If you’ve visited the Education section of CardioSource.org lately, you may have noticed new and exciting developments. The College recently soft launched our new Lifelong Learning Portfolio (LLP) section.

In my latest President’s Page in JACC, I detail the various offerings within the portfolio which includes a customized and enhanced approach to educational activities. Through this LLP, the ACC aspires to become the primary source for maintaining and documenting the highest level of physician competence in terms of patient care. The College is indebted to Rick Nishimura, MD FACC for his vision, to Mary Ellen Beliveau, ACC’s chief learning officer and senior vice president of the Lifelong Learning Division, to Dino Damalas, ACC senior vice president for Information Technology, and to the many member volunteers and staff for making this vision a reality and for breaking new grounds in Education.

Each ACC member will have his/her own LLP that stores personal data. The LLP will enable members to design, access, and fulfill their own personalized curriculum based on their own interest areas, preferred learning formats, and practice gap areas. The “My Transcript/My MOC Tool” will help members understand changing certification requirements and track their progress in continuing medical education and maintenance of certification (MOC). Any credits earned through the ACC will be automatically transmitted into an individual's portfolio, while any credits earned outside the ACC can be manually entered and scanned to maintain a complete transcript.

We are excited to announce that BOT Member Harlan Krumholz, MD, FACC, will serve as the LLP's new editor-in-chief beginning in January 2013. Dr. Krumholz and his editorial team will increase the online product portfolio to 300 activities, to provide even more options for maintaining and enhancing competency.

In addition, the College has released CardioCompass, a semantic tool that will help users navigate guidelines, appropriate use criteria (AUC), and other clinical documents. By simply entering an open-ended question into CardioCompass, individuals will be pointed to the specific portion of the guideline, AUC, or clinical document that addresses their needs. In the future, CardioCompass will also be available as a pop-up user tool while learning activities are in progress in order to provide immediate access and answers to clinical documents. CardioCompass will also be available as a mobile application for use at the point of care. By the ACC.13 Scientific Sessions, we hope to add additional source documents to CardioCompass, such as self-assessment programs, consensus documents, the clinical trial database, and journal scans.

All of the tools and offerings within the new LLP are truly unique and align with my presidential year focus of patient-centered care – a style of care that emphasizes education and involvement of patients in medical decision making; integration of medical care, and application of principles of disease prevention and behavioral change. By providing members with tools that will strengthen their education, knowledge and continuous learning, we are well on our way towards providing the best care possible for our patients.

By early 2013 we will “hard launch” the Lifelong Learning Portfolio, which will allow for the features and functionality needed to simplify the many challenges of a clinician's day-to-day activities. I encourage you to look around the new LLP and use the comment section below to give us your feedback to further enhance the product, and let us know what you think of these exciting new tools!

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