“Being involved in ACC Annual Scientific Session leadership has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my career thus far,” reflects Jeffrey T. Kuvin, MD, FACC, chair of ACC.18. This is the fourth Annual Scientific Session in which Kuvin has played a key leadership role. He is excited that the College continues 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 the next few days even more. On Monday, 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 ACC.18 and chair of the Lifelong Learning Oversight Committee, the College’s education committee (read more about ACC’s Education Enterprise). The Annual Scientific Session, according to Kuvin, is the perfect opportunity to bring together informative, innovative, interdisciplinary and interactive education. Often, programs that are successful at the Annual Scientific Session go on to become a permanent part of the education portfolio.

"We continue to learn and constantly work to improve the annual meeting for our members. We think a lot about learner needs assessment and use data from prior meetings to help shape future meetings." — Jeffrey T. Kuvin, MD, FACC

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 the 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; it’s exhilarating to see the final product each spring,” he says.

The learner’s needs are central to the planning of ACC education. For the Annual Scientific Session, 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 meeting, basically from scratch. The expertise and planning provided by our committee is second to none,” Kuvin says.

"I’m energized by the passion and interactivity that we see and feel each year at the annual meeting." — Jeffrey T. Kuvin, MD, FACC

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 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, colleagues, and opportunities to connect with old friends from around the world, and to make new ones,” he adds.

Kuvin sees a parallel between a change in the governance of the Annual Scientific Session and the steady growth and satisfaction of the meeting. 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.”

“It is very rewarding to contribute to the development of a great meeting,” Kuvin concludes. “I’m proud of the meeting and the engagement of our members.” He adds, “I can’t wait to attend next year’s annual meeting – as a participant!”

Keywords: ACC Publications, ACC Scientific Session Newspaper, ACC Annual Scientific Session

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