The impact of perfusionist education programme characteristics on programme directors' responsibilities

The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of four programme characteristics (curriculum design, type of degree offered, length of programme and number of students per class) on perfusionist education programme directors (PDs) in the USA in terms of the number of hours worked per week, number of cases pumped per year and workload mix. Descriptive and statistical analyses were performed on the responses to questionnaires sent to all perfusionist programmes between March 1993 and April 1994. PDs reported working an average of 51.8 h/week and pumping an average of 68.8 cases per year. All but one respondent reported spending more than 50% of his/her time (mean 74.5% +/- 19%) on programme-related issues such as administration, classroom teaching and clinical instruction. This level of commitment, as well as the total number of hours worked per week, were not found to be influenced by the programme's length, duration, class size or type of degree awarded. However, PDs of baccalaureate programmes, and programmes with more than nine students spent a significantly greater proportion of their time on administrative issues than their colleagues in other types of programmes. The bureaucratic demands of baccalaureate and large programmes require PDs to devote an average of 39.5% of their time to administration, compared to 27.2% in the other programmes. The results of this study show that the operation of all perfusionist education programmes requires a major commitment of time on the part of the individual designated as PD.