The state of transcatheter aortic valve implantation training in Canadian cardiac surgery residency programs.

Background: The current state of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) training for Canadian cardiac surgical residents is unknown. Our goals were to establish a national inventory of TAVI educational resources, elucidate the role of residents in TAVI programs, and determine the attitudes and perspectives of residents and program directors regarding the importance of TAVI technology and training.

Methods: We sent Web-based surveys and reminders to all Canadian cardiac surgical residents and program directors between February and July 2017. We used descriptive analyses to summarize data in an aggregate and anonymous manner. We analyzed patterned responses to open-ended survey questions using thematic analysis.

Results: Seventy-eight of 92 residents (85%) and 11 of 12 program directors (92%) completed the survey, with broad representation from across Canada. A minority of residents (14 [18%]) and program directors (4 [36%]) reported that TAVI training in their program was adequate. Only 3 program directors (27%) reported that their residents had access to TAVI simulation training. Although most residents (76 [97%]) and program directors (10 [91%]) agreed that TAVI was important to the trainee's future practice, about two-thirds (54 [69%] and 7 [64%], respectively) agreed that TAVI should be a focus of fellowship training. A perceived lack of interest from interventional cardiologists to teach surgical residents, competition from TAVI fellows and lack of formalized time during residency were identified as perceived barriers to TAVI training.

Conclusion: As Canadian surgical residency training moves toward a Competence by Design curriculum, there remains a pressing need to create uniform learning objectives and expectations in the TAVI curriculum.