Interventional cardiology is officially joining the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Medical Specialties Matching Program in 2025, according to a new announcement from the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). The program, also known as “the Match,” helps medical students and residency programs connect with one another. The NRMP, founded in 1952, already works with students from more than 70 healthcare subspecialties.
SCAI has been working toward this goal for quite some time, developing the SCAI Interventional Cardiology Match Task Force to help interventional cardiology join the other specialties that take part in the Match on an annual basis. The group also pushed for the application deadline to be changed, giving students in their second year of general cardiology training more time to make their decisions.
Why is inclusion in the Match so important to interventional cardiologists?
The SCAI website details some of the group’s primary reasons for advocating for this change.
“The Match provides candidates with a fair opportunity to interview and assess the spectrum of programs that might best meet their professional, personal and logistic objectives-without the pressure of an unreasonable deadline to commit,” the organization wrote. The SCAI’s explanation also shared many other reasons for its support, including the standardization the Match brings to the application and interview processes and the way it can help programs focus on issues such as diversity.
SCAI leaders react to the news
“This effort would not have been possible without the overwhelming support from fellows, programs, and physicians in interventional cardiology,” J. Dawn Abbott, MD, co-chair of the SCAI Interventional Cardiology Match Task Force and a professor of medicine at Brown Medical School, said in a prepared statement. “Interventional cardiology’s ability to participate in the Match will help support fairness and diversity in recruiting, and we are excited to see the positive impact this will have on future generations.”
“We are thrilled that IC programs across the country have shown overwhelming support for interventional cardiology joining the Match in 2025,” added Douglas Drachman, MD, co-chair of the SCAI Interventional Cardiology Match Task Force and director of education at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Our profession is evolving, and the overall landscape of healthcare is changing. Interventional cardiology joining the Match will allow for us to recruit top talent who have received appropriate training and are also committed to elevating the profession.”
The Match—and applications—will open in summer 2024 for interventional cardiology fellows aiming to start in July 2025. Dozens of programs have already signed up to participate in the process. More information is available here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.