Board certifications needed for non-invasive cardiology?

[hellothereeverybody2]

Hi all,

For those planning on careers in non-invasive cardiology, what boards are you planning on taking in addition to general cardiology boards? I searched this forum and it seems like several years ago, board certifications in echo and nuclear were not needed to read these studies in private practice (being level 2 trained sufficed it seemed) but some suggested taking boards to future-proof oneself in the event that boards are required. In 2019, what are your thoughts now? Does it make sense to take echo and nuclear boards? What other certifications do you think would be high yield in practice (RPVI/vascular, CMR, CCT, lipids, etc)? Thanks so much for the insight.

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[IMreshopeful]

Hi all,

For those planning on careers in non-invasive cardiology, what boards are you planning on taking in addition to general cardiology boards? I searched this forum and it seems like several years ago, board certifications in echo and nuclear were not needed to read these studies in private practice (being level 2 trained sufficed it seemed) but some suggested taking boards to future-proof oneself in the event that boards are required. In 2019, what are your thoughts now? Does it make sense to take echo and nuclear boards? What other certifications do you think would be high yield in practice (RPVI/vascular, CMR, CCT, lipids, etc)? Thanks so much for the insight.

I think having nuclear and echo boards does make you a little more marketable in this day and age. Depends on the job, would definitely get it if you’re going academic. Although I absolutely hate that I spent so much money taking these boards I do think I learned a lot by taking echo boards at least.

RPVI depends on whether your practice reads vascular studies. Many do.

CCT can be helpful but not required I would say. CMR and lipids unnecessary unless you plan to do a lot of that work in practice.

You have to pick and choose to some degree. You can’t pay so much money and expect a good return on your investment because it’s unlikely in your practice you will need EVERYthing.

 

[cardsguy2017]

I mean technically in PP I don't think you need boards to practice, but its good for malpractice at least. Echo for sure, nuc yes but maybe slightly less so. The rest are rather niche fields, particular to certain PP, locations or situations and imo sometimes questionable in their practice. Vascular studies in the few areas I've explored are done by vascular folks (surgery, vascular med, interventional), CT/MRI are done by radiology or level 3 folks. And that's fine by me, I'm not interested in doing those and there's already plenty to keep me busy. It's one thing to be marketable, but you also just have to think about how you want to practice and where you want to practice to an extent. Hospital employed jobs probably don't need gen cards reading vascular or CT/MRI. But a PP that's trying to generate revenue any way possible may want someone versatile, but you have to be willing to do it and maintain proficiency.