Courses and enrolment
Who are these courses for?
The teaching is written for people who already work with, or are training to work with, patients who have heart disease: postgraduate residents in internal medicine, cardiology trainees, interventional fellows, physicians in district hospitals who manage cardiac presentations without a cardiologist on site, and specialist nurses and technicians in coronary care, catheterisation laboratories and echocardiography rooms. It assumes a clinical vocabulary and is not patient education.
Are the courses delivered entirely online?
Yes. Everything is delivered online, so you can take part from wherever you are practising without travelling to a venue or taking a block of leave. You need a reliable internet connection and a device that can play video and open documents.
Are classes live, or can I study at my own pace?
Both. A course typically combines live online classes, where you can put questions to the teacher and the rest of the group in real time, with self-paced modules you work through in your own hours. The self-paced material carries the structured content; the live sessions are where reasoning is argued out loud and where the questions that only occur to you at the bedside get answered.
What is an unfolding clinical case?
It is a teaching case released in stages, the way a patient actually presents. You are given the presentation and asked what you would do; the next stage gives you the investigation you asked for, or the complication you did not expect, and asks again. Because you commit before you see what happened, the case tests judgement rather than recall.
How do I enrol in a course?
Open the course you are interested in from the Courses section of this site. Each course page sets out what the course covers, how it is structured and what is expected of participants, and enrolment is completed from that page. If you are unsure which of two courses fits your stage of training, send an enquiry through the contact page on this site describing your role and what you are trying to strengthen.
Can I take a course from outside India?
Yes. The courses are online and are taken by clinicians in a range of countries. Live sessions are held at a stated time, so check the timing against your own time zone before you enrol, and weigh how much of the course is live against how much is self-paced.
Course books and bundles
What are the course books?
The course books are the set reading that sits behind the teaching. They are written to be used at the bedside and in the laboratory rather than read cover to cover, and they carry the detail a live class has no time to work through: the sequence of steps, the numbers, the differential, the thing to check before you commit. Courses name specific books as reading so that class time can be spent on reasoning rather than transcription.
Where are the course books listed and where do I buy them?
The titles are listed on this site so you can see what belongs to each subject area before you decide. The purchase itself is handled through cardiologybooks.com, which is where orders, payment and delivery of the books are managed.
Do I have to buy the books to take a course?
The books are set reading and the teaching is built around them, so participants who read alongside the course get more out of it. Each course page names the books it draws on, so you can check what you already own before ordering.
What is the difference between a book bundle and an exam bundle?
A book bundle groups titles that belong together clinically, so a reader building a library for a subject area can take the set rather than assembling it title by title. An exam bundle is organised around a candidate preparing for a postgraduate examination, and gathers the recall, reasoning and question practice that examination expects. Both are listed on this site.
Certificates, access and technical requirements
Will I receive a certificate?
Where a course includes a certificate, that is stated on the course page along with what you have to complete to receive one. Whether a certificate is recognised by a particular employer or registration body is a matter for that body, so if you are taking a course to satisfy a specific requirement, confirm what that body accepts before enrolling.
How long do I keep access to the course material?
Access arrangements are set out on the page for each course. Check that section before you enrol if continuing access matters to you.
What if I miss a live class?
Live sessions sit within a wider structure of self-paced modules and set reading, so missing one does not put the course out of reach. If you know you will be on duty during a session, say so through the contact page and ask what is available for that class.
Mentorship and support
What is the mentorship programme?
Mentorship is a separate arrangement from the courses. Where a course teaches a subject to a group, mentorship is directed at one clinician's own practice: the cases you find hard, the decisions you are unsure about, and the direction of your training. It suits people who have done the reading and now want a considered second opinion on how they are actually working.
How do I apply for mentorship?
Applications are made through the cardiology mentorship page. Apply there rather than through the course enrolment route, and set out your current role, your stage of training and what you want to work on.
My question is not answered here. Who do I ask?
Use the contact page on this site. Enquiries about enrolment, about which course or book fits your stage of training, and about problems with access to material are all handled there. Book orders are handled through cardiologybooks.com, and mentorship applications through the mentorship page. Please note that questions about the management of an individual patient cannot be answered through this site.