Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTypes of CardiologistsCardiology SpecialtiesTraining and CertificationsTypes of TestsTreatmentsSalaryPreparing for an Appointment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Types of Cardiologists
Cardiology Specialties
Training and Certifications
Types of Tests
Treatments
Salary
Preparing for an Appointment
A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in disorders of the heart and circulatory system. They are trained to diagnose, treat, and prevent conditions ranging from high blood pressure and heart rhythm disorders to potentially life-threatening heart attacks and stroke.
Cardiologists receive extensive education and training, including four years of undergraduate studies, four years of medical school, three years of residency in internal medicine orpediatrics, and three more years in a cardiology fellowship. All told, there are around 32,800 practicing cardiologists in the United States.
This article covers the different types of cardiologists and the specialties they have. It also discusses cardiology tests and treatment as well as what to expect at a cardiology appointment.
Cardiologists are not surgeons. Those who perform surgery are calledcardiothoracicsurgeons and undergo a surgical, rather than internal medicine or pediatric, residency.
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There are two main types of cardiologists: adult cardiologists and pediatric cardiologists. While all cardiologists study disorders of the heart, the study of adult and childhood heart conditions involves entirely different educational pathways. As a result, an adult cardiologist (simply referred to as a cardiologist) would not have the skills to treat children, and a pediatric cardiologist would be ill-equipped to treat adults.
Adult Cardiologist
The adult cardiologist only sees adult patients. Although a cardiologist may treat a congenital heart defect in adults, their work is largely composed of disorders that develop later in life, most often as a consequence ofcardiovascular disease. The conditions a cardiologist may treat can be broadly classified as follows:
Pediatric Cardiologist
Pediatric cardiologists only treat children. As with adult cardiologists, pediatric cardiologists may be faced with conditions such as cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, or hypertension, but the causes would not be associated with age, smoking, diet, or other lifestyle factors that contribute to heart disease in adults.
A great many of the cardiovascular conditions seen in children are congenital, meaning that the child was born with it. These include:
Although many cardiologists practice general cardiology, others will pursue subspecialties that allow them to focus on certain conditions or populations. Examples include:
These subspecialties typically require one to two years of additional training.
Training and Certification for Cardiologists
It takes at least 14 years of education to obtain board certification in cardiology.
4 Years:The training pathway begins with four years of college to obtain a bachelor’s degree in a science or a health-related field.
+4 Years:You would then begin medical school, during which you would spend the first two years in classroom study and the second doing clinical rotations in hospitals. This would eventually lead to a degree as either adoctor of medicine(MD) or adoctor of osteopathic medicine(DO).
In order to begin practicing, you would need to obtain a medical license from your state’s licensing board. To do so, you would need to pass the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and, in some states, an additional state exam. An increasing number of states now allow DOs to take the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) instead of the USMLE.
+3 Years:Once you get your license, you would begin a hospital-based residency program in either internal medicine or pediatrics for the next three years. Before specializing in cardiology, you will need to complete clinical rotations in different fields of practice, such as infectious diseases or gastroenterology. In your third year of residency, you would start making applications to cardiac fellowship programs of your choice.
The exam takes 14.25 hours to complete; if passed, you would be board certified to practice cardiology in the United States.ABIM certification lasts for 10 years. During this time, you would you need to maintain a certain number of hours in continuing medical education (CME) programs to keep your training updated.
Types of Tests a Cardiologist Uses
A cardiologist will typically perform a variety of tests to diagnose a heart condition. These may include:
How Cardiologists Treat Patients
Cardiologists are trained in a variety of non-invasive to minimally invasive treatments. People who require surgery or more invasive procedures would be referred to a cardiothoracic orvascular surgeon.
Many chronic cardiovascular conditions can be treated or managed with medications. These include drugs that reduce your blood pressure (such asACE inhibitors,angiotensin II receptor inhibitors,beta blockers, andcalcium channel blockers) and improve blood cholesterol (statinsandcholesterol absorption inhibitors). Heart failure can be treated with a combination of these and other drugs.
The cardiologist would also work with you to make positive lifestyle changes to reduce your heart disease risk, including routine exercise, weight loss, optimization of diet, smoking cessation, and stress reduction.
In addition to medications and preventive health, there are a number of procedures that cardiologists are qualified to perform:
How Heart Disease Is Treated
Salary for Cardiologists
According to the 2019 Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report, cardiologists in the United States earn an average income of $430,000, just below what orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, and ear-nose-and-throatdoctors make.
What to Expect at a Cardiology Appointment
To get the most out of a cardiology appointment, arrive early and bring any tests, reports, or imaging studies relevant to your condition. You can also ask your primary care physician to forward these electronically in advance of your appointment.
It also helps to write down all of the medications you take, both pharmaceutical and over-the-counter, and to include any information that can aid in the diagnosis (including past hospitalizations or a family history of heart disease).
Before your appointment, check that the office accepts your health insurance. You should also find out what labs they used to ensure they arein-network providers. If not, you may be faced with higher out-of-pocket expenses.
Arrive at your appointment prepared to ask questions. It is important for you to understand your condition and the treatments involved so that you can make fully informed decisions. Here are 10 questions to consider:
Summary
Cardiologists are trained to diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders of the heart and circulatory system. Cardiologists treat adult heart conditions while pediatric cardiologists treat only children. Some cardiologists practice general cardiology while others pursue subspecialties that allow them to focus on certain conditions. It takes at least 14 years of education to obtain board certification in cardiology.
Cardiologists use different tests to diagnose heart conditions, including electrocardiograms, Holter monitors, event monitors, cardiac stress testing, and MRIs. They are also qualified to perform procedures such as pacemaker implantations, percutaneous coronary intervention, and cardiac defibrillator implantation.
If you have a cardiology appointment make sure to bring any relevant tests, reports, or imaging. Consider bringing a list of questions to help you make informed decisions about your health.
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mehta LS, Fisher K, Rzeszut AK, et al.Current demographic status of cardiologists in the United States.JAMA Cardiol. 2019;4(10):1029-1033. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2019.3247Federation of State Medical Boards.State Specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure.American Board of Internal Medicine.Cardiovascular Disease Certification Exam.Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2019. 2019.Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2018. 2018.Additional ReadingArnett, D.; Blumenthal, R.; Albert, M. et al.2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Circulation.2019 Mar 17:CIR0000000000000678. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678.Shah, K. and Wang A.Picking a Fellowship: Getting Your Priorities Straight in a Timely Fashion.J Amer Coll Cardiol.2015;66(8). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.07.009.
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mehta LS, Fisher K, Rzeszut AK, et al.Current demographic status of cardiologists in the United States.JAMA Cardiol. 2019;4(10):1029-1033. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2019.3247Federation of State Medical Boards.State Specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure.American Board of Internal Medicine.Cardiovascular Disease Certification Exam.Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2019. 2019.Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2018. 2018.Additional ReadingArnett, D.; Blumenthal, R.; Albert, M. et al.2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Circulation.2019 Mar 17:CIR0000000000000678. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678.Shah, K. and Wang A.Picking a Fellowship: Getting Your Priorities Straight in a Timely Fashion.J Amer Coll Cardiol.2015;66(8). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.07.009.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Mehta LS, Fisher K, Rzeszut AK, et al.Current demographic status of cardiologists in the United States.JAMA Cardiol. 2019;4(10):1029-1033. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2019.3247Federation of State Medical Boards.State Specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure.American Board of Internal Medicine.Cardiovascular Disease Certification Exam.Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2019. 2019.Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2018. 2018.
Mehta LS, Fisher K, Rzeszut AK, et al.Current demographic status of cardiologists in the United States.JAMA Cardiol. 2019;4(10):1029-1033. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2019.3247
Federation of State Medical Boards.State Specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure.
American Board of Internal Medicine.Cardiovascular Disease Certification Exam.
Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2019. 2019.
Medscape.Medscape Cardiologist Compensation Report 2018. 2018.
Arnett, D.; Blumenthal, R.; Albert, M. et al.2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Circulation.2019 Mar 17:CIR0000000000000678. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678.Shah, K. and Wang A.Picking a Fellowship: Getting Your Priorities Straight in a Timely Fashion.J Amer Coll Cardiol.2015;66(8). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.07.009.
Arnett, D.; Blumenthal, R.; Albert, M. et al.2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Circulation.2019 Mar 17:CIR0000000000000678. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678.
Shah, K. and Wang A.Picking a Fellowship: Getting Your Priorities Straight in a Timely Fashion.J Amer Coll Cardiol.2015;66(8). DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.07.009.
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