All we know is still infinitely less than all that remains unknown - William Harvey (1578-1657)

The ACC recently sent a large delegation to the 2013 Annual Conference and Exhibition of the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS). This year’s meeting was held at the ExCel Conference Center in London Docklands, and was chaired by Sarah C. Clarke, MA, MD, FACC.

The theme of the meeting was cardiovascular innovation, and I had the pleasure of participating in several sessions including the “hot topics” program with Dr. Clarke. Several of ACC’s leaders attended the BCS Annual Awards Dinner as honored guests of the Society, and I met my ESC counterpart, Panos Vardas, MD, PhD, president of the ESC along with other key leaders.

During the dinner, Arthur Hollman, MD, BCS Archivist and the newest honorary member of the ACC California Chapter, pointed out the historical relationship between the ACC and BCS that was highlighted in his article “The Sir James Mackenzie Cardiological Society and the American College of Cardiology.” This article highlights the earliest evolution of antecedent societies to the present ACC and provides important insight into the early professional organization of clinical cardiology in the U.S.

Leaders from the ACC also celebrated the third year anniversary of the Great Britain and Ireland ACC Chapter. Nicholas A. Boon, MD, FACC (Former BCS President and Chapter President) presided over this meeting and acknowledged the wonderful working relationship between the ACC and BCS and the importance of the Great Britain and Ireland ACC Chapter as part of the ACC International membership community.

A bilateral meeting was also held between BCS and ACC leadership. The ACC sessions received great reviews and we look forward to ACC’s participation at the next BCS Annual Scientific Session in Manchester Central in June 2014. Additional discussions were held on expanding collaborative relationships in education and revalidation efforts between our two professional societies. Further discussions are planned with our lifelong learning team and educational staff.

I also had the pleasure of visiting my cousin Patrick Calvert, PhD, FACC. (I previously wrote a blog about the “celestial convergence” that resulted from the ACC Twinning program that led to my linking up with Dr. Calvert.) During my visit to Cambridge, we toured his alma mater, Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1347 by Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke, and the third oldest of the Cambridge colleges. About one third of the graduates that matriculated from Pembroke College around the time of World War I were killed in action – a sober statistic to the carnage of the Great War where my own Great-Grand Uncle Thomas Harold was killed in action in Ypres, France while serving in the British Army.

Thomas Friedman writes in “The World Is Flat” that the “flattening” of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means for countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. International twinning projects have the potential to provide us with unique insights on this new paradigm and how increased collaboration may allow us to learn from each other and collectively benefit patients around the globe. The relationship between the BCS and the ACC provides a unique international prism as we deal with the implications of continued health care reform in the U.S. and lessons learned from the British National Health Service.

Pictured: Anthony DeMaria, MD, MACC, editor of JACC; Panos Vardas, MD, PhD, president of the European Society of Cardiology; and John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC, president of the ACC at the 2013 British Cardiovascular Society Awards Dinner in London.

* During World War II, CBS Radio Reporter, Edward R. Murrow became a well-known broadcaster. Murrow's reports from London, especially during the Blitz, began with what became his signature opening, "This is London calling.” Murrow's phrase became synonymous with the newscaster and his network. Murrow spoke to the resilience of the British people at one of the darkest periods in the history of the 20th century.

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