ABSTRACT
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), pioneered by Andreas Gruentzig in the 1970s, is a relatively recent addition to cardiovascular medicine. The field has grown and expanded to include a number of different aspects of training, including coronary and peripheral intervention, and structural heart disease (SHD). Numerous organizations oversee the structure, content, and evaluation of medical training, the largest of these being the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), a private, nonprofit organization whose role is to review and accredit graduate medical education programs, and the institutions through which they are sponsored. The certification process, implemented by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), focuses on individual practice knowledge and quality through the maintenance of certification requirements and examination administration. Certification in cardiovascular disease requires preexisting certification in internal medicine followed by an additional 36 months of training, including at least 24 months of clinical patient care.
