SCAI Addresses Advanced Training Programs in Pediatric and Congenital Interventional Cardiac Catheterization

November 1, 2014—The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) issued an expert consensus statement for advanced training programs in pediatric and congenital interventional cardiac catheterization. SCAI published the document by Laurie Armsby, MD, et al in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions (2014;84:779–784).
    
The SCAI statement notes that over the last decade—and since the 2005 publication of the previous training guidelines for pediatric cardiac catheterization and interventional cardiology—the field of pediatric and congenital cardiac catheterization has evolved into a predominantly interventional discipline. 

Because there is no subspecialty certification for interventional cardiac catheterization in pediatrics, the Congenital Heart Disease Committee of the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions has put together this consensus statement for advanced training in pediatric and congenital interventional cardiac catheterization. 

The statement puts forth recommendations for program infrastructure in terms of teaching, personnel, equipment, facilities, conferences, patient volume, and trainee assessment. The document is meant to set a standard for training programs as well as giving applicants a basis on which to judge and compare programs, the society noted.