[Cardiology education in Norway--does it keep up with the needs?]

Despite an increase in the number of education positions for cardiologists in Norway in the late 1980s, there is felt to be a marked lack of sub-specialists in cardiology in most types of hospitals. A working group under the Norwegian Society of Cardiology has used a questionnaire in 1993, membership data from the Norwegian Society of Cardiology in 1994, a telephone query to all hospitals in the country, and data from the Norwegian Medical Association in 1995 to examine this apparent lack of specialists and the potentials for educating them. We were able to confirm a current lack of approximately 60 cardiologists. In addition, the capacity for education has been reduced and will not compensate for the predicted retirement of specialists from approximately year 2000. The capacity for educating cardiologists must be increased.