future of cardiac perfusion

[air bud]

Hey guys, I am looking into this field for my wife. I have read various articles about the future of cardiac perfusion specialists. I think most of the the things I read are extremes and the reality is somewhere in the middle. I was hoping somebody could offer up some pros and cons of the field, as well as their opinion on what the future may hold.
thanks

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[Maximuss]

What do mean exactly by "cardiac perfusion"?? what is your wife doing now? i.e. is she a med student or considering residency/fellowship?

 

[J-Rad]

I'm not aware of any perfusionists (CCPs) on SDN, but that doesn't mean there aren't. It's going to be tough for the physician community to answer this question as perfusion exists within small parts of the medical community: obviously, in the OR for cardiac cases and with ECMO. There is much chatter of how adult interventional cardiology has taken a good chunk of cases that used to be in the realm of the CT surgeon, but I'd imagine there will still be plenty of cases. Proceudres for congenital heart disease in children and adults will skew heavily in favor of surgeons (vs. interventionalists) despite advances in interventions for congenital heart disease (ex. hybrid stage I Norwoods, transcatheter pulmonary valves). That said, centers with robust congenital surgery services will be fewer and located in more mteroplitan areas. The other place you see CCPs is those with ECMO. Pediatric ICUs were once the most dominant places with ECMO capabilities, but there has been a drastic increase in its use in the adult critical care world.

The practical aspects of your question:
It seems that there are only 17 perfusionist programs in the country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfusionist) so training location may be an issue (not just final practice locations). On the tail end, lifestyle may be a consideration. It is a career with call and, in some centers, it may be a heavy call schedule.

 

[AUS4]

Check out Perfusion.com , a site similar to SDN, dedicated to Perfusionists.