This post was authored by Michael S. Emery, MD, FACC, co-chair of the ACC’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Section Leadership Council.

The ACC’s Annual Scientific Session is the cornerstone of ACC education and there are several exciting sports and exercise cardiology sessions planned for this year in San Diego. Be sure to go to the ACC.15 Online Program Planner and/or download the ACC.15 App, available in the iTunes and Google Play stores, and navigate to the “Sessions by Practice Focus – Browse Sports Cardiology” for a comprehensive listing.

Amongst numerous innovations for ACC.15 is the creation of a focused “Sports and Exercise Intensive.” The Intensive is designed to be an in-depth mini-course in Sports and Exercise Cardiology. The idea behind the intensives is to dedicate a significant amount of time to a few important topics and develop a unique learning experience, with education innovation and audience participation. The ultimate goal at the conclusion of the 4.25-hour intensive is to achieve practice change.

The Sport and Exercise Intensive will take place on Monday, March 16 from 10:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Room 3. The agenda includes:

1. “ACC Talk: Reflections on Thirty-Five Years of Sports Cardiology:” This will be an interactive overview by Dr. Paul Thompson, one of the pioneering leaders in the field.
2. “Eligibility and Disqualification Recommendations for Competitive Athletes With Cardiovascular Abnormalities - From Bethesda to Today.” This discussion will be presented by the co-chairs of the guidelines (Drs. Barry Maron, Richard Kovacs and Douglas Zipes), and will go beyond the “how to” in order to gain insight into the history, rationale, current data available and implications.
3. “Novel Approach to Imaging the Athlete.” This will include talks by leaders in the field with each speaker focusing on a practical approach to assessing the athlete. Each speaker’s lecture will culminate with a list of "Top Tips for Imaging of the Athlete."
4. “Challenging Cases for the Athlete.” This presentation will feature a unique set of cases that will be illustrative and present practical scenarios that are applicable to everyday practice.

Attendees will be able to submit questions in real time easily and quickly through their mobile device or laptop.  If an attendee sees a question that they would like to have addressed they vote for it, and the list of questions is automatically sorted by popularity. So when it is time for audience Q&As, the moderator knows which questions are the most important to address.

There will be a new layout for the educational classrooms at ACC.15. This layout will allow for a more intimate and interactive session between attendees and faculty. Additionally, we will have experts embedded strategically in the audience to facilitate small group discussion.

Start planning now to attend the great sports and exercise cardiology sessions planned all weekend at ACC.15, in addition to the Sports and Exercise Intensive. Be sure to take some time for yourself in beautiful San Diego and go for a run, swim, bike ride, or just move around in general and come learn with some of the world’s leading experts in sports and exercise cardiology. See you there!

This post is part of a series of posts from the ACC’s Sports and Exercise Cardiology Section. Follow the sports and exercise cardiology conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #SportsCardio.

Also follow @ACC_2015 on Twitter and use the hashtag #ACC15 to join the conversation. Register for ACC.15 here.

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