Standardized Training for Physicians Practicing Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care.

Abstract

In the vast majority of Children's Hospitals, the critically ill patient can be found in one of three locations: the PICU, the neonatal ICU, and the cardiac ICU. Training, certification, and maintenance of certification for neonatology and critical care medicine are over seen by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of Pediatrics. There is no standardization of training or oversight of certification and maintenance of certification for pediatric cardiac critical care. The curricula from the twenty 4th year pediatric cardiac critical care training programs were collated, along with the learning objectives from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society published "Curriculum for Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine." This initiative is endorsed by the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society as a first step toward Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education oversight of training and American Board of Pediatrics oversight of maintenance of certification. A taskforce was established of cardiac intensivists, including the directors of all 4th year pediatric cardiac critical care training programs. Using modified Delphi methodology, learning objectives, rotational requirements, and institutional requirements for providing training were developed. In the current era of increasing specialized care in pediatric cardiac critical care, standardized training for pediatric cardiac critical care is paramount to optimizing outcomes.