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Review
. 2014 Jun 3;63(21):2199-208.
doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.03.011. Epub 2014 Apr 2.

Challenges facing early career academic cardiologists

Carl W Tong  1 , Tariq Ahmad  2 , Evan L Brittain  3 , T Jared Bunch  4 , Julie B Damp  3 , Todd Dardas  5 , Amalea Hijar  6 , Joseph A Hill  7 , Anthony A Hilliard  8 , Steven R Houser  9 , Eiman Jahangir  10 , Andrew M Kates  11 , Darlene Kim  12 , Brian R Lindman  11 , John J Ryan  13 , Anne K Rzeszut  6 , Chittur A Sivaram  14 , Anne Marie Valente  15 , Andrew M Freeman  12
Affiliations
Review

Challenges facing early career academic cardiologists

Carl W Tong et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. .

Abstract

Early career academic cardiologists currently face unprecedented challenges that threaten a highly valued career path. A team consisting of early career professionals and senior leadership members of American College of Cardiology completed this white paper to inform the cardiovascular medicine profession regarding the plight of early career cardiologists and to suggest possible solutions. This paper includes: 1) definition of categories of early career academic cardiologists; 2) general challenges to all categories and specific challenges to each category; 3) obstacles as identified by a survey of current early career members of the American College of Cardiology; 4) major reasons for the failure of physician-scientists to receive funding from National Institute of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute career development grants; 5) potential solutions; and 6) a call to action with specific recommendations.

Keywords: academic medical center; clinician-educator; early career academic cardiologist; physician-scientist.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. NIH/NHLBI Funding and Proposal Success Rate by Year
(A) NHLBI funding grew rapidly from 2000 to 2005, grew again by smaller increments from 2008 to 2010, and declined steadily since 2010. (B) NHLBI proposal success rates have declined from 29.2% in 2003 to 13.3% in 2012. Data were extracted from references (21, 22).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Reasons for Choosing Academic Cardiology
A majority of the early academic cardiologists actively sought academic positions for altruistic reasons.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Perceived Obstacles to Academic Pursuits
Survey identified complying with regulatory burden, unstable funding, detrimental use of RVUs, being disadvantaged when competing with PhDs, lack of good onsite mentoring, home institution lacking resources, lacking collaborators, lacking bridge funding, and insufficient time during work hours as major obstacles.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Factors Leading to Obtaining >$500K of External Grants (red arrows
Spearman’s Rho analyses identified factors that correlated with success in obtaining >$500K of external grant funding. These factors include home institution placing value on academic pursuits, excellent onsite mentoring, home institution possessing sufficient resources, and readily available collaborators.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Financial Disincentives for Early-Career Academic Cardiologists
(A) Early career members generally did not receive RVU credits for academic pursuits, and (B) took reductions in pay for pursuing academic cardiology.
Figure 6
Figure 6. NIH/NHLBI Funding of Career Development Grants by Year
NHLBI funding of K08 (basic research) and K23 (clinical research) career development grants fluctuated from 2003–2012 in proposal success rate (A) and amount (B). Data were extracted from reference (4).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Is it time to launch JACC: early career?
    Shenoy MH, Tuliani TA. Shenoy MH, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Sep 9;64(10):1068. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.05.054. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014. PMID: 25190246 No abstract available.
  • Reply: is it time to launch JACC: early career?
    Tong CW; Early Career Academic Cardiologist Workgroup of the American College of Cardiology. Tong CW, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Sep 9;64(10):1068-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.06.1165. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014. PMID: 25190247 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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