The American College of Cardiology, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the American Heart Association released new training requirements for interventional cardiology trainees, according to a news release shared with Becker's.
The document is the first of its kind to define training requirements for the full spectrum of adult interventional cardiology, according to the news release.
The training includes:
1. A three-year general cardiovascular disease fellowship. Successful completion consists of Level I competency in all aspects of cardiovascular medicine and Level II competency in diagnostic cardiac catheterization.
2. A one-year accredited interventional cardiology fellowship focused on coronary intervention, with the opportunity to gain procedural experience in various aspects of peripheral vascular interventions or structural heart interventions (Level III competency).
3. An option for additional post-fellowship training based on the trainee’s career goals.
The training document's writing committee recommends a minimum of 250 interventional cardiology procedures — 200 of which should be coronary procedures, with the remaining 50 specialized in coronary, peripheral vascular or structural heart interventions, allowing for customized training.
The training requires 25 adjunctive procedures related to physiologic assessment and 25 related to intracoronary imaging. It also calls for trainees to experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team to provide a holistic approach to patient care.