Cardiology is one of the most data-driven medical specialties a physician can pursue. So why is the source of that data – cardiac academia – declining in both workforce and prestige?
A new JACC State-of-the-Art Review aims to tackle that question while offering some ways to turn the tide on the rising troubles with academic cardiology.
- JACC State-of-the-art reviews are comprehensive, peer-reviewed overview articles that combine medical knowledge, data, and best practices.
- Oftentimes, these reviews work to either educate or clarify the best way to approach a cardiovascular condition or systemic challenge.
So how can a JACC article tackle a problem as massive as the degradation of academic cardiovascular medicine? It starts with defining the problem.
- The combined academic cardiologist identity of “clinician, educator, investigator” has eroded under RVU-driven compensation and expansive credentialing requirements.
- Meanwhile, academic medical centers are forced to prioritize short-term financial goals and high-volume activity due to economics, consolidations, and PE-ownership.
None of this is news, but that’s where the authors introduce a roadmap for how to revitalize cardiac academia, and it focuses on the early-career stage, with four pillars of change:
- Balancing the financial model for academic cardiologists by focusing on competitive research funding.
- Reimagining career paths by setting expectations for clinical and scholarly work that can help retain productive clinicians who also drive research.
- Rethinking physician training by defining competency via duration and emerging technologies with formal institutional support.
- Building supportive academic environments that address burnout, well-being, leadership, and diversity.
It’s all well and good to talk about this, but why should cardiologists care? After all, an academic career in cardiology will never match private practice in salary.
- It’s because failure to act risks not only the academic workforce, but also America’s capacity for cardiovascular innovation, prevention, and equity.
The Takeaway
So often in American medicine, the drive for financial metrics of success has sidelined what made us the best in the world in the first place – academic innovation. This state-of-the-art review is a sobering reminder that we’re on track to lose that edge altogether if we don’t change.
