Kristina Skinner, DO, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Class of 2020, Interventional Cardiology Class of 2021
Why did you decide to come to University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center for your cardiovascular fellowship?
I completed internal medicine residency here at the University of Arizona. Throughout those three years, I formed strong relationships with the cardiology division, which ultimately led to my decision to continue and stay for cardiology fellowship.
The cardiology attendings are very approachable, innovative, and dedicated to teaching. I knew this program offered strong mentorship, learning and research opportunities in a variety of areas, and would prepare me very well for a career in cardiology.
Tucson is also a beautiful place, and I knew I would be very happy here.
What do you enjoy most about this fellowship program?
There are many aspects of this program that I enjoy, but the one that stands out are the close relationships I’ve been able to have with the cardiology attendings and my colleagues. We cardiology fellows work hard, but we have fun together! And we grow so much in so many ways every year throughout training. We also get a good balance of independence, but yet great support from the attendings. I would also like to highlight our patient diversity, and we get to see a lot of interesting cases.
What are your future plans and how is the fellowship program preparing you for your next chapter?
I am pursuing interventional cardiology fellowship, and I’m really excited that I’ll be staying here for that. Dr. Sweitzer, Dr. Indik, and the interventional attendings have all been incredibly supportive of my goal of pursuing this next chapter. Here, we have interventional, EP, and advanced heart failure fellowships. We also have excellent imaging staff, and so I was able to really get a strong grasp of all different cardiology areas. This helped a lot, as I was able to figure out what I liked and liked the most, which helped me decide on my future plans.