Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 10;38(1):1-14.
doi: 10.21470/1678-9741-2022-0125.

Perspectives in Training and Professional Practice of Cardiac Surgery in Latin America

Mateo Marin-Cuartas  1 , Dominique Vervoort  2 , Juan Roberto Contreras  3 , Ovidio A Garcia-Villareal  4 , Alejandro Escobar  5 , Javier Ferrari  6 , Eduard Quintana  7 , Rafael Sadaba  8 , Carlos A Mestres  9   10 , Victorio C Carosella  11 , Rui M S Almeida  12 , Victor Dayan  13 ; Latin American Association of Cardiac and Endovascular Surgery (LACES)
Affiliations

Perspectives in Training and Professional Practice of Cardiac Surgery in Latin America

Mateo Marin-Cuartas et al. Braz J Cardiovasc Surg. .

Abstract

Introduction: There is a lack of information about cardiac surgery training and professional practice in Latin American (LATAM) countries. This study is the first comparative analysis of cardiac surgical training and professional practice across LATAM and provides the fundamentals for future academic projects of the Latin American Association of Cardiac and Endovascular Surgery (LACES).

Methods: International survey-based comparative analysis of the training and professional practice of cardiac surgeons across LATAM. Trainees (residents/fellows) and staf (graduated) surgeons from LATAM countries were included.

Results: A total of 289 respondents (staf surgeons N=221 [76.5%]; residents/fellows N=68 [23.5%]) from 18 different countries participated in the survey. Most surgeons (N=92 [45.3%]) reported being unsatisfied with their salaries. Most respondents (N=181 [62.6%]) stated that it was difficult to obtain a leadership position, and 149 (73.8%) stated that it was difficult to find a job after completing training. Only half of the trainee respondents (N=32 [47.1%]) reported that their program had all resident spots occupied. Only 22.1% (N=15) of residents/fellows were satisfied with their training programs. The majority (N=205 [70.9%]) of respondents would choose cardiac surgery as their specialty again. Most surgeons (N=129 [63.9%]) and residents/fellows (N=52 [76.5%]) indicated that the establishment of a LATAM cardiac surgery board examination would be beneficial.

Conclusion: Modernization and standardization of training, as well as greater access to opportunities, may be required in LATAM to increase professional satisfaction of cardiac surgeons and to reduce disparities in the specialty. Such changes may enhance the regional response to the dynamic challenges in the feld.

Keywords: Cardiac Surgery; Education; Latin America; Leadership; Mentoring; Professional Practice; Surgeons.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Confict of interest: CAM declares receiving speaker fees from CytoSorbents GmbH. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Countries of origin of eligible survey respondents.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Annual cardiac surgical case volume by staf (graduated) surgeon respondents (N=202).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Residents’ and fellows’ level of comfort in performing procedures. CT=computed tomography; ECG=electrocardiogram; ICU=intensive care unit; MRI=magnetic resonance imaging.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wood DE, Farjah F. Global differences in the training, practice, and interrelationship of cardiac and thoracic surgeons. Ann Thorac Surg. 2009;88(2):515–521. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2009.04.010. discussion 521-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cerqueira RJ, Heuts S, Gollmann-Tepeköylü C, Syrjälä SO, Keijzers M, Zientara A, et al. Challenges and satisfaction in cardiothoracic surgery residency programmes: insights from a Europe-wide survey. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2021;32(2):167–173. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivaa248. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nissen AP, Smith JA, Schmitto JD, Mariani S, Almeida RMS, Afoke J, et al. Global perspectives on cardiothoracic, cardiovascular, and cardiac surgical training. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020;S0022-5223(20):30218-X–30218-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2019.12.111. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vervoort D, Meuris B, Meyns B, Verbrugghe P. Global cardiac surgery: access to cardiac surgical care around the world. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020;159(3):987.e6–996.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2019.04.039. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vervoort D, Swain JD, Pezzella AT, Kpodonu J. Cardiac surgery in low-and middle-income countries: a state-of-the-art review. Ann Thorac Surg. 2021;111(4):1394–1400. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2020.05.181. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources