Adult Congenital Heart Disease Fellowship
Summary
-
Application dates:
1st July – 1st September 2025
- Grant:
€10,000
- Location:
Amsterdam and Leiden, The Netherlands
- Duration:
6 months
- Start Date:
From January 2026
Fellowship Overview
This fellowship will take place within the Centrum voor Aangeboren Hartafwijkingen Amsterdam Leiden (CAHAL) which is a renowned high volume center that grew from a successful 25-year partnership between two university hospitals in Leiden and Amsterdam.
As part of this 6-month Fellowship Programme, the successful Fellow will:
Get full exposure to 3-4 surgical ACHD cases/week and 1-2 multidisciplinary heart team meetings per week. Regularly, ACHD percutaneous and/or hybrid interventions are performed.
Amongst many other diagnosis, state of art treatment strategies will be discussed and demonstrated for:
- Tetralogy of Fallot, including interventional and hybrid procedures for the treatment of ventricular arrhythmias.
- Aberrant coronary artery origin from aorta and pulmonary artery.
- (Neo-) aortic root aneurysm, including valve sparing root replacement and personalized external aortic root support applied for several congenital diagnosis and inheritable thoracic aortic disease (HTAD).
- Valve repair for bicuspid aortic valve and AV-valves in atrioventricular canal defect.
- Treatment of LVOTO/congenital aortic stenosis with all modalities for aortic root replacement including supported Ross and Ross PEARS.
Funding
We offer a bursary of €10,000 to help with the living and travel costs associated with this Fellowship. EACTS will also contribute towards the cost of your attendance at the 2025 EACTS Annual Meeting.
How the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Fellowship will advance your surgical education
- Obtain the knowledge and clinical judgment necessary to select patients for the full spectrum of ACHD procedures according to international guidelines.
- Obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to perform a selection of ACHD surgical procedures.
- Understand the organisational requirements to run a state of art ACHD programme.
- Insight into innovative treatment modalities and strategies for a selection of frequent ACHD diagnosis.
- Be involved in a specific research programme (optional).
- Submit a paper on the topic of ACHD surgery to the EACTS Annual Meeting
Application and Selection
In order to apply for this fellowship there are some essential criteria you must meet:
- Be an EACTS member
- Be a registered cardiac/ cardiothoracic/ cardiovascular surgeon with an interest in congenital heart disease.
- Be Fluent in English.
Applicants who possess the following desirable criteria would be of particular interest:
- Possibility of applying the knowledge and abilities acquired during the fellowship in home practice
In order to complete your application, you must submit the following documents*:
- Letter of interest detailing the way in which you meet the above application criteria, along with your career aspirations, as well as how you believe the Fellowship will impact your career.
- Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications.
- Summary of operative experience in congenital heart disease and ACHD in particular
- Letter of support from a current supervisor
*Please ensure that all documents submitted are written in English, and that they are submitted either as word documents or PDF. We do not accept images or handwritten applications. We are unable to provide advice or guidance about visa applications, so please ensure that you understand the visa requirements before applying for this Fellowship.
Evaluation and Feedback
There will be periodic communication with the Fellowship director to ensure feedback from and toward the trainee. At the end of the Fellowship, the Fellows will produce a full report on their experience based on the Francis Fontan Fund Committee guidelines.
Terms and Conditions
- You cannot apply for more than one fellowship in a single year.
- You cannot apply for a fellowship if you have been awarded one in the last two years.
- If you do not submit all requested documents your application will not be reviewed.
- If you do not follow the application guidelines (document format, essential criteria etc) your application will not be reviewed.
- If you submit any false information your application will be immediately void (regardless of application stage).
- Once your fellowship start date is confirmed, 80% of the fellowship grant will be transferred to you.
- On completion of the fellowship and receipt of your final report, the remaining 20% of the fellowship grant will be transferred to you.
- Should your fellowship include third party fees, EACTS will pay this directly from your initial 80% grant payment, with the remaining balance being transferred to you.
- If for any reason you find you are unable to complete or attend training, you should notify EACTS at your earliest convenience. If the grant payment has already been made, you will be asked to repay the monies received based on incurred costs to date. Proof of expenses will be required.
The Francis Fontan Fellowship programme fosters the continued growth and development of cardiothoracic surgeons by providing opportunities to learn from the highest standards of cardiothoracic care and gain knowledge of novel techniques and innovative technologies used by other institutes around the world. Successful applicants will use the valuable learnings and collaborative relationships developed through their Fellowship to further the progress of cardiothoracic surgery at their home institution and support the delivery of the highest quality patient care.
- The fellowship needs to be completed within the year that it was awarded.
- Awardees need to be in full time employment throughout the fellowship.
NB. The Francis Fontan Fund Committee will consider any fellow who falls outside of this condition on a case-by-case basis. All decisions are final, and the Committee are not obliged to share the reasoning behind any decision made.
- Grant: