The VA Hospital also has up to date non-invasive, echocardiographic and electrophysiologic facilities. The Thornton Hospital of UCSD Medical Center is a 120 bed general medical and surgical hospital on the campus in La Jolla, adjacent to the Perlman Outpatient Facilities. This is a modern cardiac catheterization laboratory and intensive care unit. Mercy Hospital and Medical Center is a 500 bed private teaching hospital located in Hillcrest, four blocks from University Hospital. The Cardiology Department includes a very active research laboratory and three modern catheterization laboratories, one dedicated to electrophysiology and pacemakers.
Mercy has an innovative chest pain center for acute management of myocardial infarction.
The Department of Medicine presents weekly Medical Grand Rounds and Morbidity and Mortality Conferences at both UCSD and VA Medical Centers. The Cardiology Division presents a weekly cardiology lecture series at the UCSD Medical Center, cardiac graphics conferences at UCSD and the VA Medical Center, and a biweekly electrophysiology conference at the UCSD Medical Center. Weekly adult and pediatric cardiac catheterization conferences and cardiac transplantation conferences are held in conjunction with the Cardiothoracic Surgery Division. A weekly cardiology research conference presents ongoing research by UCSD faculty and visiting scientists. Trainees participate in small group seminars with the medical students and as instructors in the human and animal cardiovascular laboratories.