall general cardiologist first. We have all different types of subspecialties of cardiology within our group. And so our fellows, our trainees will have exposure to all the different types of cardiology. And I think that exposure is going to enable them to be a great all-around overall general cardiologist.
Bill Klaproth: Absolutely, all-around general cardiologists. Quick question, are cardiologists more in demand these days as most of us are or hopefully most of us are paying more attention to our cardiovascular health?
Dr. Alex Garton: Oh, definitely. Heart disease is the number one prevalent disease in the country, in the world. It's the number one cause of death by a long margin. And so as population numbers continue to increase as people get older and age, you know, heart disease is very prevalent and cardiologists are always in demand.
Bill Klaproth: Well, it's good to know that the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at UPMC Harrisburg is training the next generation of cardiologists. So where do these people train at? Where do the cardiology fellows train?
Dr. Alex Garton: This was something that we had to come up with because our practice goes to four different hospitals, and we have seven different offices, which is quite unique for a lot of different cardiology practices. And so again, I think this is another aspect of our program that we can kind of highlight. The fellows will be primarily doing their hospital work at Harrisburg Hospital, which is in UPMC Harrisburg, downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. But then they're also going to have an opportunity to have more of like a community-based experience at two of our community hospitals, which is UPMC West Shore and UPMC Community Osteopathic. So they're going to kind of see that high acute care at Harrisburg, more of a community hospital setting at the other two hospitals. But then they're also going to be having some of their rotations at our outpatient offices, which attracts patients from not only the urban setting here in Harrisburg, but also the rural setting of the surrounding areas.
Bill Klaproth: So when you talk about patients from the urban setting and rural settings, what other types of patients can fellows at UPMC Harrisburg expect to have exposure, because that training at the patient level is so important?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, definitely. Having these different types of patients, it translates to different types of cardiac disease. We have some people that are less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic status who may not be able to afford their medications as easily, may not be able to, you know, see physicians on a regular basis. So they can come in with very sick conditions, conditions that have been kind of smoldering, for lack of better description, for awhile. But the same can be said for these rural patients who, you know, they've been kind of working away, doing their own thing for decades and have not seen a doctor, and then they come in with undiagnosed new conditions that, you know, are kind of more rare to be honest. But then we also have the full spectrum. So we have patients that have great insurance and see doctors on a regular basis. And you get to practice more of that preventative medicine, which is great too. So it's the full aspect of patient care.
Bill Klaproth: So these fellows really get to see a wide variety of trauma and/or disease from these different patient communities, which is really important. And then for someone who is interested in research, is there an opportunity to become involved with cardiovascular research studies?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, definitely. We have very large research department in our program. We have several our cardiologists who are kind of on the leading edge of research in their fields. Dr. Amit Vora, who is one of our structural cardiologists, is our director of research for the fellowship program. And he plans on taking these fellows under his wing to help guide them in the research arena. You know, we're you involved in multinational worldwide clinical research trials that they'll have an opportunity to get their foot in the door with. But then we also have a very, not advanced, but hands-on, easy to get through institutional review board that approves research in our institution. And so it'll be easy for the fellows to come up with their own research ideas, to get those approved, and so that they can answer their own clinical questions.
Bill Klaproth: And then lastly, Dr. Garton, and thank you so much for your time, for someone who is interested in learning more about the UPMC Harrisburg Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program, where can they go to learn more?
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah, thanks for asking. We have a website that people can visit. It's upmc.com/cpacardiacfellowship. We also have accounts on Facebook, you know, Instagram, YouTube, so you can find us all over the internet.
Bill Klaproth: Well Dr. Garton, that's really good. And once again, that is upmc.com/cpacardiacfellowship. This has really been interesting. And thank you for telling us more about the UPMC cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program. Thanks again, Dr. Garton.
Dr. Alex Garton: Yeah. Thank you.
Bill Klaproth: And once again, that's Dr. Alex Garton. And for more information, visit the website upmc.com/cpacardiacfellowship. That's all one word, CPA Cardiac Fellowship. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Healthier You, a podcast from UPMC. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.