Chest
Clinical InvestigationsVariation in Training for Interventional Pulmonary Procedures Among US Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowships: A Survey of Fellowship Directors
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
A survey was developed by a survey research unit at the Medical University of South Carolina with assistance from the ACCP Interventional Chest/Diagnostic Procedures NetWork Steering Committee. The survey consisted of a list of interventional pulmonary procedures and asked whether each procedure was offered. If offered, the average number of procedures performed was recorded based on averages from either the 2002 or 2003 graduating class. In addition, there were 12 other questions concerning
Results
Surveys were mailed to 122 pulmonary/critical care fellowship programs within the United States. A total of 94 program directors responded (overall response rate, 77%) with 93 answering all questions regarding procedure numbers. Table 1 depicts the procedures offered, the percentage of fellows reaching competence, and the median number of procedures performed, and compares those to the competency numbers recommended by the ACCP. From Table 1, it can be seen that the numbers of procedures to be
Discussion
This study has four important findings. First, aside from routine diagnostic procedures such as flexible bronchoscopy, there is a large variation in what is offered to fellows in training. Second, most fellowship programs do not reach the recommended competency numbers recommended by the ACCP Interventional Chest/Diagnostic Procedures NetWork Steering Committee. Third, the presence of an IP is associated with offering more procedures for fellows. Finally, program directors did not agree on the
Appendix
ACCP Interventional Chest/Diagnostic Procedures Network Steering Committee
Armin Ernst, MD, FCCP; Neri Cohen, MD, FCCP; Heinrich D. Becker, MD, FCCP; Gordon H. Downie, MD, FCCP; John A. Howington, MD, FCCP; Atul C. Mehta, MBBS, FCCP; Leonard C. Moses, MD, FCCP; W. Roy Smythe, MD, FCCP; Stephen C. Yang, MD, FCCP; and David W. Johnstone, MD, FCCP.
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A list of the ACCP Interventional Chest/Diagnostic Procedures Network Steering Committee is located in Appendix 1.
Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (http://www.chestjournal.org/misc/reprints.shtml).