March 28, 2018 | Antonio Jordan-Rios, MD
International

Earlier this month, the Cardiovascular Fellows Boot Camp took place in Mexico City, becoming the very first of its kind in Mexico. The objective of this boot camp was to introduce new fellows to common cardiology problems that they may encounter during their training and how to best solve them. The event was a success and there are already plans to repeat the course every year, while extending it to new admission fellows from other hospitals throughout the country.

The first day of FIT boot camp was a "hands-on" training, which included five workshops and allowed FITs to develop practical abilities such as basic echocardiogram, ultrasound-guided vascular punctures (central venous catheters, Swan-Ganz, etc.), intra-aortic balloon pump, pulmonary ultrasound and mechanical ventilation.

The second and third days were dedicated to 20-minute academic lectures focused on how to solve practical problems. Each lecture was given by Mexico's cardiology FITs and distinguished professors.

At the end of the course, participants were surveyed on their personal experience. Results showed that 86 percent rated the content of the boot camp "excellent," 81 percent rated the faculty as "excellent" and 93 percent said they would like to add more workshops or days to the event.

During the first three days of boot camp, the official promotional video for the course reached 1,360 views on social networks and the workshops, which were broadcasted using Facebook live, reached a total of 8,898 views across the country.

Due to the effort of all the teachers and residents of the course, an "Essential Manual of Cardiology" textbook was developed for residents in an electronic version. It consists of 95 pages with practical and updated content to put the most relevant aspects of cardiology into practice.

This boot camp will be held again next year during the last week of February 2019. We look forward to collaborating with ACC FITs and having ACC FIT representatives participate next year!

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This article was authored by Antonio Jordan-Rios, MD, Fellow in Training (FIT) at the National Heart Institute in Mexico City.