Cardiovascular perfusion, a viable career choice or not?

[AUS4]

Perfusion.com is very slow so I will post here. Does anyone have any inside info on this career path in terms of long term stability or is it a dying/oversaturated field.

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[jwk]

Perfusion.com is very slow so I will post here. Does anyone have any inside info on this career path in terms of long term stability or is it a dying/oversaturated field.

I would think with the move to off-pump bypasses, minimally invasive surgery, and the huge expansion of interventional cardiology, the long-term outlook for perfusionists is extremely limited. There may always be a need for some, but the heyday is long past.

 

[AUS4]

There are 18 programs that accept 5 or 6 students every year, it makes you wonder , where are all these students being placed?.

 

[proman]

I don't think it's that bad. Perfusionists have a fairly wide scope. At my institution, they do the CPB, ECMO/CPS (RT does it in the PICU), nitric oxide, shed blood salvage, IABP management and probably some things that I don't know about.

As for off pump CABGs, every off pump I've seen (3 separate hospitals, teaching and nonteaching) has a pump sitting next to the patient, primed with a perfusionist ready to go if needed.

 

[AUS4]

I shadowed a perfusionist in the same town for both types of cases(on pump/off pump) and for the off pump he had to be in the O.R. at all times ready to go.