Overview
The Division of Cardiology at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, a center of academic excellence, is a major teaching affiliate of Well Medical College of Cornell University. It provides inpatient and outpatient care to a diverse population in the Bronx and suburbs.
Division of Cardiology
The Division of Cardiology, as part of the Department of Medicine, provides a full spectrum of cardiac care, other than invasive cardiology. The division is staffed by four full time cardiologists (a fifth is being added), all of whom are specialty trained. In addition able support is provided by two Physician Assistants and a staff comprised of technologists who perform echocardiograms, stress tests, Holter monitoring and electrocardiograms. A team of competent registered nurses and clerical staff complete the staffing of the division of cardiology.
Services
The division staffs provide primary cardiac care to a heterogeneous population comprising of individuals of many ethnic groups and a wide spectrum of illnesses ranging from the relatively healthy to the critically ill. Care is offered to patients in the cardiac care unit or intensive care unit and consultation services to patients throughout the hospital, mostly in Medicine but also in surgical units and surgical intensive care, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine department amongst others.. The faculty is responsible for care in all settings and maintaining follow-up as indicated, providing continuity of care where applicable. In addition to clinical care, procedures offered to the patients include echocardiography, stress testing, Holter monitoring, and isotope studies in conjunction with the department of radiology.
Patient referrals for noninvasive tests come from Lincoln Hospital as well as from satellite clinics. Patients requiring invasive studies and intervention are referred to hospitals in the Health and Hospital Care System with strong affiliations.
In the ambulatory area, the division staff presently conducts three clinics a week; additional clinics are under consideration in the foreseeable future. Clinic referrals originate not only from Lincoln Hospital, but also from the neighborhood and satellite clinics. Waiting period for clinic visits are monitored for optimal access.
Academic Activities
A major component of the activities is education of the house staff, most significantly for residents from the department of medicine; other departments stand to benefit from scholarly activities as well. Residents at all levels of training and medical students are taught by the faculty, at bedside, and through didactic lectures, other conferences and annual board reviews. Residents are closely supervised for their clinical activities by the attending faculty who are always available in the premises; in addition attending faculty members provide back up coverage through an efficient 24 hour 7 day a week on call system. Academic progress for the cardiology elective is monitored through pre and post rotation testing with multiple-choice questions.
In addition, residents are provided an opportunity for an elective experience in invasive cardiology at the affiliated Bellevue hospital in New York.
Performance Improvement
The division of cardiology has progressed well in complying with the appropriate care measures relevant to cardiac care. While the staff has done well for years, it is noteworthy that their efforts were recognized at the National American Heart Association Annual Meeting for creditable performance and compliance with treatment rates for secondary prevention for CAD (Get with the Guidelines Awards); these include Initial Performance Achievement and Annual Performance Achievement Awards for Coronary Artery Disease 2006. Our compliance in the area of heart failure management has been close to 100%. Our creditable performance gained noteworthy mention in the U. S. News and World Report (July 2006) and the journal Circulation (2006).
Research and Publications
Over the years clinical research has resulted in publications in peer review journals or textbooks and research abstracts submitted to national and local scientific meetings.
Summary The Division of Cardiology at Lincoln Medical and Mental health Center renders a wide spectrum of clinical cardiology services to the Bronx population, in addition to providing the residents of the hospital a unique opportunity to develop skills in cardiology under supervision of an able faculty. The busy program has steadily grown over the years and through its dedicated staff met the demands of its local community and beyond.
Residency Program 
