A cardiovascular perfusionist is a healthcare professional, theoretically trained in general, pediatric, cardiac and thoracic surgery who operates the cardiopulmonary bypass during cardiac surgery and other surgeries that require cardiopulmonary bypass to manage the patient's physiological status. As an extremely crucial member of the cardiovascular surgical team, the perfusionist helps maintain blood flow to the body's tissues as well as regulate levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, using a heart–lung machine.
Duties Perfusionists form part of the wider cardiovascular surgical team which includes cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, and residents. Their role is to conduct extracorporeal circulation as well as ensure the management of physiologic functions by monitoring the necessary variables. The perfusionist provides consultation to the physician in selecting appropriate equipment and techniques to be used. Perfusionists are trained theoretically in a wide range of surgeries – including general surgery, adult cardiac surgery (such as CABG, valve replacements, aortic aneurysm repair, aortic dissection repair, Bentall procedure, and ASD/VSD closure), coronary angiography, cannulation, pediatric and congenital cardiac surgeries (such as TOF repair, arterial switch for TGA, TAPVC/PAPVC repair, Fontan procedure, Glenn shunt, BT shunt, coarctation repair, and Norwood/Rastelli procedures), as well as thoracic surgeries and transplant procedures – although they do not perform surgical procedures themselves. Other responsibilities include administering blood products, administering anesthetic agents or drugs, measuring selected laboratory values (such as blood cell count), monitoring circulation, monitoring blood gases, surveil anticoagulation, induction of hypothermia, and hemodilution. Sometimes, perfusionists are granted administrative tasks such as purchasing supplies or equipment, as well as personnel and departmental management.
Involved procedures Perfusionists can be involved in a number of cardiac surgical procedures, select vascular procedures and a few other surgical procedures in an ancillary role. Perfusionists may participate in curative or staged palliative procedures to treat the following pediatric pathologies:
Adult surgical procedures may include:
Select ancillary procedures in which perfusion techniques and/or perfusionists may be involved include isolated limb perfusion, intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemoperfusion and tracheal resection/repair.
Training and certification
United States
In the United States, a four-year bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for admission into an accredited perfusion program, typically with a concentration in biology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, varying depending on specific perfusion program. As of 2025, there are 23 accredited perfusion training programs, of which 18 are master's degrees, 3 bachelor's degrees, and one certificate program Training typically consists of two years of academic and clinical education. A perfusion student will typically begin his or her training in a didactic fashion in which the student will closely follow instructions from a certified clinical perfusionist in the confines of a cardiac surgery procedure. Academic coursework may be concurrent or precede this clinical instruction. Early in their clinical training, the perfusion student may have little involvement outside of an observational role. However, as time progresses, more tasks may be incrementally delegated to them. Upon graduating from a perfusion program, the graduate must begin the certification process. In the interim, the perfusion graduate is typically referred to as board-eligible, which is sufficient for employment in cardiac surgery with the understanding that achieving certified status is required for long-term employment. Most employers have stipulations on the duration of board-eligible status. To become certified as a certified clinical perfusionist, a perfusionist must undergo a two-part exam administered by the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion. The first part is the Perfusion Basic Science Exam and the second part the Clinical Applications in Perfusion Exam. The exam process is open to a perfusion student who has graduated, or is about to graduate, from an accredited perfusion education program. In addition, a perfusion student must have participated in a minimum of 75 perfusions during the course of their training before sitting for the Perfusion Basic Science Exam and performed 40 independent perfusions after graduation before sitting for the Clinical Applications in Perfusion Exam. Upon passing the Clinical Applications in Perfusion Exam, the perfusionist is designated a certified clinical perfusionist. Following certification, perfusionists must be recertified every year by attaining minimum clinical and educational requirements. Proof of fulfillment of these recertification requirements must be submitted to the American Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion and are mandatory to maintain certified status to use the designation.
As of February 2010, there were 3,766 certified perfusionists in the United States and approximately 300 certified perfusionists in Canada.
Canada In Canada, there are three training programs: Burnaby in Western Canada, Toronto and Montreal in Eastern Canada. British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby offers an advanced specialty certificate in cardiovascular perfusion to graduates of its two-year program. Applicants must be certified respiratory therapists, critical care nurses, or cardiac professionals with two years or more of current experience in cardiac critical care. Applicants to the Michener Institute program in Toronto must have a bachelor's degree at minimum, with or without respiratory therapy, nursing or other clinical certification. The master's program is two years. The perfusion program of the Université de Montréal is a three-year bachelor's degree of 90 credits in biomedical science of which 27 credits are specific to clinical perfusion and in addition a diplôme d'études supérieurs spécialisées (DESS) of 30 credits in clinical perfusion of one-year at the master level.
United Kingdom and Ireland
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
