Dear Members, 

During this year’s Scientific Sessions, I shared with attendees that SCAI had formed a task force to develop a fellowship Match for interventional cardiology. Currently, the interventional cardiology fellowship application falls in the second year of the cardiovascular fellowship, which may preclude candidates from having sufficient cath lab experience to decide on an interventional cardiology career. Programs also have variable hiring timelines that have accelerated in the age of virtual interviews, resulting in more competition among fellows and programs and undue pressure on applicants to accept “exploding offers” before they’ve had a chance to complete their interviews.  

This process contrasts with other cardiovascular specialty Match programs that have moved to a twelve-month application cycle, thus providing candidates with more time for professional development, forming a perspective on career choices, and examining available programs. As the leading voice for interventional cardiology, SCAI is poised to lead the effort to ensure fairness in the recruitment of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive pipeline of future interventional cardiologists through the Match program.  

In the coming months, our task force led by J. Dawn Abbott, MD, FSCAI, and Doug Drachman, MD, FSCAI, will be sending out surveys to program directors and other materials filled with more information that will educate our members on the importance of this initiative. Our hope is that by 2025 we’ll officially be a part of the Match process. 

If you’re a program director, fellow, or just have a general interest in the Match process, SCAI will be hosting two Town Halls this Fall where you can learn more about the process. You can register here. You can also learn more by visiting www.scai.org/match.  

As always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts at [email protected] or on Twitter at @SVRaoMD. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the rest of your summer.  

Sincerely,  

Sunil V. Rao, MD, FSCAI 
SCAI President 2022-23