Cardiac CT eLearning - Part A

	Earn a certificate of completion
	Medium
	Approximately 13 hours to complete
	100% online
	Self-paced
	English

About the course:

Cardiac Computed Tomography (CCT) has now become an essential part of the specialist training programme in both Clinical Radiology and Cardiology in UK with the requirement of training to an independent level. This has been possible with continuous advances in the field of CCT with the incorporation of its use as the first line of investigation in patients with stable chest pain by NICE (CG95), European, and most recently the American guidelines. However, cardiac CT is now also used for a large variety of clinical indications to exclude CAD, planning for structural heart disease, congenital heart disease, pericardial disease, and cardiac neoplasms.

In the UK, the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (BSCI) and Cardiac CT (BSCT) have laid down a detailed curriculum for training in CCT and different levels (Levels 1, 2 initial, 2 clinical practitioner, and 3). The training for all levels includes didactic learning in CCT physics, techniques, and clinical applications equivalent to 16 hours of CPD besides a requirement of hands-on training for levels 2 and 3.

This course is designed for trainees (as well as consultants) in both Radiology and Cardiology (and for anyone else interested) to provide a comprehensive didactic learning about physics, radiation dose optimisation, scan performance, and clinical applications in Cardiac CT, as per BSCI/ AHA guidance. The complete list of topics that are covered are included in the course catalogue. The learning material for each topic has been developed by expert Radiographers, Medical Physicists, Consultant Radiologists and Cardiologists, involved in the practice of cardiac CT.

The current course (Part A) covers the majority of the topics completion of which will lead to the award of a CME certificate of 13 CPD points in accordance with the Royal College of Radiologist (RCR) CPD scheme. Trainees will have to complete this part of the course to obtain their certificate which they use as a record of their CPD activity on their learning journal.

The rest of the topics will be covered in Part B of the course which is still under development.

Format of Lectures

Each lecture consists of:

Recorded video of the topic
Quiz with 10-15 questions. You have to obtain 80% passing marks before you can move to the next lecture.
Lecture feedback
Additional resources: relevant guidelines and references

Hands-on Training:

The CCT procedures are being performed at all main GSTT (Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust) and KHP (King’s Health Partnership) sites. For the hands-on training, the trainees are encouraged to do so at their own hospital under the guidance of their Cardiac CT consultants. If there is a particular aspect of CCT training that is not available at your hospital (e.g., congenital or TAVI CT), please discuss it with your Cardiac CT consultant supervisor, so that it can be arranged at one of the other hospitals.

About the authors:

	Mr Tarun Mittal I am a Consultant Cardiac Radiologist based at Harefield Hospital, a tertiary heart and lung hospital. I trained in cardiac imaging for 3 years before becoming a consultant in 2002. My main areas of interest are cardiac CT and MR and was instrumental in establishing and developing these services in the hospital. I am actively involved in training, teaching, and research in different aspects of these modalities.
	Dr Carole Ridge Dr Carole Ridge is an academic radiologist from Ireland. She specialises in cardiothoracic imaging and interventional radiology. She joined Royal Brompton Hospital in 2017.
	Dr Evangelos Skondras Dr Evangelos Skondras studied medicine at the University of Patras, Greece. He completed his training in radiology in 2012 at the University Hospital of Patras. In 2013, he moved to the UK for cardiothoracic imaging training at Harefield Hospital and in 2016 became a consultant cardiothoracic radiologist at Harefield Hospital.
	Dr Andrew Shah Andrew is a medical physicist and Head of Radiation Protection at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. He leads the radiation safety and protection for several hospitals and Trusts including Harefield Hospital, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Foundation Trust, and West Hertfordshire NHS Foundation Trust. He has particular interest in radiation safety with cardiac imaging procedures including cardiac CT.
	Dr Mona Sriharan Dr Sriharan is a Consultant Radiologist based at Princess Royal University Hospital, part of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Mona Sriharan completed a Pan-London Cardiac CT Fellowship in 2011, after which, she received the Constance Thornton Research Fellowship grant to undertake a dose optimisation project in Paediatric Cardiac CT. She is a regular Cardiac CT trainer at the Imaging Village in the British Cardiovascular Society Annual Conference. She has been a Consultant Cardiothoracic Radiologist for 10 years at a busy district general hospital setting in South London. She is a Clinical Transformation Lead for her Trust and also teaches on service and quality improvement to undergraduates, London radiology registrars and reporting radiographers.

	Dr. Alexandros Papachristidis, MD, PhD, MRCP (Lon) Dr. Alexandros Papachristidis qualified from Athens Medical School and completed a fellowship in echocardiography and a PhD course in Cardiac Imaging at King’s College London. He was appointed Consultant Cardiologist at King’s College Hospital in 2018 and has a leading role in the echocardiography department.
	Dr Saeed Mirsadraee MD, PhD, MRCS, FRCPE, FRCR Dr Mirsadraee is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Radiologist based at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals. He is the lead expert for Aortic and Valve CT in the Trust with also expertise in other areas of cardiac CT.