SCAI town hall addresses workforce concerns in interventional cardiology
Interventional cardiology recently completed its second Match Day, with 97% of applicants securing a new position. When the day was done, however, there were still 71 unfilled fellowship positions across 49 different programs due to a lack of applicants.
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) issued a statement about Match Day, recognizing that those unfilled positions were problematic for both the participating programs and interventional cardiology as a whole. The group then pledged that it is taking several steps—addressing the specialty’s known challenges, for example—to help reverse the trend before things get even worse.
“There is no doubt that interventional cardiology is a difficult career choice, but at the same time exceedingly rewarding through the impact we make on individual patients and society as a whole, and we need to help promote these latter aspects within the medicine pipeline,” SCAI President Srihari S. Naidu, MD, an interventional cardiologist with New York Medical College, said at the time.
SCAI took its first step to address interventional cardiology’s lack of applicants on Dec. 15 with a town hall. Several of the group’s leaders attended, discussing whether or not today’s training programs were aligned with clinical needs and what, if anything, can be done to improve the match process. The group also examined other key topics in the world of interventional cardiology, including job satisfaction, burnout prevention and fair compensation.
One of the primary takeaways from the town hall was that interventional cardiology does still attract trainees. In fact, approximately 350 fellows complete training in the specialty each year.
However, the Match Day results pointed to a mismatch in the number of fellowship positions in the United States compared to the number of applicants.
“These data do not reflect declining interest in interventional cardiology,” according to a new SCAI statement. “Instead, they highlight how rapidly fellowship positions have expanded compared with the more measured growth of the applicant pool.”
SCAI’s leaders also emphasized that they remain invested in interventional cardiology’s future.
“The work ahead will require collaboration and continued dialogue, and SCAI is committed to leading that effort to ensure we succeed together,” the group said.
SCAI hopes to help minimize impact of ongoing physician shortage
There is already a significant cardiologist shortage in the United States, and SCAI has made it a top priority to make interventional cardiology more appealing to medical students. For example, a recent survey of its members highlighted a handful of issues—orthopedic injuries and radiation exposure, for example—that the group is now working to address.[1]
Click here for additional details about the town hall.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.