Paediatric Cardiology
Programme description
GMC Reference: WOS/2149
A career in paediatric cardiology is highly rewarding and stimulating. However, it is also motivationally demanding with the potential for a significant impact on work-life balance. Training in this specialty frequently requires re-location within the United Kingdom, if not further afield. As such, individuals considering a career in paediatric cardiology should not embark on this without careful reflection and after taking the advice of both consultants and those in the training program. This very brief prospectus provides an overview of training in paediatric cardiology in Scotland. Potential applicants to the training program should discuss their career aspirations with the Training Program Director.
The Training Centre
The Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) in Glasgow is the primary training site for paediatric cardiology in Scotland. It holds GMC accreditation as a training site for paediatric cardiology in conjunction with the Golden Jubilee National Hospital (GJNH), also in Glasgow, which is the Scottish centre for adult congenital cardiac care. RHC is the surgical and interventional base of the Scottish Paediatric Cardiac Service (SPCS) and draws on a catchment population of over 5 million. A Level 2 centre is located in Edinburgh, the three consultant staff based there also being fully integrated into staffing in Glasgow.
All paediatric cardiac surgery and intervention in Scotland is undertaken at RHC, this being over 300 cardiac surgical procedures and over 220 catheter interventions or electrophysiology cases per annum. Cardiology patients are admitted to the neonatal and paediatric intensive care units, and to a dedicated cardiac care ward. The cardiac service is staffed by seven cardiologists based in Glasgow, three in Edinburgh and by three congenital cardiac surgeons who work across the RHC and GJNH sites. The core cardiac team also includes 12 physiologists, four liaison nurses and four dedicated cardiac Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs). Unit patient activity includes four and a half all-day operating sessions, two all-day catheterisation sessions and weekly electrophysiology and pacing sessions. There are multiple weekly outpatient sessions and at least two weekly fetal cardiology clinics. An ANP-led pre-admission clinic is run weekly. Sub-specialty clinics in pulmonary hypertension, inherited cardiac conditions and cardiomyopathy are held every several months in conjunction with teams from Great Ormond Street Hospital. Outreach clinics are held in multiple towns and cities across Scotland, most in conjunction with a local paediatrician with specialist skills in cardiology. The cardiac service has an active research program and is associated with the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.
Five adult congenital cardiologists provide the adult congenital arm of the Scottish congenital cardiac service at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, at which adult surgery and intervention are commissioned.
Training
Entry into the training program in paediatric cardiology in Scotland is via a national grid system and is uncoupled from the paediatric and adult cardiology training schemes from which it can accept ST4 entrants. Recruitment is held annually. All areas of training required for the delivery of the curriculum leading to attainment of a CCT in paediatric cardiology are represented in Glasgow. The training posts are administered through the Scottish Deanery, West Region. The Trust adheres to the Deanery’s requirements for study leave and funding.
All new acute neonatal referrals requiring early treatment and all children requiring surgery or intervention attend the service in Glasgow. This centralisation of activity from across Scotland ensures excellent training exposure and a rapid acquisition of skills, further compounded by the relatively small program establishment number of three, along with a Clinical Fellow. This helps to ensure all base competencies are accrued within the first three year core training period (ST4-6). In ST7-8 trainees undertake training in a subspecialty. This special interest training can be undertaken in most areas with the exclusion of transplant medicine and pulmonary hypertension, though it is routinely recommended trainees aspire to gain experience in an additional centre(s) in the case of other areas of special interest.
Paediatric cardiology trainees in Glasgow take part in a resident partial shift roster, with provision of overnight call being non-resident and on weeknights only. This system optimises the ability to take advantage of training opportunities when they occur, whilst maintaining required compensatory rest. The rota is compliant with European Working Time Directive regulations. Trainees are based throughout their training at RHC, with exposure to adult congenital cardiology provided at the GJNH. As well as paediatric cardiology trainees, the training grade on the unit is staffed by several paediatric trainees and an FY2, with additional support from the ANPs. A general paediatric trainee developing special expertise in paediatric cardiology (SPIN) is frequently attached to the service.
ST4-6 trainees are assigned to rotating weeks of ward duty, cardiac catheterisation and echocardiography as well as other less directed weeks. The timetable for trainees in ST7-8 are constructed around their subspecialty training requirements. Allowance for all trainees is made for SPA time. Attendance at outpatient sessions supported by a consultant is built into every week. Trainee attendance at outreach clinics is encouraged in the latter years of training. There is an active teaching program, consisting of weekly sessions facilitated by a cardiologist, weekly surgical teaching and twice monthly echocardiography teaching. A unit-wide CME session is held on Fridays. Trainees are expected to participate in the teaching and supervision of junior doctors and medical students, including lecturing. Participation in audit and research initiatives is expected, both for unit purposes and for training portfolio requirements. Active contribution to the weekly joint cardiac conference (JCC) is expected, as is preparation of patients for monthly morbidity and mortality meetings. Trainees are enabled to attend the compulsory national training days. As trainees progress through the program they are expected to become involved in the running of the service at a greater than point-of-care level, with early exposure to management and clinical governance principles.
Research, audit, teaching and management opportunities
Where the training is delivered?
- The Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow
- Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Clydebank
Contacts and useful links
Information |
|
| Programme type (Deanery or National): | Deanery |
| Administration office: | National |
| Lead Dean / Director: | Professor Alan Denison |
| Responsible Associate Postgraduate Dean or Assistant Director (GP): | Dr Chris Lilley |
| Specialty or Sub-specialty: | Specialty |
| Date of GMC recent approval: | Aug 2010 |
| Associated Royal College - Faculty: |
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health |
| Curriculum and associated assessment system: | https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/standards-guidance-and-curricula/curricula/paediatric-cardiology-curriculum |
| Programme administrator: |
Name:
Carol Leiper
Email: carol.leiper@nhs.scot |
| Programme director(s): |
Name:
Dr Benjamin Smith Email: ben.smith5@nhs.scot |
| Quality of training: | Quality Management |
This page was last updated on: 02.09.2025 at 13.27