Working group 8: Defining the different types of cardiovascular specialists and developing a new model for training general clinical cardiologists

The Impact of Postgraduate Training on USMLE® Step 3® and its Computer-Based Case Simulation Component

“…[8][9][10] For instance, there has been an ongoing debate about the necessary length of internal medicine residency; with some support to decrease the length of training to allow earlier differentiation of residents into future practice (cardiology fellowship, hospitalist, ambulatory specialist). 11,12 Alternatively, there has been support for increasing the length of internal medicine residency because of perceived lack of competency to begin practice in certain settings. 13 Each category of residency training program identified in the study had at least 470 examinees, and was classified as having either a broad or narrow focus.…”

Subspecialties of Cardiovascular Medicine

“…Several different types of cardiologists provide speciûc services to patients and to other types of cardiologists. Fuster et al mentioned various types of cardiovascular specialists and their training requirements 1 . According to his article there are 10 types of cardiovascular specialists.…”

Academic Careers in Cardiovascular Medicine

“…8,21,22,25 Currently, the minimum postgraduate training period required to become a cardiologist is 6 years: 3 years of internal medicine residency followed by 3 years of cardiology fellowship training. 26 A streamlined training program would lessen clinical commitments for those motivated to enter the academic arena in which additional training and experience in research methodologies are often warranted. Additionally, shortening the training period would mobilize trainees into the workforce more expeditiously and would help in recruiting applicants to cardiology.…”

“…Specifically, training in internal medicine would be reduced to 2 years, followed by a hybrid year focused on cardiovascular preventive care and finally 2 years of training in clinical cardiology. 26 This approach limits research exposure during the training period but frees a year for dedicated research training for those who are interested.…”