Russian Society of Cardiology (RSC).With the participation of Russian Scientific Society of Clinical Electrophysiology, Arrhythmology and Cardiac Pacing, Russian Association of Pediatric Cardiologists, Society for Holter Monitoring and Noninvasive Electrocardiology.Approved by the Scientific and Practical Council of the Russian Ministry of Health.
Background:
Limited data exist on training of European paediatric and adult congenital cardiologists.
Methods:
A structured and approved questionnaire was circulated to national delegates of Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology in 33 European countries.
Results:
Delegates from 30 countries (91%) responded. Paediatric cardiology was not recognised as a distinct speciality by the respective ministry of Health in seven countries (23%). Twenty countries (67%) have formally accredited paediatric cardiology training programmes, seven (23%) have substantial informal (not accredited or certified) training, and three (10%) have very limited or no programme. Twenty-two countries have a curriculum. Twelve countries have a national training director. There was one paediatric cardiology centre per 2.66 million population (range 0.87–9.64 million), one cardiac surgical centre per 4.73 million population (range 1.63–10.72 million), and one training centre per 4.29 million population (range 1.63–10.72 million population). The median number of paediatric cardiology fellows per training programme was 4 (range 1–17), and duration of training was 3 years (range 2–5 years). An exit examination in paediatric cardiology was conducted in 16 countries (53%) and certification provided by 20 countries (67%). Paediatric cardiologist number is affected by gross domestic product (R2 = 0.41).
Conclusion:
Training varies markedly across European countries. Although formal fellowship programmes exist in many countries, several countries have informal training or no training. Only a minority of countries provide both exit examination and certification. Harmonisation of training and standardisation of exit examination and certification could reduce variation in training thereby promoting high-quality care by European congenital cardiologists.
Job satisfaction is widely seen as a significant factor in an organisation's efficiency. In healthcare, job satisfaction is very important because it helps to develop a clinic's human resource potential, and thus to influence the quality of the medical services provided. The aim of this study is to compare physicians' job satisfaction levels in public, private, and departmental healthcare organisations. Respondents were asked to evaluate their overall attitude towards their work and their levels of satisfaction with factors such as salary, working conditions, and team atmosphere. The results of the study showed that the physicians with the highest job satisfaction levels are in the private sector (67%), whereas physicians in the departmental and the public sectors have much lower job satisfaction levels (9% and 11%, respectively). In terms of salary, physicians who work in public clinics have lower levels of satisfaction (11%) than physicians who work in other types of clinics. Most of the physicians surveyed appear to be content with the team atmosphere in their workplace, with around 70% of respondents in all organisation types indicating that they are satisfied with this aspect of their work. Logistic regression analysis showed that the motivating factor which most influences the satisfaction levels of healthcare workers in public clinics is their working conditions, whereas the factor that most influences the satisfaction levels of physicians in the private sector is their salary. Meanwhile, the factors that most influence the satisfaction levels of physicians in departmental organisations are both their working conditions and their salary.
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