Physicians Need to Work as a Symphony in Medicine

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I love to attend the symphony.  Being devoid of musical talent I possess an almost childlike awe of the orchestra, their skill and dedication seeming otherworldly to me, existing on an ethereal plain higher than my own, unattainable by mere mortals.

If you listen only to digital music, it is difficult to appreciate the texture of a live orchestral performance; its analog corpus alternately soft and silky, then disconsonant,  then soaring to grand heights, enveloping you in a way that makes it difficult to even discern from whence the sound emanates, evoking emotional responses unobtainable by the spoken word. Continue reading →

Transcatheter Valve Therapeutics 2013 Meeting Kicks Off

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This post was authored by Xiushui (Mike) Ren, MD, affiliate member of the ACC, reporting live for CardioSource.org.

The Transcatheter Valve Therapeutics (TVT) 2013 conference kicked-off yesterday with “The Annual Mad Dash” presentation by Martin Leon, MD, FACC, who summarized the past year of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) research in an impressive 20 minutes. According to Leon, there were a total of 835 TAVR manuscripts published in 2012 and 2013. Highlights included: Continue reading →

This is London Calling:* ACC Activities Across the Pond

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All we know is still infinitely less than all that remains unknown – William Harvey (1578-1657)

The ACC recently sent a large delegation to the 2013 Annual Conferencelondon_calling and Exhibition of the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS). This year’s meeting was held at the ExCel Conference Center in London Docklands, and was chaired by Sarah C. Clarke, MA, MD, FACC.

The theme of the meeting was cardiovascular innovation, and I had the pleasure of participating in several sessions including the “hot topics” program with Dr. Clarke. Several of ACC’s leaders attended the BCS Annual Awards Dinner as honored guests of the Society, and I met my ESC counterpart, Panos Vardas, MD, PhD, president of the ESC along with other key leaders. Continue reading →

Cardiovascular “Village” Takes Recommendations to Capitol Hill

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This post was authored by Eugene Sherman, MD, FACC, chair of the ACC’s Advocacy Steering Committee and Political Action Committee.

This week I had the privilege of representing the ACC and cap_hillits members on Capitol Hill, as part of a two-day “Fly-In” with several other cardiovascular societies and their leadership. Leading our efforts was ACC Vice President Kim Allan Williams, MD, FACC. Other societies in attendance included the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), American Society of Echocardiography, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA). Continue reading →

Passive No More: Why Physicians Need to Stand Up for Themselves and Their Patients

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On a January morning in 2007 in Washington, DC, a young man clambered out of a taxi and descended into a metro station. He proceeded to play six classical pieces on his violin with his violin case open in front of him. Collecting $32.17 for his efforts, he packed up and returned home after 45 minutes. By video account, 1,097 people passed by him, of which only seven stopped to listen. The violinist was Joshua Bell, perhaps the greatest concert violinist of our time. He played the most complex and compelling music ever written on a handcrafted 1713 Stradivarius violin valued at $3.5 million. Continue reading →

Staying Up On Your Patient-Centeredness

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This post was authored by Andrew M. Freeman, MD, FACC, editor-in-chief of the Patient-Centered Care Community on CardioSource.

The good news is that the concept of patient-centered care has finally made its way into daily practice – even if we don’t realize that we are practicing it, or know what it means exactly. When working together with a patient to decide the next steps in making a diagnosis or treating an illness, that’s patient-centered care (specifically shared decision making). When educating a patient about a disease state using an iPad or visiting CardioSmart.org to provide information (or even <gulp> drawing on the back of the progress note), that’s practicing patient-centered care. Continue reading →

New Chapter Launches and the Importance of Meaningful Connections

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This post was authored by William Zoghbi, MD, MACC, immediate past president of the ACC.

It’s been a busy time for ACC internationally. ACC Vice President Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, FACC, recently returned from the Argentine Federation of Cardiology Congress, where he gave the first Dr. Ernesto Paolaso Memorial lecture. Dr. Paolaso was a cardiology luminary who guided the start of interventional cardiology in Argentina, but was sadly killed in a car accident two months ago. This honor given to Dr. Williams exemplifies the deep and meaningful connections that have been built with our Argentina Chapter. Meanwhile, ACC President John Harold is currently across the pond in London (blog post coming soon). As for me, I recently returned from a trip to the Philippines where I attended the highly successful 44th Philippines Heart Association (PHA) Scientific Session and had the privilege of helping to launch the ACC Philippines Chapter. (The ACC how has 7,300 international members and 27 Chapters around the world!) Continue reading →

Tackling a Leading Global Preventable Cause of Death: World No Tobacco Day

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately six million deaths per year are related to tobacco use, making it one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. Further, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of deaths contributed by tobacco use will only continue to rise to approximately eight million persons per year by 2030. Continue reading →

Where is my Team? Transitioning to a Team-Based Care Model

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This post was authored by the ACC Cardiovascular Team Council*.

A team is often defined as a group of individuals with a full set of complementary skills working together to complete a task, a project, or to achieve a goal. In cardiology the focus is on the patient and to deliver exceptional patient care, we must rely on teamwork. In cardiology, a cardiovascular team is comprised of a skilled, diverse group of professionals including physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, physician assistants and pharmacists. Continue reading →