Assessment of physician training and prediction of workforce needs in paediatric cardiac intensive care in the United States

Robin V Horak; Bradley S Marino; David K Werho; Leslie A Rhodes; John M Costello; Antonio G Cabrera; David S Cooper; Shasha Bai; Sarah Tabbutt; Isabelle Rao; David Scheinker; Andrew Y Shin; Catherine D Krawczeski

doi:10.1017/S1047951121004893

Assessment of physician training and prediction of workforce needs in paediatric cardiac intensive care in the United States

Cardiol Young. 2022 Nov;32(11):1748-1753. doi: 10.1017/S1047951121004893. Epub 2021 Dec 20.

Authors

Robin V Horak^{1

2}, Bradley S Marino³, David K Werho⁴, Leslie A Rhodes⁵, John M Costello⁶, Antonio G Cabrera⁷, David S Cooper⁸, Shasha Bai⁹, Sarah Tabbutt¹⁰, Isabelle Rao¹¹, David Scheinker¹¹, Andrew Y Shin¹², Catherine D Krawczeski¹³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Department of Anesthesia Critical Care, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children's Hospital of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine, MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital, Charleston, SC, USA.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah College of Medicine, The Heart Center, Primary Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, The Heart Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
⁹ Biostatistics Resource at Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, Benioff Children's Hospital, San Francisco, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹² Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
¹³ Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, The Heart Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA.

PMID: 34924098
DOI: 10.1017/S1047951121004893

Abstract

Objective: To assess the training and the future workforce needs of paediatric cardiac critical care faculty.

Design: REDCap surveys were sent May-August 2019 to medical directors and faculty at the 120 US centres participating in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database. Faculty and directors were asked about personal training pathway and planned employment changes. Directors were additionally asked for current faculty numbers, expected job openings, presence of training programmes, and numbers of trainees. Predictive modelling of the workforce was performed using respondents' data. Patient volume was projected from US Census data and compared to projected provider availability.

Measurements and main results: Sixty-six per cent (79/120) of directors and 62% (294/477) of contacted faculty responded. Most respondents had training that incorporated critical care medicine with the majority completing training beyond categorical fellowship. Younger respondents and those in dedicated cardiac ICUs were more significantly likely to have advanced training or dual fellowships in cardiology and critical care medicine. An estimated 49-63 faculty enter the workforce annually from various training pathways. Based on modelling, these faculty will likely fill current and projected open positions over the next 5 years.

Conclusions: Paediatric cardiac critical care training has evolved, such that the majority of faculty now have dual fellowship or advanced training. The projected number of incoming faculty will likely fill open positions within the next 5 years. Institutions with existing or anticipated training programmes should be cognisant of these data and prepare graduates for an increasingly competitive market.

Keywords: ICU; Paediatric cardiac intensive care; attending physician; congenital heart disease; fellowships; paediatric; workforce predictions.

MeSH terms

Cardiology* / education
Child
Critical Care
Education, Medical, Graduate
Fellowships and Scholarships
Humans
Physicians*
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
Workforce