Not sure if this is the exact right place to ask this, but I'll give it a try. I am Med-Peds intern, and I have developed an interest in EP. I find the procedural and intellectual aspects very appealing. I was wondering if anyone had any insights on the differences between adult and pediatric EP. Obviously there will be some inherent differences in the type of procedures you will do, but how striking are the differences? Any insight into job market differences? I have also heard of people doing some kind of combined fellowship where they get certified and adult and peds EP (although I can only imagine how many years that would take), and was wondering if anyone knew anything about that? Thanks in advance.
Adult vs. Peds EP
- Thread starter tarheel86
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As for market, my impression that the peds EP market is pretty decent, but that is not from first-hand experience interviewing for jobs (I'm a general pediatric cardiologist). I have no better bead on adult EP than what I can read on this board.
As for peds EP itself, much is actually quite similar to adult EP. There can be differences in epidemiology of arrhythmias by age groups (not nearly as much A Fib seen in the peds community), but AVNRT is going to be ablated similarly in all ages. The big differences are going to be in sizes of patients (wide age range from babies [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20072805] to middle aged adults) and underlying anatomy often altered by surgical interventions. Poking across a Fontan baffle and doing an EPS/ablation in a complex single ventricle is a fair bit less straight forward than doing a procedure in a structurally normal heart. But both communities are going to see a variety of cardiac functional levels, pacemakers, and complex arrhythmias even in structurally normal hearts.
I am always immensely grateful for what the peds EPs bring to the table and I think they have a satisfying and varied career.
As for peds EP itself, much is actually quite similar to adult EP. There can be differences in epidemiology of arrhythmias by age groups (not nearly as much A Fib seen in the peds community), but AVNRT is going to be ablated similarly in all ages. The big differences are going to be in sizes of patients (wide age range from babies [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20072805] to middle aged adults) and underlying anatomy often altered by surgical interventions. Poking across a Fontan baffle and doing an EPS/ablation in a complex single ventricle is a fair bit less straight forward than doing a procedure in a structurally normal heart. But both communities are going to see a variety of cardiac functional levels, pacemakers, and complex arrhythmias even in structurally normal hearts.
I am always immensely grateful for what the peds EPs bring to the table and I think they have a satisfying and varied career.
