Recognizing the need to engage like-minded practitioners who care for individuals with congenital heart disease (CHD), from fetal life to adulthood, and pediatric patients with acquired heart disease, the ACC established the Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology (ACPC) Section 10 years ago. From its inception, under the successive leadership of David Sahn, MD, MACC; Gerard Martin, MD, FACC; Kathy Jenkins, MD, MPH, FACC; and now Robert Beekman, MD, FACC, the ACPC’s efforts have been focused on improving care and outcomes for patient with CHD through quality improvement activities, enhancement of clinical practice, education, communication and advocacy

This past year was a banner year for the Section with over 2,000 pediatric cardiologists, adult congenital cardiologists, congenital cardiac surgeons, adult cardiologists with interest in CHD, fellows in training (FITs), physician assistants, nurse practitioners and practice administrators among our ranks. It is only fitting that in its 10th year, the Section will acquire a new virtual home within the auspices of ACC.org. 

In keeping with the College’s Strategic Plan to be the professional home for the entire cardiovascular team and to enhance the value of membership, it is our goal that this new site will be the go-to home for all things congenital cardiology. Over the past few months, we have been busy planning content for this site, taking into account perceived knowledge gaps and topics relevant to the subspecialties of pediatric cardiology, adult CHD and congenital cardiac surgery, presented as expert opinion pieces, review articles, case studies and clinical images, and the eventual goal of opportunities to earn maintenance of certification (MOC) credit within the Congenital Heart Disease & Pediatric Clinical Topic Collection. Links in this collection will be provided to all relevant articles within ACC.org and all content will be tagged according to the MeSH (medical subject headings) vocabulary, to allow for indexing and future searches.

The world of congenital cardiology changes at a fast pace. There are simply not enough hours in the day to keep up with all of the latest innovations pertinent to our practices. The changing climate of health care, MOC requirements, diagnostic, therapeutic and ethical conundrums, the demands of patient care, as well as administrative, academic and teaching responsibilities all compete for our attention.

One of the primary goals for this site is to reduce members’ burdens by providing practical tools to navigate these demands, in the form of clinically relevant, practical content and updates on what is going on in the congenital cardiology community, thereby optimizing clinical practice and improving outcomes for our patient population. In the end, this site seeks to be the voice of the Section, which in turn aims to serve the needs of its membership.  On behalf of Dr. Beekman, Ami Bhatt, MD, FACC, Robert “Jake” Jaquiss, MD, FACC, and the ACPC Council, I would like to welcome you to your new virtual home. We encourage you to play an active role in this learning community.

To sign up for the congenital cardiology digest emails, click “Notify Me” on the Congenital Heart Disease & Pediatric Clinical Topic Collection. Learn more about the ACPC Member Section.

Keywords: Cardiac Surgical Procedures, Heart Defects, Congenital, Heart Diseases, Medical Subject Headings, Nurse Practitioners, Pediatrics, Physician Assistants, Quality Improvement, Surgeons

< Back to Listings