SCAI Announces New Program to Support Interventional Cardiology Training F...( Grants Aim to Facilitate the Traini...),Health

Grants Aim to Facilitate the Training of Interventional Cardiologists to

Treat Growing Population of Cardiovascular Patients

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A new program launched today by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) will help accredited physician training programs to fund approved training positions, thereby expanding the number of interventional cardiologists trained to care for a steadily increasing number of cardiovascular patients. The SCAI Interventional Cardiology Fellows-in-Training Grant Program will help pay the salary and benefits for physicians specializing in interventional cardiology. This innovative, multi-year, multi-million dollar program, funded by generous grants from the Boston Scientific Foundation and the Cordis Cardiac and Vascular Institute, will sponsor fellows-in-training based on the quality of their training programs and their need for support.

Each year, approximately 15 percent of interventional cardiology training slots at accredited U.S. academic medical centers go unfilled because in many cases universities lack the financial resources to fund all of the positions approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

"As a result, the American health care system is producing fewer highly trained interventional cardiologists than we will need as the population ages, especially as cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of mortality and morbidity," says Dr. Joseph Babb, an SCAI Past President and Chair of the SCAI committee that will administer the fellowship grants. "This new program represents a real investment in the future of medical education by SCAI, the Boston Scientific Foundation, and the Cordis Cardiac and Vascular Institute."

Starting immediately, SCAI will accept applications for support from ACGME-accredited interventional cardiology training programs. An SCAI committee of interventional cardi
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