Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery
Vol.26 No.2 2010 (161-167)
Takeshi Tsuda
Nemours Cardiac Center, Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, Department of Pediatrics, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Abstract
In this article, fellowship training for Pediatric Cardiology and the associated Board Certifying system in the United States are introduced. In the United States, General Pediatrics is regarded as a medical specialty. It is necessary to complete a 3-year Pediatric Residency Program (or a 4-year Medicine/Pediatrics Program) prior to applying for fellowship training in Pediatric subspecialties. The evaluation of fellows by faculty members of the program is standardized and is an essential part of graduate education in the United States. The Board examination for Pediatric Subspecialties is a written examination and held once every other year by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). Those who have successfully passed the examination are given Board Certification, and are supposed to take a recertification examination in every 10th year to maintain certification status. This Board Certification is widely acknowledged as a high professional achievement that is well accepted by the general society. In addition, all graduate medical programs (residency and fellowship) are also certified and strictly monitored by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Thus both individual trainees and the programs that train them are subject to regulation. To newly establish a Pediatric Cardiology Board System in Japan, we should consider the special historical background of Pediatric Cardiology practice in Japan, but also organize a system that can certify the quality of both individuals completing training and fellowship training programs to meet an internationally recognized standard for Pediatric Cardiology.