McGrath Samuel, Morgan Holly, Muir Douglas, Hildick-Smith David
King's British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence, King's College London London, UK.
Cardiology Department, James Cook University Hospital Middlesbrough, UK.
Interv Cardiol. 2025 Jun 10;20:e20. doi: 10.15420/icr.2024.54. eCollection 2025.
Interventional cardiology (IC) is a competitive and oversubscribed subspecialty. The UK cardiology programme is currently in a state of transition of curricula, and concerns have arisen about the impact of this change on the standard of training. This study aimed to provide a snapshot of UK IC training at present.
A 68-question survey was disseminated through the British Cardiovascular Interventional Society mailing list in November 2023 to all UK intervention trainees across both curricula. Questions included procedural numbers, exposure to adjunct techniques and confidence in the transition to consultancy.
The survey was completed by 60 participants, providing a response rate of 38% for training grades. A total of 87% of participants were men, and 78% remained on the 2010 curriculum. For the 2010 curriculum trainees, the median number of first-operator percutaneous coronary intervention was 101-200 in their first year. Confidence levels were higher for radial (98%) than femoral (62%) access. A total of 83% felt comfortable or confident using intravascular lithotripsy (83%) compared with 23% for rotational atherectomy. Comfort was higher with intravascular ultrasound (82%) compared with optical coherence tomography (53%). Half felt unprepared for consultancy, citing insufficient procedural experience. To address this, 65% plan to extend training with a fellowship year. Overall, 72% rated the programme as excellent or good, and 10% as poor.
While many trainees report a positive experience with UK IC training, several areas need improvement, including procedural volume and requirement for extended training. Moving forward, it will be crucial to monitor the impact of the 2022 curriculum on IC training.
介入心脏病学（IC）是一个竞争激烈且申请人数过多的亚专业。英国心脏病学培训项目目前正处于课程过渡阶段，人们对这一变化对培训标准的影响产生了担忧。本研究旨在呈现英国目前IC培训的概况。
2023年11月，通过英国心血管介入学会邮件列表向所有参与两种课程培训的英国介入学员发放了一份包含68个问题的调查问卷。问题包括手术数量、辅助技术的接触情况以及向顾问医师过渡的信心。
60名参与者完成了调查，培训等级的回复率为38%。共有87%的参与者为男性，78%仍在学习2010年的课程。对于学习2010年课程的学员，第一年作为第一术者的经皮冠状动脉介入手术中位数为101 - 200例。桡动脉入路（98%）的信心水平高于股动脉入路（62%）。共有83%的人对使用血管内碎石术感到自在或有信心（83%），而旋磨术为23%。血管内超声（82%）的自在程度高于光学相干断层扫描（53%）。一半的人认为自己对担任顾问医师没有做好准备，理由是手术经验不足。为解决这一问题，65%的人计划延长培训时间，增加一年专科 fellowship 培训。总体而言，72%的人将该项目评为优秀或良好，10%的人评为差。
虽然许多学员对英国IC培训的体验良好，但仍有几个方面需要改进，包括手术量和延长培训的需求。展望未来，监测2022年课程对IC培训的影响至关重要。
