Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-21-2025
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a global mismatch between the number of adults with congenital heart disease and adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) cardiologists, potentially impacting patient outcomes. This survey explores factors influencing trainees and cardiologists' career choices in ACHD.
METHODS: An online, anonymous global survey on demographics, ACHD as a career choice, encouraging and deterring factors assessed via a 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions on recommending ACHD was distributed through targeted emails and social media. Responses meeting a 75% completion criterion were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.
RESULTS: Among 811 included responses, most were from women (53.5%), aged 31 to 40 years (48.3%), White individuals (43.3%), non-Hispanic individuals (85%), from outside the ACHD field (79.0%), and from North America (42.7%). Only 30.9% of non-ACHD physicians considered specializing in ACHD despite 78.9% recommending it. Encouraging factors included awareness of ACHD significance, mentor influence, and clinical exposure. Key deterrents were inadequate financial incentives, limited job opportunities, and lengthy training. Regional variations showed that longer training duration and lack of compensation incentives were the main deterrents in North America. Suggested solutions included structured training programs, salary improvements, and early ACHD exposure during medical education.
CONCLUSIONS: Less than a third of respondents considered ACHD as a career largely due to inadequate financial incentives, limited job opportunities, and long training duration. Addressing these barriers could enhance recruitment and help meet the growing demands of the ACHD population.
Recommended Citation
Bravo-Jaimes, Katia; Srour, M. H. D. Osama; Jenkins, Petra; Luna-Lopez, Raquel; Tutarel, Oktay; Kandavello, Geetha; Guerrero-Chalela, Carlos-Eduardo; García-Cruz, Edgar; Ackerman, Judith; Elizari, Amalia; Valdez-Ramos, Miriam; Cupido, Blanche; Zentner, Dominica; Almasri, Murad; Phillips, Sabrina; McLeod, Christopher; Burchill, Luke; Kamath, Celia; Bullock-Palmer, Renee; and Windram, Jonathan, "Adult Congenital Heart Disease as a Career? Examining Encouraging and Deterring Factors in the Global ACHD Survey" (2025). Department of Medicine Faculty Papers. Paper 505.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/medfp/505
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
40689513
Language
English
Included in
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Cardiology Commons, Medical Education Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in Journal of the American Heart Association, Volume 14, Issue 15, 2025, Article number e041276.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.125.041276. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s).