The current situation in training and education of assistant staff in interventional cardiology

The number of heart catheter laboratories in Germany has been increasing fo r years. While there are general training regulations for cardiologists, no thing comparable exists for the assistant staff in interventional cardiolog y. Qualification is settled within the department. Aim of this study was th e determination of the demand in general training and qualification courses . All heart catheter laboratories in North Rhine-Westphalia were questioned . Assistants (227) and medical directors (43) from 48 laboratories (54.0% ret urns) answered. Of the assistants 59.1% were qualified nurses, 28.2% consul ting room assistants, and 10.1% medical technicians. Most of them were fema le (85.0%); the average age was 34.3 years. Of the assistants 73.1% were no t trained in their current hospital or practice. Before their occupation in cardiac catheterization, 51.8% worked in nursing and 17.6% in EGG, sonogra phy, etc. None of the 227 assistants was still in training at the time of q uestioning although 68.3% of the hospitals and practices accept trainees. Nine out of ten laboratories offer inhouse qualification, mainly in radiati on protection (82.1%) and medical fields (66.7%), and 85.3% of the assistan ts have already attended these. Of the medical directors 90.0% and 99.2% of the assistants consider general training and qualification courses to be n ecessary. When asked for important fields for training programs, the assistant staff mentions "medicine" (77.6%), "examination assistance" (67.0%), and "EDP" (6 0.4%), while the medical directors place importance on "quality management" (89.2%) and "radiation protection" (86.5%). The job market for assistants the interventional cardiology is still good: 14.3% of the laboratories plan to take on new employees, 61.9% want to keep their number of assistants. T he share of part-time work is low (16.8%). The momentary qualification and training of assistant staff in interventional cardiology does not match the demand. General programs for trainees with universally applicable teaching objectives and examination regulations are necessary.