ACC.18 is almost here, and Chair Jeffrey T. Kuvin, MD, FACC can’t wait. This is the fourth annual meeting in which Kuvin has played a key leadership role. Kuvin says he’s excited the College is able to provide the cardiovascular community with a conference that’s rich with enthusiasm, top-notch science and education innovation. “I’m energized by the passion and interactivity that we see and feel each year at the annual meeting,” says Kuvin.

This year he’ll savor those few days even more. At the end of the meeting, he’ll turn over the reins to Vice Chair Andrew M. Kates, MD, FACC. Kates will serve as chair for two years and Pamela B. Morris, MD, FACC, will join him as vice chair.

ACC’s Annual Scientific Session is the foundation of the College’s educational offerings. This is something that Kuvin thinks about often as both chair of the ACC.18 Program Committee and chair of the Lifelong Learning Oversight Committee, the College’s education committee. “The vision of the entire breadth of ACC Education is to provide timely, seamless learning – whether in person, online, or in another venue – all with the goal of improving care for cardiovascular patients,” he says. The Annual Scientific Session, according to Kuvin, is the perfect opportunity to bring together informative, innovative, interdisciplinary and interactive education, or as he refers to them, the four “I’s.” Often, programs that are successful at the Annual Scientific Session go on to become a permanent part of the education portfolio.

Kuvin has a long history of working in the education arena with the ACC. When he was a member of the 2006 Emerging Faculty Program, he had the opportunity to learn from experienced educators who inspired him to focus on education and training. One of his first leadership roles was to develop ACC’s In-Training Examination, which has evolved into a key education component of nearly all fellowship programs. His introduction to meeting planning came through chairing the Program Directors’ Boot Camp at Annual Scientific Session. This highly successful program was aimed at “educating the educators” and focused on improving fellowship training and experience. He was a Topic Coordinator for the Annual Scientific Session Program Committee (Prevention Pathway) and then was selected to serve as vice chair for ACC.15 and ACC.16 and transitioned to chair for ACC.17 and ACC.18. “The complexity of the annual program planning process intrigues me. Working with ACC member leaders and a top notch ACC staff has been incredibly interesting and rewarding; it’s exhilarating to see the final product each spring,” he says.

"The complexity of the annual program planning process intrigues me. Working with ACC member leaders and a top notch ACC staff has been incredibly interesting and rewarding; it’s exhilarating to see the final product each spring."

The learner’s needs are central to the planning of ACC education. For the annual meeting, this translates into engaging the learner through a variety of education formats and constantly creating and reinventing methodologies. Exceeding expectations is at the core of what drives the development of the meeting. “We continue to learn and constantly work to improve the annual meeting for our members,” says Kuvin. “We think a lot about learner needs assessment and use data from prior meetings to help shape future meetings. In addition, our program planning committee comes up with great new ideas each year. The annual meeting is the perfect place to explore new ways of sharing information. We really strive to make it a special event for all attendees.”

It all starts with a diverse and talented program committee, says Kuvin. He’s enjoyed working with the more than 100 committee members, including physicians at all levels of experience, as well as a variety of members across the care team. “It’s amazing to see this team develop the Annual Scientific Session, basically from scratch. The expertise and planning provided by our committee is second to none,” Kuvin says.

The commitment and hard work of the committee has led to continual improvement in attendee satisfaction. “We are very proud that ACC.17 reached an all-time high for attendee satisfaction,” he notes. “This has pushed us to work even harder,” he adds, “because we can see the cardiovascular community is embracing the interactive, multidisciplinary education and the wide range of opportunities to engage with thought leaders, experts and colleagues, and opportunities to connect with old friends from around the world and to make new ones.”

Kuvin sees a parallel between a change in the governance of the Annual Scientific Session and the steady growth and satisfaction. Five years ago, the College changed the tenure for both the vice chair and chair of the program committee to two years from one-year terms. These longer terms allow the vice chair to gain experience and continuity, and the chair to implement and test new programs and approaches. “It provides time for the committee and the staff to test, adjust and develop novel ideas,” adds Kuvin. “When I began this journey, we started to think about how we could make this already fantastic meeting even better,” shares Kuvin, “and it’s been a true team effort.”

"We are very proud that ACC.17 reached an all-time high for attendee satisfaction… We can see the cardiovascular community is embracing the interactive, multidisciplinary education and the wide range of opportunities to engage with thought leaders, experts and colleagues."

Some of the features added to the meeting over the years include enhanced audience participation and engagement. Almost all sessions now include an audience response and added time for interactivity. There are new ways to test one’s own knowledge with the hands-on learning center, simulation lab and other self-testing methods. This year, the Heart 2 Heart Stage will allow for more casual discussions of timely topics in cardiovascular medicine. The ability to obtain dual Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit, as well continuing nursing education (CNE), continuing pharmacy education (CPE) credit and education credit for international attendees has been another new component to the meeting that’s been highly successful.

The “intensive” program has also been a creative addition to the education effort, focusing on topics that deserve a block of a few hours of dedicated time for teaching. Some of these “intensive” topics over the past few years include cardio-oncology, sports cardiology and palliative care. Finally, faculty development has flourished over the past few years. “At its heart, the meeting is about education, and we believe it’s important to ensure faculty understand how people learn best. At the Annual Scientific Session, faculty can hone the skills they need to be good teachers,” he says. In addition, all presenters, whether new or seasoned, can get onsite tips to make their presentations the best they can be. Coaching sessions emphasize clear delivery of focused messages with opportunities for audience interaction.

Kuvin has started to reflect on his past four years. “Being involved in ACC Annual Scientific Session leadership has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my career thus far,” he says. “It is very rewarding to contribute to the development of a great meeting. I’m proud of the meeting and the engagement of our members.” Kuvin adds, “I can’t wait to attend next year’s annual meeting – as a participant!”

Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, ACC18, ACC Annual Scientific Session, Anniversaries and Special Events, Certification, Committee Membership, Drive, Education, Medical, Continuing, Education, Nursing, Continuing, Education, Pharmacy, Continuing, Emotions, Faculty, Fellowships and Scholarships, Friends, Goals, Leadership, Learning, Mentors, Needs Assessment, Palliative Care, Personal Satisfaction, Sports

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