Postdoctoral Study

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North Iowa Mercy Health Center
Mason City, Iowa

Fellowship Programs:

Cardiology Fellowship Program: 6 approved slots; 3 filled

Salary Information:

Fellowship Year 1 - $45,000 (15 days vacation, 5 days CME)
Fellowship Year 2 - $47,000 (15 days vacation, 7 days CME)
Fellowship Year 3 - $49,000 (15 days vacation, 10 days CME)

Educational Program:

The Fellowship training program is integrated with the 350-bed Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa and Mason City Clinic. Extensive clinical training is supported with experience in Mercy-North Iowa’s cardiac medical stepdown unit, cardiovascular recovery unit, and cardiac catheterization laboratory as well as consulting and outpatient activities.  Upon completion of the fellowship, the candidate will be qualified to perform diagnostic angiography, pacemaker implantation, TEE, transthoracic echocardiography and nuclear stress testing, as well as opportunity for CT angiography, cardiac MRI, and AICD.

Cardiologists Jim Reeder, D.O., and Sam Congello, D.O., serve as the fellowship program directors.  The physicians of the Mason City Clinic Department of Cardiology serve as faculty for the fellowship program.  In addition, the comprehensive heart program includes about 300 open-heart operations annually.

Program Outline:
Fellows will spend one-half day in the clinic each week of the 36-month training program, in addition to the rotations outlined below:

3 months   - Catheterization Laboratory
3 months  - Echo/Nuclear Noninvasive
3 months  - Clinical/CCU
1 month     - Electrophysiology
1 month     - Cardiac Surgery
1 month     - Elective
2 months   - Catheterization Laboratory
3 months   - Echo/Nuclear Noninvasive
3 months   - Clinical/CCU
1 month     - Electrophysiology
1 month     - Elective
1 month     - OMM/Peripheral Vascular
1 month     - CT
2 months   - Catheterization Laboratory
1 month     - OMM/Peripheral Vascular
2 months   - Clinical/CCU
3 months   - On-site Elective
2 months   - Echo/Nuclear Non-Invasive
1 month     - CT
1 month     - Elective

Hospital Highlights:

Mercy Heart Center, a service of Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, offers a full spectrum of preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic services for the treatment of heart disease. For five consecutive years, Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa has been rated by Solucient as one of the top 100 heart hospitals in the nation.  In addition, for four years, Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa has been rated as one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation, based on superior clinical, operational and financial performance. 

Mercy Heart Center serves a 16-county area and has performed more than 4,000 open-heart surgeries and 17,000 cardiac cath lab procedures since opening in 1989. Over the past fifteen years, numerous services have been added to complement the care provided. Some of these include: Mobile echocardiography and vascular studies, Phase III cardiac rehab, Change of Heart, transesophageal and stress echocardiography, cardiovascular outreach clinics, teletransphonics EKG’s, ventricular assist device, coronary stenting, brachytherapy, off-pump cardiac surgery, enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP), Heart-line to Health outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program, outpatient infusion service for congestive heart failure, large outpatient device clinic, and the addition of Mercy Air Life providing rapid air transport for the critically ill.

As the premier rural health care delivery network in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, Mercy Health Network-North Iowa spans 14 counties across northern Iowa and consists of a secondary referral medical center, a network of nine rural primary care hospitals, Mercy Clinics (a primary care and specialty physician network), a home health agency, a hospice, a senior services agency, a regional referral laboratory, regional rehabilitation and diagnostic technology services, pharmacies, an emergency services network and a variety of other health care services.

Facts and Figures:

City Profile:

Mason City is located two hours north of Des Moines and two hours south of Minneapolis, The city is immediately adjacent to I-35 and provides easy ground access throughout the Midwest. Mason City is located nine miles from Clear Lake, one of Iowa’s largest recreational lake resorts. The community has an excellent school system with both public and parochial schools available. Both have been recognized nationally for their excellence. Other activities include a fine art museum, children’s and community theater, several fine dance studios, ice-skating and hockey facility, and regional orchestra.

For More Information, Contact:
Sue Theobald
Cardiology Fellowship Coordinator
Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa
1000 4th St. SW
Mason City, IA 50401
641-422-7138 or 1-800-433-3883 ext. 7138
theobals@mercyhealth.com

Dan Waters, D.O.
Director of Medical Education
Mercy Family Medicine Residency Program
1000 4th Street SW
Mason City, IA 50401
Telephone: 641-422-6730
FAX: 641-422-7983

Udpated February 2008