ACC Workforce
Task Force
In September 2006, Dr.
Steven Nissen, the President of the ACC at the time, responded to growing
concern about the supply of cardiologists in our country by appointing
the Workforce Task Force. The charge of this Task Force reads as follows:This task force is charged
with defining ACC strategies for increasing the cardiovascular workforce
to a level that is optimal for providing high quality, accessible cardiovascular
care. Issues that the task force will address include, but are not limited
to: Trends in physician workforce supply and demand; training and certification
issues; supply and funding of cardiovascular fellowship positions; potential
innovative care team models; demand for specialization (e.g. interventional,
echocardiography, etc.); and workforce diversity.
Members
Initiatives Underway
-
Conduct annual surveys
to identify and track the demand for CV specialists in various sectors
of the workforce (i.e. private practices, academic institutions). Results of first annual practice administrator survey, January 2007
-
Develop implementation
tools to promote utilization of mid-level practitioners and availability
of part-time work options to increase the efficiency of the existing CV
workforce as well as make CV medicine an attractive career option.
-
Advocate for increased
Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding from the federal government.
-
Develop case studies
of successful private practice/academic institution partnerships to promote
funding of CV fellows.
-
Increase representation
of women and underrepresented minorities in CV medicine.
-
Influence ABIM as they
redesign the “core” of internal medicine to consider establishing
a “blended track” that would allow physicians who choose to
specialize in CV medicine to focus their education in the third year of
IM residency on CV-related experience, eventually reducing the total time
needed to become Board certified in CV medicine by one year (and thus
making it a more appealing career option).
Issues of Interest
Generational Differences
Young physicians are seeking
a different lifestyle than many of their predecessors. Specifically, the
new generation of physicians is more interested in striking a balance
between their professional and family lives. Preliminary findings from
an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) survey of physicians
under the age of 50 show that:
-
One out of three, or 66 percent of doctors under 50, are not interested
in working longer hours for more money
-
Seventy-one percent of young doctors identify having family and
personal time as an important factor in a desirable practice.
These generational differences can play a major role in practices whose
partner physicians may have varying perceptions of the younger physicians
joining their practice. Some practices are finding it challenging to hire
from a pool of physicians whose values are different from their own. The
Workforce Task Force aims to help practices attract and retain young talent
and to find positive ways to leverage the generational differences that
exist to maximize efficiency.
Gen X vs. Boomer: A Call Schedule Solution
Get a Life—Go Flextime
Baby bias: Setting Policies
That Are Fair for Workers
Part-time Work
Studies are showing an increasing trend toward part-time work among physicians.
While this phenomenon has historically been linked to women physicians,
men are increasingly among those requesting part-time work opportunities
in medicine. According to Merritt Hawkins & Associates VP for recruiting
Mark Smith, the desire to spend more time with family, or to cut back
on work hours prior to retirement, are the most commonly cited reasons
for seeking part-time work.
The Workforce Task Force aims to keep as many cardiovascular specialists
in the workforce as possible, and one key to doing so is to ensure that
physicians in various situations are able to contribute to the cardiovascular
workforce. If a physician needs to cut back on their hours in order to
tend to personal issues such as having a child or tending to an ill family
member, they should be accommodated rather than pushed out of the workforce
entirely. The Task Force wants to provide practices with the information
and tools needed to accommodate their physicians in these situations without
putting an undue financial burden on the practice.
The alternative work schedule: Is part-time possible for a cardiologist?
When a doctor wants to
work part time
Gen X vs. boomer: A call
schedule solution
Get a life—Go flextime |
