To Whom It May Concern:

We the cardiovascular physicians from the New Brunswick community are writing to petition against the downsizing of the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Cardiovascular Fellowship program.

Patients with cardiovascular disease are among the most critically ill patients in the hospital. By decreasing the number of fellowship positions, there will be delays in patient care and increased potential for adverse outcomes. The cardiovascular fellows provide many essential services around the clock including but not limited to responding to Code MIs, EKG and telemetry interpretation, STAT echocardiograms, emergent procedures, and management of LVAD/heart transplant patients. We would experience a marked decrease in the availability of these services if there was a decrease in the number of fellows.

Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a highly respected institution of academic excellence and research. Frequently, the cardiovascular fellows serve key role as educators to residents and medical students when it comes to cardiovascular disease. They also encourage many of the students and residents to participate in research and attend nationwide conferences. It would be a great disservice to the future physicians in our institution to deprive them of opportunities for education and clinical inquiry.

The state of New Jersey has always been at the forefront of healthcare in the United States. We provide care to a diverse community of patients with excellent outcomes. The current trainees are our future physicians. Many of the cardiovascular fellows graduate to join practices across the state of New Jersey where they will provide decades of care and leadership to our community. As physicians, we have a responsibility to not only focus on the present but also be training our future colleagues and successors to ensure a seamless transition in care.

We urge you to strongly reconsider downsizing the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Cardiovascular Fellowship as this would significantly impact patient care in the hospital, medical education, and the future of healthcare in the state of New Jersey.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.