Heart health research, training opportunities at NIH

Episode # 88
Uploaded: February 22, 2012
Running Time: 04:14

CROWN: From the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this is CLINICAL CENTER RADIO.

February is American Heart Month. Every year, heart disease takes the lives of more than half a million Americans, and it remains the leading cause of death in the United States. That’s why it’s so important to understand how you can reduce your risks and improve your health through eating a balanced diet and exercising.  However, to win the fight against heart disease, NIH is also committed to training and research that focuses on increasing our understanding of cardiology-based conditions, their risk factors, and treatments. 

Dr. Tiffany Powell, a cardiologist who graduated from NIH’s 12-month Clinical Research Training Program and now works as an assistant clinical investigator at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute says:

POWELL: Cardiology has always been a field where research has really dictated what we do. A lot of the drugs that we utilize and the procedures that we utilize are based on huge clinical trials that have really set the standard. But I think that the type of research I do is fundamental, just because we understand that risk factors, particularly obesity, is becoming more and more of an epidemic. And so a lot of the gains that we’ve seen in preventing cardiovascular disease and prolonging life-expectancy and preventing heart attacks or strokes from occurring are really being undermined by the higher rates of obesity and diabetes. So I think figuring out how to prevent the risk factors through treatment of obesity and figuring out tools that actually promote a healthy lifestyle that includes physical activity and good dietary habits is really an important area to think about in terms of preventing cardiovascular disease.

CROWN: Dr. Powell credits her training at NIH with fostering her enthusiasm for cardiovascular clinical research. NIH offers a variety of training opportunities through the Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education.  Dr. Douglas Rosing, head of the cardiology consultation service at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:

ROSING: We have a program that is entitled the Cardiology Elective Program or rotation, and this is open to medical students from around the world from accredited medical schools and residents of internal medicine. It is a one month period of time that they spend with us. Although a month is not a great deal of time, it is rather intensive. We work one-to-one with the medical students and the residents, listening to their presentations, reviewing their presentations, and eventually editing their reports and write-ups. This is probably, for one month, as intense of a one-to-one exposure with a senior staff that they are likely to get.

CROWN:  The Cardiology Elective Rotation is one of three cardiology-related intramural programs offered at the NIH. In addition, there are two fellowship training programs for physicians who have completed residency training, including the Cardiovascular Imaging Fellowship and the Image-Guided Cardiovascular Intervention Fellowship. Each offers unique educational opportunities to their target audience.

POWELL: What really struck me about the opportunity to do research here was that there were so many different opportunities, but there seemed to be a great deal of opportunities related to cardiovascular research. I felt that if I wanted to do clinical research as a career, this would be an ideal place to be.

CROWN:  Learn more about all NIH’s training and education opportunities at http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/training. From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Ellen Crown, at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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