CHAPTER ENGAGEMENT | The ACC Florida Women in Cardiology (WIC) Chapter recently held their annual meeting at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. The program included mission areas of advocacy, education and quality, and had more than 200 attendees from across the state with a strong representation of women in cardiology.

Attendees spanned the gamut from allied health professionals, residents, Fellows in Training (FITs), and community and academic female cardiologists.

Many ACC Sections were well represented, including WIC, FITs, Cardio-Oncology and International members.

The two-day educational meeting was loaded with relevant clinical information.

Topic included updates on cardio-oncology; the importance of multimodality imaging and its relevance to gender and comparative effectiveness in ischemic heart disease; and the Irwin R. Callen Memorial Lecture on Gender Bias in Medicine given by Sophie Soklaridis, PhD, from the University of Toronto.

The ACC WIC Section Summit had two superb speakers: Suzanne A. Feigofsky, MD, FACC, from Iowa Heart Center, and Toniya Singh, MBBS, FACC, from St. Louis Hear and Vascular Cardiology.

Their topics, "Finding a Shoe That Fits….And It's Not a Glass Slipper" and "How to Survive and Thrive as a Woman Cardiologist," were presented in an informal open format that allowed for frank discussion moderated by Ki Park, MD, FACC, co-chair of the ACC Flordia WIC Committee.

Many themes touched a chord with the eager audience and were key to thriving as a woman in cardiology, including the 'impostor syndrome' (which is particularly common in women); importance of family support; knowing and loving yourself; and learning how to delegate and how to say no.

The heartfelt, informal discussion was specially appreciated by FITs and residents, all aspiring cardiologists of both sexes who praised the candor shared by the presenters and openly offered their point of views.

This article was authored by Gladys P. Velarde MD, FACC, associate professor of medicine, director of the Women's Cardiovascular Health Program and director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Program at the University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville.