MANPOWER DEFICIENCIES IN CARDIOVASCULAR PATHOLOGY - IMPLICATIONS FOR MEDICAL-CARE OF CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASES

The general shortage of pathology manpower has been well documented, b ut virtually no published data are available on cardiovascular patholo gists. To address this situation, the Society for Cardiovascular Patho logy surveyed all chairpersons of academic pathology departments, chie fs of academic clinical cardiovascular programs, including adult and p ediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, in the United States a nd Canada, regarding their perceptions of cardiovascular pathology man power and the training and areas of expertise necessary for a competen t cardiovascular pathologist. Of total respondents, 41% stated that th eir institution's department of pathology needed to add a cardiovascul ar pathologist, 39% of respondents replied that money and funding were available to hire an additional cardiovascular pathologist, yet only 19% stated that their institution intended to add a cardiovascular pat hologist. In regard to career orientation, 77% of respondents wanted a cardiovascular pathologist capable of both diagnostic work and basic research. The survey results show a significant discrepancy between ap parent institutional needs for cardiovascular pathologists and hiring plans, implying that there is a substantial shortage of cardiovascular pathologists. This deficiency in cardiovascular pathology manpower ha s important ramifications for the amount and quality of medical servic es that can be provided to clinical cardiovascular colleagues in an er a of increasingly complex pathobiological information and intervention al strategies in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseas es.