Future perspectives of Italian cardiologists in training: A nationwide survey

ABSTRACT

Background. Adequate specialist training is the basis of a health system capable of supporting the continuous expansion of the population's demand for assistance. The continuous scientific advances, technological innovations, and the recent outbreak of a pandemic lead to a reshaping of training courses in order to guarantee a high standard of quality of care. Aims. Evaluating the feedback provided by Italian cardiologists in training about the current educational program and analyzing their perspectives about the future. Methods. We performed a 23-item national survey that has been delivered to 1443 Italian Fellow in Training (FITs), registered in the database of the Italian Society of Cardiology (ISC). The survey has been available online for 33 days (from 12 of June to 15 of July 2020). The impact of COVID-19 on medical education has been the original principal topic of the questionnaire, but we took advantage of this opportunity to investigate the perception of the trainees about their future work and training. Results. 633 cardiologists in training (44% of the FITs) participated to the survey. 45% of the participants affirmed to be completely satisfied by the current training program. 24% of respondents affirmed to have a totally inadequate or inadequate expertise on treating cardiovascular emergencies. 83% claimed to be interested in a working experience abroad but only 24% would remain lifelong in another Country. We asked the future cardiologists an opinion about the possibility of an early access to the world of work, starting from the third year of residency, provided from two recent Italian decrees ("Calabria" and "Milleproroghe"). 63% of the respondents believe that this chance does not represent an overall advantage and for 83% of them the early abandonment of the Universities could jeopardize a thorough cardiological training. Sub-specializations such as interventional cardiology and echocardiography emerged as the main topics of interest for the future careers of the FITs;however, general cardiology has been indicated as the third most requested area of interest, in contrast to the increasing tendency to sub-specializations. Only a few numbers of participants (<1%) expressed their interest in dedicating their future in the research field. Conclusions. Universities and politicians should make a great effort in the organization and re-organization of the teaching programs, taking into account the opinions of the cardiologists of tomorrow.