American College of Cardiology

Fellows’ Forum Presents Cardiovascular Career-Building Strategies
The newest session at ACC ’03 focuses exclusively on Fellows in Training and provides crucial information you’ll never get in a traditional cardiology training program. Scheduled on April 1st in the Red Lacquer Room at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, this session provides practical information essential to launching a successful cardiovascular career. In one power-packed morning, you’ll learn how to identify career decisions that matter, how to use your network effectively, and how to take steps toward your future financial security. You’ll meet and mix with College leaders, too.

The forum starts at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast. Click here to see the full event agenda. Registration is complimentary but space is limited. Register today by calling the ACC at 800-253-4636, ext. 694. On site registration will be available, space permitting.

Stimulating Options 2003 Forum and Luncheon Attracts Huge AIT Response
This popular event has “sold out,” so if you have a ticket and want to attend, be sure to come on time as empty seats will be given to wait-listed individuals as space permits. The Stimulating Options Forum and Luncheon, directed by Valentin Fuster, MD, will explore career options available to Fellows in Training, presented by luminaries including: Eugene Braunwald, MD; Kim Eagle, MD; Robert Roberts, MD; and Eric Prystowsky, MD. Sponsored by Bristol-Myers-Squibb, the luncheon is limited to Fellows in Training who preregistered with ITS Expo Company as they registered for ACC ’03. The luncheon begins at noon and ends at 1:45 p.m. (ticket required/wait-list active), Palmer House Hilton, Grand Ballroom.

ACCF/Merck Awards Go to Six Affiliates in Training
Six affiliates in training have received one-year fellowships in the amount of $40,000 each to support their research in adult cardiology. The awardees are: Evan Appelbaum, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; Kelley R.H. Branch, MD, of the University of Washington, Seattle; Abhinav Diwan, at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; Adrian F. Hernandez, MD, of Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Samia Mora, MD, of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore; and Wai Hong Wilson Tang, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland.

Recipients of the ACCF/Merck Awards are individuals who have had no more than two years of prior full-time experience either in clinical or basic research. Recipients are expected to pursue full-time projects in clinical research during their year of supported training.

Affiliates who meet the application criteria are currently working in an adult cardiology fellowship training program recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association. Applicants must have the recommendation and agreement of his or her training program director and institution to be eligible for application for the ACCF/Merck Awards. Application deadline for the 2004-05 awards is November 3, 2003.

Applicants, judged by the ACCF Research Fellowship Awards Committee, are evaluated on the scientific quality of their projects, the qualifications and commitment of the applicant, and the quality of the training environment. For more information, visit http://www.acc.org/about/award/awardopps.htm#research.

JACC Authors Take Parmley Prize
The William W. Parmley Young Author Achievement Award, also known as the Parmley Prize, recognizes young investigators whose papers have been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) and best exemplify the criteria for acceptance: originality, methodology, presentation, and importance. The award was established in honor of Dr. Parmley and his longstanding commitment to training young investigators, the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of clinical cardiology, and his editorial dedication to JACC.

The William W. Parmley Young Author Achievement Award goes to Teresa Tsang, MD, of Rochester, Minn., and David Morrow, MD, of Boston. Dr. Tsang won the award for her article entitled “The Prevalence of Atrial Fibrillation in Incident Stroke Cases and Matched Population Controls in Rochester, Minnesota: Changes Over Three Decade.” Dr. Morrow won for his article entitled, “Evaluation of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide for Risk Assessment in UA/NSTEMI: BNP and Prognosis in Tactics-TIMI 18.”

Drs. Tsang and Morrow are scheduled to accept their awards in Chicago on March 31 at ACC ’03. Each award recipient receives a plaque honoring his or her achievement and a cash award of $2,500 from Elsevier Science, publisher of JACC.

ACCF/Pfizer Fellowship Research Awards to Be Given at ACC ’03
For the first time this year, two ACCF/Pfizer Fellowship Research Awards are scheduled to be presented at ACC ’03. Awards will go to Hunter Clay Champion, MD, PhD, at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and Neil C. Chi, MD, PhD, at the University of California, San Francisco. These awards support training for physician-scientists who wish to pursue basic biomedical research in an academic setting. The awards provide $65,000 per year for a three-year period. The next award application deadline is December 1, 2003. For more information, go to http://www.acc.org/about/award/awardopps.htm#pfizer.

Attend the Board Review Successful Cardiologists Recommend
Each year, hundreds of fellows take the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) exam hoping to pass and receive their certification in cardiovascular disease. Of 682 first-timers who took the exam in November 2001, 85 percent passed; the others had to wait six months before tackling the exam again. First-time success rates for the clinical cardiac electrophysiology and the interventional cardiology exams are even lower: 77 and 70 percent, respectively.

The best advice comes from those who have gone through the experience. Ed Bermudez, MD, MPH, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, advises hopeful exam-takers to “know the practice guidelines, start studying early, and take a review course.” Dr. Bermudez attended a recent ACCF Cardiovascular Board Review program and notes that the interaction it provided with peers was a valuable aspect of the course. “It provided reassurance for where you were with your review and how prepared you were to take the exam.”

The next ACCF Cardiovascular Board Review for Certification and Recertification is scheduled for Sept. 10–14, 2003, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Chicago. It features four timed Board simulation exams: one in ECG; one in arrhythmia, EP, and pacemakers; and two in clinical cardiology. The simulated exams give each participant a realistic evaluation of individual strengths and weaknesses. According to Dr. Bermudez, they also provide a “confidence booster.” “The simulated exams provided a preview for how questions might be formulated,” he said. For example, he added, “Even though you know how to read an ECG, it’s different from knowing how to code ECGs for the test.”

The upcoming Board review program, directed by Kim A. Eagle, MD, and Patrick T. O’Gara, MD, and codirected by Hugh Calkins, MD, and Eric S. Williams, MD, covers arrhythmia, EP, pacemakers, self-assessment of imaging tests, valvular heart disease, endocarditis pharmacology, heart failure, coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction. Details of the program agenda, an overview, and program objectives are available online and in the April issue of Educational Programs and Products, the College’s monthly publication.

To register for the ACCF Cardiovascular Board Review or the ACCF/SCAI Board Review in Interventional Cardiology, directed by George W. Vetrovec, MD, and John McB. Hodgson, MD, August 22–24, 2003 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, Atlanta, call 800-253-4636, ext. 694.

Going to ACC ’03? Test-Drive ACCF Educational Products, Purchase at a Discount
The ACCF Educational Products Showcase at ACC ’03 provides a great opportunity to try out a variety of quality educational products and solicit user tips from colleagues and ACCF staff on site while you do. The editors of three must-have products will be available every day of the Annual Scientific Session to discuss the products and offer tips, advice, and other pragmatic information valuable to users.

The schedule for meeting the editors is 11 a.m.–1 p.m. daily at ACC Central, Hall A1, Booth #2003:

• Dr. Alfred Bove, Editor in Chief, Cardiosource (the premier online cardiovascular knowledge site)
• Dr. Richard Lewis, Editor in Chief, ACCSAP V (the ACCF Self-Assessment Program on Adult Clinical Cardiology)
• Dr. Richard Conti, Editor in Chief, ACCEL (the ACCF monthly audio journal)

ACC ’03 attendees will receive a 20 percent discount on all ACCF products, including Cardiosource, at the ACC Booth. Products included in this special offer include those noted above and CathSAP II and the new EchoSAP IV. For those unable to attend ACC ’03, the product discount offer is available online until April 15. For more information, click here. For more information on Cardiosource, go to http://www.cardiosource.com.

Job Opportunities
Looking for the perfect job? Check out the wide selection of job opportunities available for cardiologists throughout the United States. It's the same Affiliated-in-Training ad section you're accustomed to seeing in print.

For more job opportunities, visit the ACC Practice Opportunity Line (POL). POL is ACC's own online career site for adult and pediatric cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, effectively and economically brings candidates and employers together.