Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Fellowship

The Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Fellowship at UT Southwestern is a two-year, ACGME-accredited program designed to provide fellows with comprehensive training in the management of patients of adult congenital heart disease. Trainees will develop proficiency in the inpatient and outpatient management of adult congenital heart disease, as well as expertise in non-invasive imaging, adult congenital transcatheter interventions, cardio-obstetrics, pulmonary hypertension, advanced heart failure therapies, exercise physiology, and other interests, if so desired, which will prepare them for independent practice in the field of adult congenital heart disease.

Mission Goals

Aligned with institutional core missions of education, research and patient care, UT Southwestern’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Fellowship program is a university-based academic program imbued with a mission to comprehensively train well-rounded, compassionate clinicians and future leaders to meet the needs of a growing population of ACHD patients.

The program aims to:

Provide rigorous educational, clinical, and procedural experiences in adult congenital heart disease at three distinct, nationally recognized hospitals (Parkland Memorial Hospital, Clements University Hospital and Children’s Medical Center) with unique and complex patient populations.
Train exemplary, highly skilled ACHD specialists from all backgrounds who strive for clinical excellence and provide equitable, compassionate, patient-centered care across all levels of complexity.
Foster the development of future ACHD leaders prepared to innovate, educate and investigate new approaches to comprehensive ACHD care.
Create a collaborative learning environment that promotes and values respect, collegiality, and individual well-being.
Develop an individualized educational experience for each trainee to launch a unique, fulfilling, and impactful career.
Prepare graduates to successfully attain board certification in Adult Congenital Heart Disease, and to thereafter practice lifelong learning and improvement with humility, curiosity and adaptability to tackle the future changes and challenges in healthcare.

Application Process

We accept applications through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) from 07/02/2025 – 09/01/2025, grant interviews from 09/01/2025 – 11/01/2025, and participate in the NRMP Medicine and Pediatric Specialties Match process (NRMP Code 2835153S0). ERAS applications to our program must include a curriculum vitae (CV), USMLE transcripts (Steps 1-3), a Personal Statement, and a minimum of three letters of recommendation (up to a maximum of four), including one from your program director. UT Southwestern accepts J-1 visa sponsorship by the ECFMG.
Clinical Training
Fellows receive intensive, hands-on experience in a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including:
- Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography
- Cardiac catheterization, diagnostic and interventional
- Cardiac computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging
Research Opportunities
Scholarly Activity

Fellows are encouraged to engage in research projects, with support for both clinical and translational studies. Opportunities include:
- Participation in ongoing research initiatives, including clinical trials
- Collaboration with faculty on scholarly activities
- Development and execution of independent research projects
- Presentation of research findings at national and international conferences such as ISACHD (ACHD Symposium), ACC, AHA, SCAI, or PICS
- Publication of research in peer-reviewed journals
Training Sites
Training will occur at UT Southwestern Medical Center and affiliated institutions including Parkland Memorial Hospital and Children's Medical Center, ensuring exposure to a wide variety of cases and patient populations.
Parkland Hospital is the safety-net healthcare institution for Dallas County and once of the oldest public hospitals in the country. Hematologic and cancer care is provided for over 10,000 individual patients a year. Patients come from diverse backgrounds, and over half are uninsured.

UT Southwestern fellows take care of Parkland patients in five disease-specific fellow-run clinics in the Moody Outpatient Clinic, as well as an inpatient hematology consult service and primary traditional inpatient teaching service taking care of hematology and oncology patients in Parkland Hospital.

Parkland provides a rich clinical training environment but also an excellent opportunity for research in quality improvement, health disparities, and outcomes.

UT Southwestern is the only major academic center in the D-FW metroplex, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the natioin. Patients come from Dallas, and also from the greater North Texas area and surrounding states.

The Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, the only such center in North Texas. The SCCC is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network, ECOG-ACRIN, ETCTN, NRG, and SWOG. Fellows will see newly diagnosed patients, second-opinion referred patients, and clinical trial participants.

The SCCC also has satellite sites in several communities beyond the main medical district, including Richardson, Fort Worth, and Red Bird (southern Dallas). At these sites, fellows can see patients with hematology and oncology faculty members in a more community-oriented practice, with a breadth of diagnoses seen during each session.

Fellows rotate at Clements University Hospital, routinely ranked among the best hospitals in the state of Texas, on hematology consults, solid tumor consults, and the bone marrow transplant/cellular therapy unit.
- Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center
- Major Pediatric Kidney, Liver, Intestine, Heart, and Bone Marrow Transplant Center
- 487 Beds
- Primary Pediatric Teaching Hospital
- One of the Nation's Top Pediatric Hospitals
Curriculum and Conferences
Didactics and Multidisciplinary Education

The ACHD fellowship includes structured didactic sessions to reinforce clinical skills and knowledge, including:
- ACHD core curriculum
  - Anatomy and physiology relevant to congenital heart disease in the adult
  - Didactics specific to ACHD topics, such as Tetralogy of Fallot, Eisenmenger syndrome, pregnancy in ACHD, ASD, VSD, and Single Ventricle patients.
  - Indications, techniques, and complications of adult congenital cardiac interventions
  - Multidisciplinary approaches to patient management, including weekly adult congenital surgical conference and CMC surgical conference.
- ACHD-specific journal clubs
- Preparation for ABIM board examination
- Clinical pathological correlation and cardiac anatomy, including pig dissection
- Patient safety conference (Formerly known as morbidity and mortality conference)
- Additionally, there are several Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery conferences scheduled throughout the week. Fellows are welcome to attend any or all of them as time and interest permits
Clinical training is supplemented with high-yield educational activities, including:
- Fellowship boot camp
- Hands-on cardiac anatomy lessons through pig dissections and pathology specimens, as well as virtual samples through an online application
- ACHD retreat
- National and international conferences for ACHD or subspecialties of their choosing
- Exercise physiology at the Institute of Exercise and Environmental Medicine