Glossary
Cardiologist Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential cardiologist terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key cardiologist vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in cardiologist training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Ablation
- Destroying tissue causing arrhythmia.
- Angina
- Chest pain from reduced blood flow.
- Arrhythmia
- Abnormal heart rhythm.
- Atrial fibrillation
- A common irregular rhythm.
- Catheterization
- Threading a catheter to the heart.
- Cholesterol
- Fat in blood linked to disease.
- Echocardiogram
- Ultrasound of the heart.
- Ejection fraction
- Share of blood pumped per beat.
- EKG
- Electrocardiogram, a heart rhythm test.
- Heart failure
- The heart can’t pump enough.
- Myocardial infarction
- Heart attack.
- Pacemaker
- A device that regulates heartbeat.
- STEMI
- A serious type of heart attack.
- Stent
- A tube that holds an artery open.
- Stress test
- Heart test during exercise.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Cardiologist practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Cardiologist training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.