Every Heartbeat Matters Valve Fellowship

Program Overview

The AATS Foundation is proud to have received a grant from Edwards Lifesciences Foundation for this fellowship as part of its Every Heartbeat Matters (EHM) initiative. Between 2014-2020, the EHM community has impacted the global burden of heart valve disease by educating, screening and treating more than 1.7 million underserved people, surpassing the initial goal of 1 million. The next phase of this initiative is focused on improving the lives of 2.5 million additional underserved structural heart and critical care patients by the end of 2025. "Underserved" refers to individuals who have a health disparity as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lack awareness of, or access to, medically appropriate heart valve-related healthcare.

This fellowship’s aim is to enhance heart valve disease knowledge and skill training for surgeons around the world who treat individuals with limited access to healthcare. Surgeons may apply for up to three months of study, visiting a host institution for advanced VHD training and education to acquire skills that can be clinically implemented in their daily practice.

Curriculum

The Fellowship curriculum will cover non-thrombogenic valve surgery, focusing on advanced training in valve reconstruction and use of biological valve replacements (surgical and transcatheter) for:

• Degenerative mitral valve disease
• Rheumatic mitral valve disease
• Aortic stenosis/regurgitation
• Functional tricuspid regurgitation
• Endocarditis

Training Center

The applicant is responsible for identifying a training center whose curriculum includes a sufficient amount of mitral, aortic and tricuspid valve surgery to fulfill his/her Fellowship goals. S/he must include a letter of support from the institution chosen

View Every Heartbeat Matters Valve Fellowship recipients

Application Process

• Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae with a full description of their surgical experience.
• If serving in a hospital/medical school — a letter from chief/chair.
• A letter of support from the proposed training center. *
• A detailed plan outline for the proposed training, including a timeline.
• A one-page narrative describing learning goals while at the proposed training center, as well as the relationship of the planned course of study to his/her prior work and professional goals.
• A detailed outline of his/her current practice with an estimate of the number of underserved patients s/he treats annually, which includes the types of diseases currently treated, as well as an estimate of the number of VHD patients s/he may serve after training is completed.

*For those looking to send letters of support for the candidate directly to the AATS Foundation, please email admin@aatsfoundation.org.

Review Process

The AATS Foundation’s Cardiac Scholarship Committee will review all applications and recommend recipients to be presented to AATS Foundation Board of Directors for a final decision.

Applications will be graded on all aspects of the award criteria. All applicants will be notified with an official letter from the AATS Foundation within 2-3 months of the program deadline. Should you have any questions regarding your status prior to receiving this notification, please contact admin@aatsfoundation.org.

Depending on the intended time spent at the host institution as described in the application, a selection of one of the following two levels will be awarded:

• Level One: Awards of up to $7,500 for no more than one month of study.
• Level Two: Awards of up to $15,000 for 1-3 three months of study.

**Please note that any award payments made to foreign individuals may be subject to federal tax withholding of up to 30% if a recipient is traveling to the United States.

Supported By

In 2024, Angel Heart International generously supported this program to fund additional award recipients. We are appreciative of their support and generosity.