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Survey highlights need for structural heart disease training for new interventional cardiologists
Structural heart disease interventions during the past decade are driving demand for advanced interventional cardiology training programs, but training in this specialized area remains in its infancy, according to new survey results released by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Structural Heart Disease Early Career Task Force.
Survey results revealed that 86% of institutions responding to the survey offer percutaneous treatments for structural heart disease, and 29% of those institutions offer a 1-year training program in structural heart disease after completion of interventional cardiology training, according to a press release.
More than half of institutions surveyed integrate structural training with coronary and peripheral intervention training. About 40% of training is achieved by assigning cases throughout the year to the fellow and one-quarter takes place through participation in specialized conferences or courses.
Results also identified a number of challenges to achieving optimal training, both in current programs and in the development of additional training and fellowship programs. One challenge is that the average number of structural heart disease procedures performed per year in the studied institutions is less than the recommended number of procedures to gain proficiency. In addition, no interventional cardiology fellowship program exists in the United States that can offer sufficient training in all 15 types of structural heart disease procedures, according to the release.
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) task force called for a structured curriculum for structural heart disease training with uniform requirements.
“Structural heart disease care has changed significantly in recent years, and new treatments require specialized training on complex interventions,” Mehmet Cilingiroglu, MD, FSCAI, task force member and associate professor of medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Heart and Vascular Institute, stated in the release. “Our survey found [structural heart disease] training remains in its early stages. As we advance care for patients, it’s essential that we establish structured training programs with standardized requirements that can help new interventional cardiologists build their skills in this important area.”
The data were compiled from a survey of 50 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited interventional cardiology programs. The full survey results will be available on the SCAI website.