Sals Star of the Week: (introduced by Colette Seifer)
As the pandemic continues, we have been challenged with maintaining physician coverage for the inpatient cardiology units, requiring back-up schedules to maintain coverage. Despite this, there have been times recently that we have needed to find physicians, at short notice to provide coverage. Such an event took place last week-end/early last week. I would like to sincerely thank Kunal Minhas, Shuangbo Liu, and Liane Arcinas for stepping up with minimal notice and providing care to our patients and to recognize them as Sal’s Stars of the Week for their outstanding service!
Kunal is an interventional cardiologist with Cardiac Sciences since 2008, as well as Director of the Cath Lab and attends on CCU. Shangbo is also an interventional cardiologist, joining St Boniface in 2020 and attends on the CTU’s and also is an integral member of the ACS Network. Liane Arcinas is completing the final year of her general cardiology residency and is moving on to Calgary later this year for a Fellowship in Electrophysiology.
So again, thanks to Dr’s Liu, Minhas and Arcinas for keeping our patients safe!
Coming Up April 29: Sal’s Star of the Week People’s Choice Award.
Sal’s Star are mostly chosen based on the selection of each of the PTMs and Medical Directors of CSMB over a 3 month cycle. However, once each cycle we leave the choice up to members of the CSMB community. This round’s People’s Choice Award is slated for April 29. Do you know someone you feel should be recognized for their contributions? Someone who has gone the extra mile, stepped up when needed or just an amazing individual you want to give a shout out to……. If so, please fill out a nomination form (appended) and send to us (with a picture) by April 25!
Program Highlight of the Month – CSMB Residency Programs
Cardiac Surgery Training Program
The University of Manitoba Cardiac Surgery residency program accepts 1 resident every 1-2 years. We routinely receive applications from all across the country and are continually impressed with the high caliber of applicants that our program attracts. This is without a doubt attributable to the reputation that we have built as a program whose strengths are evident through the successes of our residents, all of whom have achieved at a high level throughout their training and have gone on to establish accomplished careers as staff surgeons.
Last year, Dr. Ivan Zelentsov and Dr. Carly Lodewyks wrote and passed their Royal College examinations. Both went on to enroll in highly competitive and sought-after fellowships in complex mitral valve repair (Dr. Zelentsov) at Bristol Heart Institute and in advanced cardiothoracic transplantation (Dr. Lodewyks) at Duke University Hospital.
Chief resident Dr. Rick Muller Moran (PGY-5) returned to clinical service this summer after completing a Masters of Science in Experimental Surgery with a focus in surgical education at McGill University. He will be writing his Royal College examination in March of 2023.
Dr. Weiang Yan (PGY-4) and Dr. Rachel Eikelboom (PGY-3) are both completing PhD programs at the University of Manitoba in Physiology and Pathophysiology and at McMaster University in Health Research Methodology, respectively. Both have received multiple awards and accolades for their work, which has been recognized at the local, national and international levels.
Dr. Charles Yin (PGY-1) joined our section this year from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario. He previously obtained a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, also at the University of Western Ontario.
Additionally, Dr. Michael Troncone has recently joined our service as an elective resident from Laval University in Quebec.
Our current Cardiac Surgery Trainees. Clockwise from top left: Dr. Rick Muller Moran, Dr. Weiang Yan, Dr. Charles Yin, Dr. Rachel Eikelboom
Interventional Cardiology Training Program
The interventional cardiology training program is the first program at the University of Manitoba to obtain AFC (Area of Focused Competency) accreditation from the RPCSC (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons).
The fellowship is a two-year program for those who have completed training in general cardiology and wish to specialize in interventional cardiology. We accept 1-2 trainees per year from a pool of 10-20 applicants, including Canadian and international applicants.
The Cath lab program at St. Boniface hospital is one of the busiest in the country allowing trainees to be involved in a large number of procedures of varying complexity with ample opportunities to develop interventional competencies and skills. The program recently underwent its first external accreditation with the Royal College and achieved full accreditation with glowing reviews.
On completion of training, trainees become diplomates of the Royal College. Former trainees continue to use the skills obtained to provide excellent care to patients across the world including in UK, Pakistan and Canada.
Dr. Umar Ismail (pictured) is one of two of our IC residents.
Adult Cardiology Training Program
We have 9 trainees currently in the program. Out of many applicants, we typically accept between 2-4 residents into Adult Cardiology.
C3 – Kirsten Marshall, Phyllis Sin, Liane Arcinas
C2 – Hilary Bews, Evan Wiens, Anas Alzahrani
C1 – Sandeep Krishnan, Chris Nolan, Laura Albak
Incoming C1s – Samuel Su, Michael McGregor, Shekoofeh (Shey) Saboktakin
Education
- Residents are actively involved in teaching, both at the undergraduate level and the post-graduate level.
- Adult Cardiology in Winnipeg is recognized as a well-organized program Nationally. We are actively involved in the RCPSC Specialty Committee and Exam Committee
- Dr. Clarence Khoo is the chair of the Competence Committee
Research
- Residents, in collaboration with staff, are involved in all research, both clinical and translational
- Dr. Evan Wiens was recently awarded an MMSF Operating Grant for his work looking at ticagrelor/clopidogrel post intervention. This is a program first for a trainee to achieve
- Residents present locally at all research days, as well as Nationally (eg. Canadian Cardiovascular Congress) and Internationally (eg. American Heart Association)
- Residents get 3 dedicated months of research during their 3 years in addition to up to 5 months of electives to help tailor their research.
Clinical
- Cardiology residents rotate through all services, and are the primary contact for most clinical consultative services for ACCU and ward cardiology
- There is always a cardiology resident, as well as a junior (off service) resident on call every evening, in house
Cardiac Anesthesia Training Program
The 1-year cardiac anesthesia fellowship program accepts 1 or 2 fellows per year, with applicants spanning the globe. We offer a program with a nearly exclusive focus on cardiac procedures and intensive care and a dedicated team of cardiac anesthesiologists who are passionate about teaching and providing exceptional clinical care. The fellows take part in 2 academic seminar series, the first dedicated to key cardiac anesthesia topics and the second involves all cardiac sciences trainees, offering a broader focus and an opportunity for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration. Fellows have the opportunity to participate in ongoing research within the section or develop their own research interests. By the end of the year, all trainees prepare for and complete the National Board of Echocardiography Perioperative Transesophageal Examination. This year we look forward to welcoming Dr Megan Deck (Regina) and Dr Ganesh Kumar Munirathinam (Chandigarh) in July.
This Week’s Faculty Publications
Ming Hao Guo, Louis-Mathieu Stevens, Michael W A Chu, Ali Hage, Jennifer Chung, Ismail El-Hamamsy, Francois Dagenais, Mark Peterson, Christine Herman, John Bozinovski, Michael C Moon, Michael H Yamashita, Bindu Bittira, Darrin Payne, Munir Boodhwani, Canadian Thoracic Aortic Collaborative (CTAC) Risk score for arch reconstruction under circulatory arrest with hypothermia: The ARCH score J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2022 Mar 3;S0022-5223(22)00236-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2022.02.042. Online ahead of print.
Jeffrey B MacLeod, Kenneth D’Souza, Christie Aguiar, Craig D Brown, Zlatko Pozeg, Christopher White, Rakesh C Arora, Jean-François Légaré, Ansar Hassan Fast tracking in cardiac surgery: is it safe? J Cardiothorac Surg. 2022 Apr 6;17(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s13019-022-01815-9.
Hellmuth R Muller Moran, Rakesh C Arora Fighting against ‘cancel culture’ in cardiac surgery Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2021 Dec 27;61(1):233-234. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezab304.
Justin A Ezekowitz, Eloisa Colin-Ramirez, Heather Ross, Jorge Escobedo, Peter Macdonald, Richard Troughton, Clara Saldarriaga, Wendimagegn Alemayehu, Finlay A McAlister, JoAnne Arcand, John Atherton, Robert Doughty, Milan Gupta, Jonathan Howlett, Shahin Jaffer, Andrea Lavoie, Mayanna Lund, Thomas Marwick, Robert McKelvie, Gordon Moe, A Shekhar Pandey, Liane Porepa, Miroslaw Rajda, Haunnah Rheault, Jitendra Singh, Mustafa Toma, Sean Virani, Shelley Zieroth, SODIUM-HF Investigators Reduction of dietary sodium to less than 100 mmol in heart failure (SODIUM-HF): an international, open-label, randomised, controlled trial Lancet. 2022 Apr 1;S0140-6736(22)00369-5. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00369-5. Online ahead of print.
Asem Suliman, Weiang Yan, Michael H Yamashita, Anthony D Krentz, Aizeddin Mhanni, Philip J Garber A previously undescribed pathogenic variant in FBN1 gene causing Marfan syndrome: a case report Eur Heart J Case Rep. 2022 Feb 10;6(3):ytac063. doi: 10.1093/ehjcr/ytac063. eCollection 2022 Mar.
Charlotte C McEwen, Takhliq Amir, Yuan Qiu, Jack Young, Kevin Kennedy, Hilary P Grocott, Hessam Kashani, David Mazer, Scott Brudney, Morvarid Kavosh, Eric Jacobsohn, Anne Vedel, Eugene Wang, Richard P Whitlock, Emilie P Belley-Coté, Jessica Spence Morbidity and mortality in patients managed with high compared with low blood pressure targets during on-pump cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Can J Anaesth. 2022 Mar;69(3):374-386. doi: 10.1007/s12630-021-02171-3. Epub 2022 Jan 10.
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