Despite cardiologists’ widespread interest in developing palliative care skills, additional training may be needed to develop expertise in this arena, according to a Fellows in Training/Early Career column published March 19 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Daniela R. Crousillat, MD, et al., conducted a national survey of cardiology fellows and faculty to assess the current quantity and quality of palliative care education for cardiology trainees. The survey found that although cardiologist frequently encounter patients with palliative care needs, there is a lack of high quality palliative care education for cardiologists in training. Among survey respondents, less than 10 percent of fellows and no faculty reported required or elective training in palliative care during cardiology fellowship. “To address these deficits, we propose the development of a task force to define standardized palliative care competencies for cardiology trainees and incorporate educational objectives into future guidelines,” the authors write. “This will enable cardiologists to better integrate high quality symptom management and advance care planning techniques into their armamentarium of tools for treating patients with advanced heart disease.” Read more.