Program Directors Survey on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cardiology Fellowship Training

Michael W Cullen; Julie B Damp; Victor Soukoulis; Friederike K Keating; Islam Abudayyeh; Eric H Yang; Meera Kondapaneni; Donna M Polk; Lisa J Rose-Jones; Paul Theriot; Gaby Weissman

doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.101008

Program Directors Survey on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cardiology Fellowship Training

JACC Adv. 2024 May 24;3(7):101008. doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.101008. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
² Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
³ Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
⁴ Division of Cardiology, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Charles Drew Univ. Loma Linda Veterans Healthcare, Loma Linda, California, USA.
⁶ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁷ Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
⁸ Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁹ Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
¹⁰ American College of Cardiology, Washington, DC, USA.
¹¹ Department of Cardiology, Medstar Heart and Vascular Institute and Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed unprecedented changes to medical education, including CV fellowship programs. CV fellowship PDs offer a unique perspective regarding the impact of the pandemic on CV medical education.

Objectives: The 4th annual Cardiovascular Diseases (CV) Fellowship Program Directors (PDs) Survey sought to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CV fellows and fellowship programs.

Methods: The survey contained 31 items examining the clinical, educational, and academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CV fellowship programs.

Results: Survey response rate was 54%. Most respondents (58%) represented university-based programs. Most PDs felt that changes to clinical practice during the COVID-19 negatively impacted fellow education in cardiac catheterization (66%), outpatient cardiology (52%), nuclear imaging (51%), and echocardiography (50%). Despite improving attendance, 75% of PDs felt that virtual educational conferences adversely impacted interaction between participants. Only 22% felt they improved fellow education. Most PDs (85%) reported a negative impact of the pandemic on fellow well-being and burnout, and 57% reported a decrease in research productivity among fellows. Even though virtual recruitment allowed programs to interview more competitive candidates, most PDs felt that virtual interviews adversely impacted interactions between their fellows and candidates (71%) and their ability to convey the culture of their program (60%).

Conclusions: Most CV fellowship PDs felt the COVID-19 pandemic brought changes that negatively impacted the clinical training, didactic learning, academic productivity, and well-being among cardiology fellows. The implications of these changes on the competency of cardiologists that trained during the COVID-19 pandemic deserve future study.

Keywords: COVID-19; cardiology fellowship; graduate medical education; pandemic; program director.