Contact us
For any additional questions, please contact our program administrator, Linda Adame.
Program overview
The Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at Corpus Christi Medical Center (CCMC) is a 12-month advanced subspecialty training program designed to develop independent, highly competent interventional cardiologists. The program accepts one fellow per year, creating an intensive, high-volume training environment characterized by close faculty mentorship and progressive procedural autonomy.
Training occurs within a busy, multi-hospital cardiovascular system serving the South Texas coastal region, with extensive exposure to acute coronary syndromes, STEMI care, and complex coronary interventions in both elective and emergent settings.
Get to know the team
The fellowship is led by a dedicated cardiovascular faculty team:
- Christel Cuevas, MD serves as Program Director for the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship and Associate Program Director for the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, overseeing curriculum structure, procedural competency standards, and fellow progression.
- Thomas Alexander, MD serves as Associate Program Director for the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program and is a key interventional faculty member involved in procedural supervision, clinical teaching, and fellow mentorship across both general and interventional cardiology training.
Together, the leadership team provides integrated oversight across the general and interventional cardiology continuum, ensuring continuity of training from core cardiology through advanced procedural practice.
Salary and benefits information
$80,309
In addition to this, each resident will receive $950 per year for On-Call meals to be paid half in July and half in January.
New residents will receive up to $500 for orientation as it will fall before your July 1 start date.
Additional benefits include professional memberships, conference and travel expenses, cell phone, laptop, as well as other board prep and educational expenses.
Curriculum highlights & rotation schedule
Clinical training environment
The program is based at Corpus Christi Medical Center, a high-volume cardiovascular referral system with 24/7 catheterization laboratory coverage and an active STEMI program. Fellows function as integral members of the interventional team, participating in:
- Primary operator experience in diagnostic coronary angiography and PCI
- Management of acute coronary syndromes (STEMI/NSTEMI)
- Complex coronary intervention and hemodynamic assessment
- Inpatient cardiovascular consultation and procedural planning
- Multidisciplinary heart team discussions
The single-fellow structure ensures high procedural exposure and individualized training progression.
Interventional and structural heart exposure
In addition to comprehensive coronary intervention training, the program has growing exposure and training intentions in structural and endovascular cardiovascular therapies, reflecting the evolving scope of modern interventional practice.
Fellows receive exposure to and participate in multidisciplinary planning for:
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) – including patient selection, procedural planning, and peri-procedural management
- Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (Watchman procedures) – for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation patients
- Endovascular Aortic Repair (EVAR) – in collaboration with vascular surgery for aortic aneurysm management
- Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) – for carotid artery disease in high-risk patients
These experiences are integrated through collaboration with interventional cardiology, and structural heart teams emphasizing a heart-team-based approach to complex cardiovascular disease.
Procedural training
Core interventional training includes:
- Coronary angiography and PCI (including complex lesion subsets)
- Acute myocardial infarction management
- Use of adjunctive interventional devices (atherectomy, thrombectomy, balloon technologies)
- Hemodynamic assessment and physiologic lesion evaluation
- Vascular access and complication management strategies
The fellowship emphasizes progression toward independent operator status in coronary intervention, with expanding exposure to peripheral interventions, structural and hybrid cardiovascular procedures.
Educational structure
Education is embedded into daily clinical workflow and includes:
- Cath lab case reviews and quality conferences
- Morbidity and mortality (M&M) discussions
- Journal club and guideline-based literature review
- Direct attending mentorship in procedural planning and execution
- Multidisciplinary cardiovascular team collaboration
Program goals
The fellowship aims to graduate an interventional cardiologist who is:
- Fully competent in independent coronary intervention and peripheral interventions
- Experienced in managing high-acuity acute coronary syndromes
- Competent in structural heart and endovascular cardiovascular therapies
- Prepared for community or academic interventional practice
- Capable of functioning in high-volume, high-acuity catheterization environments