Challenges facing early career academic cardiologists.
Early career academic cardiologists currently face unprecedented challenges that threaten a highly valued career path. A team consisting of early career professionals and senior leadership members of American College of Cardiology completed this white paper to inform the cardiovascular medicine profession regarding the plight of early career cardiologists and to suggest possible solutions. This paper includes: 1) definition of categories of early career academic cardiologists; 2) general challenges to all categories and specific challenges to each category; 3) obstacles as identified by a survey of current early career members of the American College of Cardiology; 4) major reasons for the failure of physician-scientists to receive funding from National Institute of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute career development grants; 5) potential solutions; and 6) a call to action with specific recommendations.
Department of Medical Physiology and Department of Medicine/Cardiology Division, Texas A&M University Health Science Center-Baylor Scott & White Healthcare, Temple, Texas. Electronic address: CTong@medicine.tamhsc.edu.
Carl W
CW
Tong
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Tariq
T
Ahmad
Department of Medicine/Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
Evan L
EL
Brittain
Heart Rhythm Program, Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, Utah.
T Jared
TJ
Bunch
Department of Medicine/Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
Julie B
JB
Damp
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
Todd
T
Dardas
Member Strategy and Career Development Department, American College of Cardiology, Washington, DC.
Amalea
A
Hijar
Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology Division and Harry S. Moss Heart Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
Joseph A
JA
Hill
Department of Medicine/Cardiology Division, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California.
Anthony A
AA
Hilliard
Department of Physiology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Steven R
SR
Houser
Department of Cardiology, Ochsner Clinical School-the University of Queensland School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Eiman
E
Jahangir
Department of Medicine/Cardiology Division, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
Andrew M
AM
Kates
Department of Medicine/Division of Cardiology, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado.
Darlene
D
Kim
Department of Medicine/Cardiology Division, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
Brian R
BR
Lindman
Department of Medicine/Division of Cardiology, University of Utah Health Care, Salt Lake City, Utah.
John J
JJ
Ryan
Member Strategy and Career Development Department, American College of Cardiology, Washington, DC.
Anne K
AK
Rzeszut
Department of Medicine/Cardiovascular Section, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Chittur A
CA
Sivaram
Department of Cardiology, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Anne Marie
AM
Valente
Department of Medicine/Division of Cardiology, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado.
Andrew M
AM
Freeman
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D002309:Cardiology / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education / Q000639:trends*; D002321:Career Choice; D006801:Humans; D008611:Mentors / Q000193:education; D054555:National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (U.S.) / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D010820:Physicians / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States
academic medical center; clinician-educator; early career academic cardiologist; physician-scientist