Cardiometabolic medicine: a review of the current proposed approaches to revamped training in the United States

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality in the United States, and the population of patients with cardiometabolic conditions, including obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus, continues to grow. There is a need for physicians with specific training in cardiometabolic medicine to provide a 'medical home' for patients with cardiometabolic disease, rather than the fractured care that currently exists in the United States. Cardiometabolic specialists will head multidisciplinary clinics, develop practice guidelines, and lead through research. Proposals for US training in cardiometabolic medicine include: maintain the current training model, a dedicated 2-3 year fellowship following internal medicine residency, a 1-year fellowship following either internal medicine residency or fellowship in cardiology or endocrinology, and certification available to any interested clinician. This review discusses the pros and cons of these approaches. The authors believe that a dedicated cardiometabolic training fellowship has significant advantages over the other options.