A shortage of heart doctors on Oahu has led to a three-year accredited cardiology fellowship under the University of Hawaii and The Queen's Medical Center.

The goal of the UH Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship program is to recruit, train and retain cardiologists in Hawaii because 80 percent of doctors end up practicing where they trained, according to a news release from Queen's.

An estimated 51 cardiologists now practice in Hawaii, half of whom are older than 54, it said.

“;We know from an ongoing workforce study that, based on the state population, Hawaii already is short more than 68 cardiologists,”; said Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine. “;Cardiology demand is expected to grow at a greater rate than many other specialties because of our aging citizens. This training opportunity demonstrates the commitment of our academic training partner, the Queen's Medical Center, to improve health care in Hawaii.”;

Two fellows have been selected for the program, to begin in July. Fellows are licensed medical doctors who completed medical school and post-graduate residency training in internal medicine.

The medical school will provide faculty support for the cardiology training at Queen's, which will cover the estimated startup and ongoing expenses of more than $2.3 million over three years. Queen's has recruited five cardiologists to serve as program faculty members.

The fellowship is the first in Hawaii approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the news release said.

The medical school has 15 residency and fellowship programs in graduate medical education, including surgical intensive care, neonatology, child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry and geriatric medicine.