Current Status of Cardiology Residencies: Results of the 5th National Residents’ Survey (ENARE V)

Abstract

Background: Due to the great disparity between medical residencies, the Argentine Council of Cardiology Residents has developed surveys to know the reality of its members. Objective: The aim of this survey was to present the results of the fifth survey on this topic. Methods: A closed and pre-established survey was carried out during the 35th Inter-Residencies of Cardiology Conference. Results: A total of 390 participants were included in the study. Median age was 29 years, 54% were male, 54.2% belonged to private institutions and 34.9% lived in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Thirty-two per cent of first-year residents performed more than 8 shifts per month, 33.2% worked more than 80 hours/week, and 33.6% reported sleeping less than 35 hours/week. Only 48.5% said they were supervised on decision making of hospitalized patients. Likewise, 65% of participants did not have at least one of the basic rotations for a training program in cardiology. In 5.8% of cases they had lower incomes than the national minimum wage, while 14.9% did not receive meals during their workday, 41.5% had no health coverage and 33.3% had no labor risk insurance. In 90.8% of cases, residents said that if they could they would choose their specialty again, but 23.1% said they would not choose their training center again. Conclusions: Although the residency system is the best method for training specialists, it is necessary to implement urgent changes in order to improve the conditions in which they are developed, both academically and from the working point of view