title: Defining characteristics of early adopters of multimodality cardiovascular imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prototype for the cardiovascular imager has evolved to necessitate some degree of competency in multimodality imaging (MMI)-defined as expertise in at least 2 of the 4 modalities (echocardiography [ECHO], nuclear cardiology [NUC], cardiovascular computed tomography [CCT], and magnetic resonance [CMR]). Uncertainty exists about the effects of this change.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information detailing the current totals of board-certified practitioners in MMI was collected and organized into groups of 1, 2, and 3 modalities. A randomized stratified sample of names was obtained to identify a representative 10% of each group. Those names were cross-referenced online with information from state medical boards, faculty rosters of academic medical centers, and physician tracking Websites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There are a total of 2209 board-certified MMI practitioners (2 modalities = 1885, 3 modalities = 324) and 6450 single-modality imagers in the United States. Of those sampled, 98.9% were cardiologists, 31.3% were at academic medical centers and mean time from medical school graduation was 17.75 years. MMI practitioners were more likely to have graduated from medical school more recently (P < 0.0001) and to be trained cardiologists (P = 0.003) than those who practice in a single modality. There was a nonsignificant trend toward MMI being practiced more commonly in an academic setting (P = 0.38).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Board-certified specialists in MMI tend to be younger cardiologists than those engaged in single-modality cardiac imaging. There are few advanced (3 modality) MMI practitioners in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Velez
authors.forename: Alex J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Auseon
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D002309:Cardiology / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002568:Certification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States
keywords: board certification; cardiovascular imaging; computed tomography; echocardiography; magnetic resonance; multimodality; nuclear cardiology