JACC FIT/Early Career Page: Rethinking the Modern Cardiology Morbidity and Mortality Conference

Since the medical decisions of Fellows in Training (FITs) and Early Career cardiologists have important, often acute ramifications – which directly impact patient safety, morbidity and mortality – cardiology-specific morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences may be of critical importance, according to an FIT/Early Career column published Feb. 18 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. David A. McNamara, MD, et al., propose a modern M&M conference that is designed to address educational and quality improvement opportunities specific to the field of cardiovascular disease. They note that identifying and addressing systems-level opportunities for improvement requires engagement of all members of the care team, and can result in measurable improvement in the outcomes, safety and quality of care in patients. In a response to the column, Sunil V. Rao, MD, FACC, comments that McNamara provides an outstanding template for a contemporary cardiovascular M&M conference that involves FITs and Early Career cardiologists. He adds, "An important follow-up to the approach advocated by McNamara and colleagues would be to see how many cardiovascular training programs have a cardiovascular M&M conference, and whether the adoption of such conferences leads to tangible improvements in the quality of care." Read more.