The current state of fellowship training in pulmonary artery catheter placement and data interpretation: a national survey of pulmonary and critical care fellowship program directors.

PURPOSE: Given decreasing use of pulmonary artery (PA) catheterization, we sought to evaluate whether current pulmonary and critical care fellows have adequate opportunity to obtain proficiency in PA catheter placement and data interpretation.

METHODS: All US pulmonary and critical care program directors were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey regarding current training opportunities in PA catheterization.

RESULTS: The response rate was 51% (69/136). Eighty-three percent reported that the number of PA catheterizations performed by fellows within their program has decreased in the past decade. Fifty-four percent estimated that their fellows currently participate in less than 10 supervised procedures during fellowship. The most frequently identified barriers to training were procedure volume and reluctance to place PA catheters in the medical intensive care unit. Forty-three percent of respondents agreed that training in PA catheter placement is currently adequate within their program, and 55% agreed that training in data interpretation is adequate. Only 39% of respondents believe that PA catheter placement should continue to be an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education training requirement.

CONCLUSIONS: Many current pulmonary and critical care fellows do not have the opportunity to gain proficiency in PA catheterization. Fellowship training programs should consider alternate means of training fellows in PA catheter data interpretation, such as simulation.