Cardiovascular Perfusion Program Creates Excitement

Charged with the operation of extracorporeal circulation equipment during surgery, the task of a cardiovascular perfusionist is quite literally to keep patients alive. It is a role that demands great quickness and efficiency, as well as the detailed knowledge and sound judgment of a highly trained specialist.

LTU and Comprehensive Care Services have teamed up to create a bold new preparatory program with the purpose of helping to supply the medical profession with its next generation of outstanding cardiovascular perfusionists. The Cardiovascular Perfusion program is already attracting interest, causing excitement, and generating conversation. From one hundred applications received for entrance into the first cohort, twelve exceptional students were selected. Based on the great success of the inaugural group, the program welcomed a second cohort of 12 students for fall 2023 with intentions of welcoming more students for the third cohort after accreditation.

The program incorporates theory and practice in a highly rigorous “learning-by-doing” approach. Students are offered intensive didactic instruction through lecture, which is then reinforced through hands-on practice in the high-fidelity simulation lab at Comprehensive Care Services headquarters in Plymouth. There, they are guided and taught by a practicing perfusionist, utilizing a physiologically responsive Califia patient simulator to imitate real clinical cardiopulmonary bypass and ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) scenarios.

The last twelve months of the program consist of clinical rotations, as students are placed at clinical locations nationwide to work with Certified Cardiovascular Perfusionist preceptors in the operating room. They observe and complete hands-on experience in the operating room every day while completing online courses and working on their capstone research project with LTU faculty.

Program administrators have been tenacious in their quest for accreditation, working diligently to meet the milestones set forth by the Accreditation Committee-Perfusion Education (AC-PE) and the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). Towards this end, they have enjoyed the solid and enthusiastic support of the Chair of Biomedical Engineering, the Dean, the Provost, and the President. A superlative site visit took place this fall, as AC-PE and CAAHEP examine the program scrupulously to document program fidelity to curriculum integrity, faculty qualifications, and clinical site standards.

Kristen Fanelli, Assistant Program Director for LTU’s Cardiovascular Perfusion Program, is encouraged by the success of the program’s first cohort.

“They have far exceeded our expectations, and the feedback we are getting from clinical professionals about these students is fantastic. Many of the preceptors are saying that the students’ didactic education and SIM lab practice have prepared them for their clinicals far beyond what is expected at this stage of their clinical phase.”

Like any healthy, dynamic program, this one will evolve and adapt with each new cohort. In fact, that process has already begun. The second cohort will be able to spend 50% more time in the simulation lab during the first semester. The program will also take on new faculty and staff including an administrative assistant, a senior lecturer, an additional SIM lab instructor, and adjuncts for didactic courses.

With an aging population nationwide, the need for qualified perfusionists is certain to grow. In what is still a small and highly competitive field, the quality of an applicant’s foundational experience will be key to attracting potential employers.

Reflecting LTU’s ongoing commitment to excellence in the preparation of medical professionals, Fanelli is excited and optimistic about the future of the program. “We look forward to their continued growth and success and implementing the constructive feedback on the program design for the upcoming cohort this fall.”

by Joe Bedard