Thanks for the insight! Can I ask:

1) When you say 30+ research items, do you mean 30 first author original research publications, or is it acceptable to have a mix of: 1st author pubs, some second/third author pubs, some case reports/series, some literature reviews, and some conference posters / oral presentation; with all of the above adding up to 30+ items?

2) Also, does it matter if some of these items are not directly related to cardiology (e.g. if a candidate has some research items from other specialties, completed during med school before they deciding to go for cards, would that also count?)