Medical Specialist: Cardiovasc...

Medical Specialist: Cardiovascular Disease Medicine (Clinical Cardiologist)

Cardiovascular disease medicine is a subspecialty of Internal medicine. After a doctor completes medical school and is licensed to practice medicine, the physician may pursue a rigorous, three-year training program in Internal Medicine. After passing an examination and completing the requirements, the doctor is Board Certified in Internal Medicine—also called an Internist. This is different from an intern, who is a doctor who has completed medical school and is in the first year of residency training. Internists are primary-care doctors who are experts in managing complex diseases. To become a cardiovascular disease specialist, the internal-medicine specialist pursues and additional one to two years of training in an accredited fellowship program and must pass an examination for board certification. Cardiologists are experts in treating:

Associated Diseases

• Arrythmias
• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Atherosclerosis
• Cardiomyopathy
• Atrial fibrillation
• Heart block
• Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome
• Angina
• Pericarditis
• Valvular heart disease
• Peripheral arterial disease

Reference:

American Board of Internal Medicine 2004-2007.