A survey of national cardiology workforce in China

Abstract

Cardiologists provided specialized care for patients with various cardiac conditions. The qualification system of subspecialty as cardiologist is well established in developed countries. However, there is no standardized national training programmes and common board certification for cardiovascular professionals in China. We launched a survey of national cardiology workforce to assess general characteristics of cardiovascular care providers in China. This survey includes licensed physicians who are currently working as cardiovascular care givers in tertiary or secondary hospitals in mainland China (Taiwan, Hongkong, and Macau were not included). A total of 25 240 physicians from 31 provinces responded to survey, achieving an estimated response rate at 76.5%. Data on demographic information, work characteristics, educational background, and professional skills of the physicians were collected. Results showed that cardiologist to population ratio is 1.9 per 100 000 and the number of cardiologist per 100 000 population over age of 65 is 21.3. Average age of respondents is 38.22 ± 8.19 and average time of medical practice after receiving medical certification is 12.1 ± 8.5 years. By gender and educational background, 58.5% of subjects are male and 33.3% had postgraduate degree. 25.9% of surveyed cardiologists were actively practicing interventional cardiology, but only 39.4% of them were licensed with interventional cardiology certification. Proportion of cardiologists worked on cardiac pacing, ablation of arrhythmia, and interventional treatment of congenital heart disease is 24.2, 14.1, and 9%, respectively, accordingly only 17.4, 36.5, and 25.6% of them had received specialty certifications. Physicians in eastern and middle regions had better educational background and training opportunities than those in western regions. This current survey is the most comprehensive investigation on cardiology workforce in China. The comparative study indicated a scarcity of cardiologists in China. This survey also helps greatly to guide authorities on decision making to improve training and specialty certification system of Cardiologist in China. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved.