Cardiovascular Performance Program Fellowship

Overview

The Cardiovascular Performance Fellowship is led by a multidisciplinary faculty with expertise spanning sports cardiology, electrophysiology, cardiovascular imaging, exercise physiology, and outcomes research. This structure reflects the original CPP vision of integrating physiology, diagnostics, and clinical decision-making within a single program.

The fellowship aims to train cardiologists capable of delivering expert cardiovascular care to athletes and highly active individuals, integrating physiologic principles, advanced diagnostics, and evidence-based decision-making.

1. Depth and Breadth of Specialized Expertise

The CPP faculty collectively represent one of the most experienced and academically productive sports cardiology groups in the United States. The program integrates expertise in clinical athlete care, advanced exercise physiology, electrophysiology, imaging, and translational research. This concentration of expertise provides a level of subspecialty mentorship that is not available in most cardiovascular training environments.

2. High-Volume, High-Complexity Athlete Population

CPP maintains one of the largest and most diverse athlete referral populations in the country, including competitive and tactical athletes, professional teams, collegiate programs, and highly active individuals. This volume creates unmatched clinical exposure to the full spectrum of athlete cardiovascular conditions—ranging from physiologic adaptation to rare cardiomyopathies and arrhythmias.

3. Established Leadership in Exercise Testing and Human Performance

The fellowship is embedded within a state-of-the-art cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) program with high procedural volume, advanced protocols, and faculty with internationally recognized expertise. Trainees gain supervised proficiency in advanced exercise diagnostics, which is foundational to sports cardiology practice.

4. Robust and Diverse Research Environment

CPP faculty maintain funded research programs across exercise physiology, athlete imaging, translational biology, and outcomes research. Fellows participate in formal research training, receive individualized mentorship, and contribute to ongoing projects with clear opportunities for abstracts and publications.

5. Clear Educational Structure with Defined Rotational Curriculum

The program uses a four-rotation model—clinical athlete care, research methodology, pre-participation screening, and advanced exercise testing - that provides structure while allowing individualized depth. This model has been refined over multiple fellowship cycles and is well-aligned with the ACC Sports.

Requirements

Successful completion of three years of an ACGME‑accredited cardiovascular disease fellowship program.

Curriculum

Central to the curricula is the principle that exercise-induced cardiovascular adaptation exists on a continuum, and that clinically meaningful disease may only become evident under conditions of extreme physiologic stress. Accordingly, the fellowship emphasizes evaluation under load, longitudinal assessment, and risk stratification in the setting of uncertainty.

The fellowship provides focused training in the evaluation of symptomatic athletes, differentiation of physiologic remodeling from pathology, advanced exercise testing, pre-participation screening, and translational research. Educational goals are achieved through four structured rotations and weekly didactics. The overall objective is to graduate clinicians with the clinical and scientific skills required for modern sports cardiology practice.

The curriculum is organized around four foundational educational domains delivered longitudinally across the fellowship year and reinforced through dedicated block rotations and seasonally aligned experiences.

1. Clinical Care of the Symptomatic Athlete

Fellows evaluate athletes with chest pain, syncope, palpitations, exertional intolerance, abnormal screening results, or known cardiovascular disease. Emphasis is placed on differentiating physiologic adaptation from pathology and performing nuanced sport-specific risk assessment.

2. Research Methodology and Independent Research

Fellows engage in mentored research longitudinally with two research-intensive blocks. Training includes study design, data analysis, and scientific communication. Each fellow completes at least one scholarly project suitable for abstract or manuscript submission.

3. Pre-Participation Cardiovascular Screening (PPS)

Fellows participate in PPS across scholastic, collegiate, professional, and master’s athlete populations. Screening is seasonally aligned, with collegiate screening in summer and professional team screening in fall and spring.

4. Advanced Exercise Testing and Exercise Physiology

Fellows receive extensive training in advanced cardiopulmonary exercise testing, including protocol selection, test supervision, and detailed interpretation.

Fellow competence will be assessed through direct observation, faculty evaluations, and a reviewed case portfolio. Outcomes include accurate evaluation of symptomatic athletes, competent ECG/CPET interpretation, and appropriate application of eligibility guidelines. Scholarly output will be measured by completion of a mentored project and submission of an abstract or manuscript. Professionalism, communication, and participation in required didactics and interdisciplinary activities will also be evaluated.

Approximately 70% of graduates are expected to pursue academic careers in sports cardiology or academic cardiovascular medicine, integrating athlete care, CPET, and research. The remaining 30% are anticipated to enter advanced clinical roles focused on athlete evaluation, high-performance physiology, and return-to-play decision-making within academic or large multidisciplinary clinical centers.

How to Apply

Upload to Dropbox (See Apply Now button) the following documents by July 31 of year prior to start of fellowship:

• CV.
• 3 Letters of Recommendation (one must be from current Program Director).
• Personal Statement.
• USLME Exam Status Report.
• ECFMG Certificate if FMG/IMG.

Faculty Team

J. Sawalla Guseh, MD
Program Director, Cardiovascular Performance Program
Jguseh@mgb.org

Rory Weiner, MD
Sports Cardiologist, Cardiovascular Performance Program
Rweiner@mgb.org

Eugene Chung, MD, MPH
Sports Electrophysiologist

Timothy Churchill, MD
Cardiovascular Medicine Attending

Gregory Lewis, MD
Director of Heart Failure & Transplantation
Area of focus in Exercise Physiology

Katie M. Stewart, NP
Nurse Practitioner Scholar specializing in Cardiovascular Performance