ASPC Announces Cardiometabolic Medicine Fellowship Training Program Slated to Begin July 2024

HOUSTON, Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) has announced the development of a 2-year fellowship program that will support the creation of cardiometabolic training programs nationwide and increase the number of expert clinicians equipped to effectively manage patients with cardiometabolic risk factors. The first cardiometabolic fellow-in-training is slated to begin as early as July 2024.

The rate of metabolic diseases – obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus – have been steadily increasing in the United States and across the globe. In 2019, of the 37 million people in the U.S. who were estimated to have diabetes, nearly 25% of them were undiagnosed, and the total number is expected to triple by 2060.^1,2 The number of U.S. adults in 2020 with obesity and severe obesity are projected to increase from 42% to 50% and 18% to 25% respectively in 2030.³ The rate of metabolic syndrome has increased 25% from 1988 to 2012, representing a third of the U.S. population.⁴

ASPC President, Martha Gulati, MD states "Metabolic diseases are noted to have a strong association with increased risk of many chronic diseases including atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation, dementia, and cancer. As the epidemic of the metabolic diseases continues to worsen, comprehensive management of cardiometabolic diseases is crucial to prevent downstream diseases and adverse effects."

Historically, the care of cardiometabolic diseases has been fragmented between primary care physicians and specialists such as endocrinologists, cardiologists, and less often hepatologists and nephrologists.⁵ This approach has been characterized by sparse interaction among specialists and lack of ownership of the field by any specialty or type of physician. As a result, the cardiometabolic patient is left without a "home", instead being shuffled between primary and specialty clinics. 

The ASPC's cardiometabolic training program is designed for institutions and centers with established Cardiometabolic Clinics and ready access to experts of multiple specialties for the overall care of cardiometabolic patients. 

Now available on the ASPC's website www.aspconline.org is an overview of this program's requirements, eligibility for institutions to receive the grant, and the institutional grant application. The goal of each grant is to support institutions in developing the new fellowship program, as well as to provide salary assistance, travel, and publication costs for a single two-year fellow.

The ASPC is a non-profit membership-based association dedicated to educating health care professionals and patients about the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. For more information about ASPC, please visit www.aspconline.org.

References:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/diagnosed-undiagnosed-diabetes.html
2. Lin J, et al. Projection of the future diabetes burden in the United States through 2060. Popul Health Metr. 2018 Jun 15;16(1):9.
3. Ward ZJ, et al. Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2019 Dec 19;381(25):2440-2450.
4. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2017/testimplementationevalxml.htm#contribAff
5. Saxon DR, et al. Cardiometabolic Medicine: Development of a New Subspecialty. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Jul 1;105(7).

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SOURCE The American Society for Preventive Cardiology