Smidt Heart Institute Membership

Membership will be reviewed and renewed annually, based on membership criteria.

Initial and renewal applications will be reviewed by the Heart Instiute Membership Committee, and recommendations for membership or denial of membership will be provided to the Heart Instiute Director.  The Heart Instiute Director has final authority on approval, disapproval, or termination of membership.  Final approval and notification to the candidate for membership and status will be provided by the Heart Instiute Director.

Active, approved appointments in the Cedars-Sinai Professoriate (full-time faculty or the clinical Professoriate) will suffice to fulfill the criteria for Heart Instiute membership if all other considerations apply.

To apply for membership at the Smidt Heart Institute, please complete and submit the electronic membership application form.

• Adheres to nationally-accepted high standards of quality and ethical conduct in medical practice and/or research.
• Demonstrated commitment to research, teaching, educational and/or training programs related to cardiovascular disease.
• Regularly attends and participates in Heart Institute sponsored seminars, committees, forums, and/or is a member in good standing of a Heart Institute Center of Excellence.
• If clinically active, participates in Heart Institute's clinical integration and quality improvement initiatives by providing data related to clinical services and outcomes including outpatient services not rendered at Cedars- Sinai when requested and as deemed appropriate by Heart Institute. While hard-copy information may be requested from time to time, it is expected that data will be submitted to Heart Institute via electronic medical record (EMR) applications or other electronic interfaces. Heart Institute will use its best efforts to assist members with the transmission of these data.

In addition to the core requirements above, Heart Institute Members must meet all of the requirements for at least one of the following categories:

Candidate is active (present or within the past 12 months) full or part-time faculty of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in heart-related activities, typically within the divisions of adult cardiology, pediatric cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and cardiac imaging. The Heart Institute Director may also extend Member status to faculty of other departments that contribute directly to Heart Institute (e.g. cardiac pathology, vascular surgery, vascular intervention, emergency medicine and cardiac anesthesia).

A candidate is on the Medical Staff with the expertise to enrich the overall interdisciplinary research environment of the Heart Institute. Candidate meets at least one of the following eligibility criteria:

• Conducts clinical research as a principal or co-investigator of Cedars-Sinai IRB-approved therapeutic clinical trials or accrues significant numbers of patients to such clinical trials (minimum of 5 patients per year).
• Is a principal or co-investigator of an active Cedars-Sinai IRB / IACUC approved research protocol who systematically contributes to the research as a key collaborator (for example, procures clinical specimens, provides diagnostic expertise, directs laboratory experiments, etc. ).

A candidate is on the Medical Staff and is board certified/eligible in their relevant field of medical practice. Special exceptions: (e.g., cardiologists certified in other countries but not in the U.S. but also F.A.C.C. and/or having other qualifications felt to be of equal certification) can be presented by the Heart Institute Membership Committee to the Heart Institute Director for special approval. Candidate enriches the clinical and academic environments of the Heart Institute through active, enthusiastic teaching participation within Heart Institute. Qualifying teaching activities include:

• Publication of academic articles/abstracts
• Invited lectures at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Participation in training programs (medical student/resident/fellow teaching, making Cedars-Sinai patients available to medical student/resident/fellow teaching programs and services where possible and reasonable)

Candidate is actively enrolled in Heart Institute fellowship, housestaff or post-doctoral training programs.

Heart Institute seeks to recognize the unique relationship it has with individuals who do not otherwise qualify for membership, and with outside institutions that serve as true partners through their extraordinary contributions to Heart Institute’s research, patient care and/or educational programs. Heart Institute Affiliate status can be achieved through either of the following:

Institutional Affiliates are outside hospitals and health systems (and their approved/designated faculty/medical staff members) who have executed a formal "Affiliation Agreement" with Heart Institute.

Members and Affiliates are expected to contribute to Heart Institute through support of and participation in Heart Institute activities and to:

• Support Heart Institute’s mission, goals and priorities.
• Demonstrate collaboration and interaction with other Heart Institute investigators and inform the Director and/or program leader of cardiovascular-related intramural research proposals and extramural grant applications in which the member is or plans to be involved in order to better plan and implement programs and to document Heart Institute’s research base.
• If applicable, provide Heart Institute with an annual summary of research activities and an updated NIH bio-sketch (including all publications and research support) and list Heart Institute as an affiliation on all publications, as applicable and as may be approved by Heart Institute.
• Participate in Heart Institute inquiries and research audits as needed.
• Serve on program and review committees as needed, subject to reasonable limits on total committee service at any given time.
• Provide information to Heart Institute on Cedars-Sinai-based cardiovascular studies (including up-to-date patient accrual information and external audit reports) regardless of whether or not Heart Institute shared resources have been utilized.
• Notify Heart Institute leadership prior to external research audits.

Members and Affiliates may be eligible for participation in various Heart Institute initiatives including but not limited to the following:

• Eligible to apply for targeted funding, development funds and interim research support as available if offered by Heart Institute (funding and support to be allocated to Cedars-Sinai and/or Heart Institute research and development accounts, at Cedars-Sinai’s and Heart Institute’s discretion).
• Eligible to participate in planning for Heart Institute program development.
• Eligible to participate in Heart Institute-sponsored educational seminars, special educational events and educational retreats (subject to Cedars-Sinai’s policies on pricing, support, etc.).
• Eligible for support to facilitate participation in Heart Institute’s clinical integration and quality improvement initiatives (subject to Cedars-Sinai’s policies on pricing, support, etc.).
• Eligible for inclusion in Heart Institute’s marketing, posting and features on website and other materials developed by Heart Institute.
• Assistance with fundraising activity for Heart Institute-designated program areas.

Membership will be reviewed and renewed annually, based on membership criteria.

Initial and renewal applications will be reviewed by the Heart Institute Membership Committee, and recommendations for membership or denial of membership will be provided to the Heart Institute Director.  The Heart Institute Director has final authority on approval, disapproval, or termination of membership.  Final approval and notification to the candidate for membership and status will be provided by the Heart Institute Director.

Active, approved appointments in the Cedars-Sinai Professoriate (full-time faculty or the clinical Professoriate) will suffice to fulfill the criteria for Heart Institute membership if all other considerations apply.

The Membership Committee will consist of at least three members appointed by the Heart Institute Director. At least one member of the voluntary medical staff will be appointed to the committee. The Heart Institute Executive Director shall serve as an administrative liaison for the Membership Committee and will attend committee meetings.

All members should use the affiliation “Smidt Heart Institute” followed by other Cedars-Sinai Medical Center titles as may be applicable. Exclusive use of Heart Institute affiliation/Cedars-Sinai titles is preferred. If titles from multiple institutions are used, it is expected that Heart Institute/Cedars-Sinai titles will be listed first. Use of this citation and signature block reflects upon the Heart Institute and should be reserved for appropriate correspondence in compliance with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center policies. Misuse of the citation is grounds for termination of Heart Institute membership and other applicable sanctions in compliance with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center policies.

Membership shall have a renewable term of one (1) year and may be terminated by Heart Institute in its sole discretion for failure to meet the applicable membership requirements.

If you are interested in applying for Heart Institute membership or affiliation, please complete and submit the electronic application form.