The advanced fellowship program in cardiac imaging at Boston Children’s Hospital has a three-decade history of preparing pediatric cardiologists for an academic career in imaging congenital and pediatric heart disease.

The program accepts two to three fellows each year into a clinical track or a research track. The one-year clinical track trains fellows in echocardiography (transthoracic, transesophageal, intraoperative, and fetal), cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), and computed tomography (CT). This track is ideal for those interested in a career in congenital/pediatric cardiac imaging, including teaching and research. The time allocation is approximately 80 percent clinical and 20 percent research activities. The clinical time is divided roughly equally between modalities, with some flexibility depending on individual interest and programmatic needs. Fellows engage in imaging-related clinical research and mentored teaching activities throughout the year. The two-year research track prepares fellows for a career that focuses on imaging-related clinical research while engaging in advance clinical imaging. During the fellowship, 50 percent of the time is dedicated to research and 50 percent to clinical training.

Cardiac imaging fellows actively participate in daily didactic and clinical conferences, including echo didactic conferences (Monday and Tuesday), a CMR/CT conference (Thursday), and the fellowship core curriculum lecture series (Friday). In addition, cardiac imaging fellows have key roles in the Division of Cardiac Imaging’s M&M and research conferences. To apply to the Cardiac Imaging Senior Fellowship Program, download the application here.

Timeline for application and selection

1. Deadline for completed application: July 1. The application and all required documents must be emailed to Beatris.Leiva@cardio.chboston.org.
2. Interviews: Aug. 1 to Sept. 30
3. Final selection: Oct. 31

Contact information

Beatris Leiva
Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s Hospital
300 Longwood Ave., BCH 3215
Boston, MA 02115
617-355-7366; fax: 617-739-6282
Beatris.Leiva@cardio.chboston.org

Cardiac Imaging Fellows

Lauren Crafts

Cardiac Imaging Fellow

• Hometown: Pennington, N.J.
• Undergraduate school: Georgetown University
• Medical school: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Post-graduate training: Boston Combined Residency Program, Boston Children’s Hospital (pediatric cardiology fellowship)
• Academic interests: Imaging
• Hobbies: Running, Pilates, watching sports

Shanique Sterling

Cardiac Imaging Fellow

• Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
• Medical school: University of the West Indies
• Post-graduate training: University of Miami-Holtz Children's Hospital (pediatric residency), Harvard Medical School-Boston Children's Hospital (pediatric cardiology fellowship)
• Academic interests: Cardiac imaging — I love to image the heart (i.e. all things echo, cardiac MRI and cardiac CT-related
• Hobbies: Traveling — experiencing new places, cultures and food, playing tennis and volleyball, cycling, going to sporting events and concerts, reading fictional novels and autobiographies, watching TV shows with my husband, and in general spending quality time with my family.

Benjamin Zielonka

Cardiac Imaging Fellow

• Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
• Undergraduate school: Washington University in St. Louis
• Medical school: University of Pennsylvania
• Post-graduate training: Boston Combined Residency Program (residency), Boston Children’s Hospital (cardiology fellowship)
• Academic interests: Non-invasive imaging, clinical research.
• Hobbies: Exploring new restaurants with my wife, Ally, chasing my son Owen around the green spaces in Brookline and Jamaica Plain, being disappointed by Philadelphia sports teams.