Task Force 1: Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Training in General Cardiology

### 1.1. Document Development Process The Society of Pediatric Cardiology Training Program Directors (SPCTPD) board assembled a Steering Committee that nominated 2 chairs, 1 SPCTPD Steering Committee member, and 5 additional experts from a wide range of program sizes, geographic regions, and subspecialty focuses. Representatives from the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and American Heart Association (AHA) participated. The Steering Committee member was added to provide perspective to each Task Force as a “nonexpert” in that field. Relationships with industry and other entities were not deemed relevant to the creation of a general cardiology training statement; however, employment and affiliation information for authors and peer reviewers are provided in Appendixes 1 and 2, respectively, along with disclosure reporting categories. Comprehensive disclosure information for all authors, including relationships with industry and other entities, is available as an online supplement to this document. The writing committee developed the document, approved it for review by individuals selected by the participating organizations (Appendix 2), and addressed the comments. The final document was approved by the SPCTPD, AAP, and AHA in February 2015 and approved by the ACC in March 2015. This document is considered current until the SPCTPD revises or withdraws it. ### 1.2. Background and Scope The goals of pediatric cardiology training include the acquisition of cognitive and procedural expertise needed to provide high-quality care to the fetus, infant, and child with congenital and acquired cardiovascular disease and the adult with congenital heart disease, along with the acquisition of the academic skills to make meaningful scholarly contributions to the specialty and to develop the capacity for career-long self-education beyond the years of formal training.1 The 2005 training guidelines emphasized the “time” (ie, the number of months or procedures) devoted to a particular “topic.” Since then, competency-based training has become the general framework for medical education and …