Clinical Cardiac Electrophsyiology Fellowship

Program Overview

The Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is an advanced two-year subspecialty program designed to develop independent electrophysiologists with outstanding clinical, procedural, and academic skills. The program is based at a high-volume tertiary electrophysiology center at University Medical Center in Lubbock with an integrated network of satellite sites in Odessa and Midland, providing fellows with broad exposure to diverse patient populations and practice settings. We choose 1 fellow every other year.

Program Aims

• Prepare fellows for autonomous practice, Train fellows to provide safe, effective, patient-centered electrophysiology care across the spectrum of arrhythmia disorders, progressing to conditional independence in line with ACGME expectations for fellowship training.
• Leverage a high-volume, multi-site EP practice, Utilize the high procedural volume at the main EP center at Lubbock and affiliated satellite centers in Odessa and Midland to ensure robust hands-on experience in complex EP procedures, device management, and longitudinal arrhythmia care.
• Meet and exceed ACGME competencies, Structure the curriculum, supervision, and evaluation processes to ensure fellows achieve competency-based milestones in patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice.
• Respond to regional and community needs, Design and conduct the program in a manner consistent with the needs of West Texas and the Permian Basin communities, improving access to advanced electrophysiology care through both the main campus and satellite sites.
• Promote scholarship and quality improvement, Foster a culture of inquiry in which fellows participate in clinical research, quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives focused on arrhythmia care and EP services across the multi-site system.

Goals by ACGME Competency

Patient Care

• Provide compassionate, evidence-based care for patients with bradyarrhythmias, tachyarrhythmias, channelopathies, and device-related conditions in inpatient, outpatient, and procedural settings.
• Safely perform and interpret a wide range of EP procedures (including diagnostic EP studies, ablations, and device implants and revisions), achieving progressive responsibility and meeting or exceeding procedure volume benchmarks through exposure at the main EP lab and satellite centers in Odessa and Midland.

Medical Knowledge

• Demonstrate in-depth understanding of cardiac electrophysiology, including cardiac anatomy, cellular electrophysiology, arrhythmia mechanisms, mapping technologies, and device therapies.
• Apply current guidelines, consensus statements, and emerging evidence to the management of complex arrhythmias in diverse practice environments across the TTUHSC system.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

• Use clinical data from the high-volume EP practice to identify opportunities for improvement in procedural outcomes, workflow, and patient safety, and participate in structured quality improvement projects.
• Regularly seek and incorporate feedback from faculty at the primary and participating sites, using outcomes, registries, and case reviews to guide self-directed learning.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

• Communicate effectively with patients and families regarding indications, risks, benefits, and alternatives to EP procedures and device therapy, with attention to health literacy and cultural sensitivity across urban and regional satellite sites.
• Collaborate with referring physicians and multidisciplinary teams at Lubbock, Odessa, and Midland to coordinate care, provide consultative input, and support smooth transitions across care settings.

Professionalism

• Demonstrate accountability, ethical behavior, and responsiveness to patient needs across all training sites, including adherence to professional and institutional standards.
• Model integrity and respect in interactions with patients, families, and health care team members, including at satellite locations where fellows may serve as the primary EP contact.

Systems-Based Practice

• Understand and effectively utilize the resources of a multi-site academic health system, including telehealth and shared protocols, to deliver coordinated EP care across Lubbock, Odessa, and Midland.
• Recognize and address system-level factors—such as geography, access to specialty care, and social determinants of health—that affect arrhythmia outcomes in West Texas and the Permian Basin, and participate in initiatives that improve equity and access.

The Electrophysiology (EP) Fellowship at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is anchored in a high-volume EP program with two dedicated EP laboratories in Lubbock and one EP laboratory in Odessa, providing a broad and intensive procedural experience.

Fellows are primarily based in Lubbock for procedures and receive comprehensive exposure to all major ablation modalities, including supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and complex substrate ablations. The EP labs are fully equipped with all three major mapping platforms—Biosense Webster, Boston Scientific/Opel, and the Affera Medtronic mapping system—ensuring that fellows develop proficiency across industry-standard technologies. In addition to ablation procedures, the program performs lead extraction, left atrial appendage occlusion (Watchman), and manages approximately 3,000 cardiac implantable electronic devices in clinic, supported by three satellite clinics that broaden fellows’ longitudinal and community-based experience. Over the two-year fellowship, trainees participate in more than 500 EP procedures on average, with the clear goal of providing intensive, hands-on training that prepares graduates for independent, high-skill electrophysiology practice.