future of electrophysiology

[EPADHA]

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General fellow in south east here.. I have heard that EP is the only subspecialty where the number of positions is more than number of applicants, especially when the job market is not that great etc. Any thoughts on the job market and competitiveness of EP would be appreciated.

 

[josephf1]

Seems bad. Too many in the cities, maybe availability in the middle of nowhere, money coming down, ? of utility of PVI getting more scrutiny, also if so many available open positions that no one wants, doesnt that say something? Heard too many trained in it last 5 years as lifestyle better than CATH, unfortuantely for those who like it may not be ideal market. Could maybe find a gen cards/EP mix job though in some groups or stay academic but make less $$$.

 

[supp-2]

Agree.. My thoughts..

1) Market saturated now... could still open up in a few years especially if AF ablation progresses to become more mainstream. But, that procedure may become very scrutinize if randomized data every sees the light of day. It'll survive but won't explode like people were envisioning in the mid-2000s

2) Seems like a lot of programs increased fellow spots (for research purposes and other reasons).. Spots were more competitive because of money and lifestyle.. Now those guys are struggling to find jobs (in areas they want).

3) I think the private EP guys are still killing it (and are quiet about it). But, they're locking it down now and harder for a newbie to break in. There will be more cuts and more insurance companies refusing to pay for PVAI in my opinion, so compensation should come down.

4) With shift towards hospital employment will be interesting... You really don't need (IMO) a ton of EP guys as compared with interventional where STEMI call needs to be covered. So will that limit even more of the job opportunieis??

5) EP did a poor job IMO of distancing themselves from general cardiology. If you become solely based on referrals you lose some control of the flow (similar to a certain extent to IR, CT surgery). If EP would become more involved with general coverage they could find even more pts

 

[EPADHA]

appreciate the response. I agree that its going to take a few years before evidence to rigorously support afib ablation becomes available.
Moreover, I think that the academic EP docs are isolating themselves from general cardiology as opposed to embracing them.