Basic science curriculums in nuclear cardiology and cardiovascular imaging: evolving and emerging concepts

The teaching of basic science with regard to physics, instrumentation, and radiation safety has been part of nuclear cardiology training since its inception. Although there are clear educational and quality rationale for such, regulations associated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Subpart J of old 10 CFR section 35 (Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 35) from the 1960s mandated such prescriptive instruction. Cardiovascular fellowship training programs now have a new opportunity to rethink their basic science imaging curriculums with the era of "revised 10 CFR section 35" and the growing implementation of multimodality imaging training and expertise. This review focuses on the history and the why, what, and how of such a curriculum arising in one city and suggests examples of future implementation in other locations.