36th Annual meeting of the Italian Society of Pediatric Cardiology

The Italian Society of Pediatric Cardiology held its 36th Annual meeting in Viareggio, Italy, between 12 and 14 October, 2006. More than 350 colleagues from Italy participated the meeting, which was superbly organized to give a comprehensive overview of the activities of those involved in paediatric cardiology in Italy. Invited speakers from Canada and Ireland gave “state of the art” lectures on important topics, while for the first time, our President, András Szatmári, was also among the invited speakers. He lectured on the institutional role of the Scientific Societies in Europe. The selection of such a topic in itself clearly indicates that more and more countries now realize the importance of the scientific societies representing a particular specialty at European level.

Journal of the Association, Cardiology in the Young

All members of the Association have now been provided with “Cardiology in the Young” for two years. The Council hopes that you have enjoyed the high scientific quality of this Journal. If some of you have not received the Journal, there are usually two reasons for the problem. The first is that the member may not have remembered to pay the annual subscription. The other possibility is that the Association does not possess the current address of the given member. Any member not receiving the Journal is asked to make contact with the Secretary General.

We hope that all our members will continue to appreciate the collaboration with Cambridge University Press, and enjoy the information provided by the journal. Please remember that the annual membership fee will cover the contribution to the Society, entitle all properly accredited members to the Journal, plus membership of one Working Group of their choice. Members should select their chosen Working Group, and send this information to the Secretary-General and the Treasurer. Members may also belong to more than one Working Group. Many of us work in integrated teams, and cover work represented by several Working Groups.

Web Site of the Association

The on-line services have now been functioning since June, 2006. During this period, we have become aware that some of its functions remain somewhat complicated, even if all the functions are now functioning safely. Some members have experienced difficulties with registering or logging in, retrieving forgotten passwords, and paying on-line. Taking note of these problems, we are now working hard to make the on-line services more user-friendly, and to clarify the instructions. The Council hopes that our Members will find the web-based services easy to use, and will use them actively. Included on the website are recommendations for training, Newsletters, information about meetings concerning Paediatric Cardiology, contact information for Officers of the Council, and details of our Working Groups, National Delegates, training centres, and hospitals. Hence, there is a lot of useful information on the web page. Please visit it regularly.

It is also now possible to pay the annual subscription on-line, albeit that members first need to register. When registering, you will be asked to create your own username and password. Registering is important in order that we are able to identify your payment. It is now easy to check, and if needed change on-line, your address, and also to check the membership information that is stored in the data base. It is only possible, however, for members to examine their own information.

Replacement of Councillors and Officers

The Scientific Secretary and one Councillor will be replaced during the 42nd Annual Meeting to be held in Warsaw. André Bozio, from Lyon, will become the new President, with András Szatmári, from Budapest, remaining in the Council as past-President.

Other current Council members are:

• Eero Jokinen, Helsinki, Secretary-General
• Shakeel Qureshi, London, Scientific Secretary, to be replaced in Warsaw
• Klaus Schmidt, Duesseldorf, Treasurer
• Giovanni Stellin, Padova, Councillor also representing our Cardiac Surgeons, who will be replaced as Councillor
• Gerald Tulzer, Linz, Councillor
• Luc Mertens, Leuven, Councillor
• Wanda Kawalec, Warsaw, local organizer of the 42nd Meeting, who will be replaced by Giovanni Stellin, who will be the local organizer of the 43rd Annual Meeting to be held in Venice
• Heynric Grotenhuis, Leiden, Junior Councillor.

The contribution of the membership in replacing the Officers and Councillors is vital. The more nominations the Council receives from the Members, the more open and democratic will our Association become. Forms to be used in nominations have been issued by mail in January. We encourage all our members to use their privilege actively!

Nominations for these officers must be signed by five ordinary members from two or more countries, and received by the Secretary-General at least four months before the next Annual Meeting. As a rule, there should be only one Councillor or Officer in the Council at a time from one country.

European Accreditation Examination in Paediatric Cardiology

As agreed during the 41st Annual meeting in Basel, the Council and the selected Committee chaired by András Szatmári for European Accreditation in Paediatric Cardiology have started to plan for the process of Accreditation. The Committee is now collecting questions for the examination. The designing of the examinations is a slow and demanding process. There are still several problems that have to be solved. The European Accreditation Examination in Paediatric Cardiology is necessary, nonetheless, even if there are no legal requirements for the time being, if we are to harmonize training and ensure equal clinical quality of Paediatric Cardiologists all over Europe.

Recommendations of Working Groups

The Council is very pleased that the Working Groups for Fetal Cardiology and Paediatric Cardiovascular Intensive Care have provided recommendations for the training in their respective fields. They have been approved by the Council, and the drafts sent out via mail in January. All members should carefully read through these documents. We hope they will prove acceptable so that they can be published in Cardiology in the Young after approval during the annual general assembly. On behalf of the Council, we express our thanks, and acknowledge the hard work of the working groups in completing these recommendations.

Annual Meeting, 2007

Our 42nd Annual Meeting will be held in Warsaw form May 16 through 19. The Scientific Secretary, Shakeel Qureshi, and the Local Chairman, Wanda Kawalec, together with local scientific secretaries Grazyna Brzezinska-Rajszys and Bohdan Maruszewski, have worked hard to produce a rewarding scientific and social programme. As a council, we are pleased to announce that more than 500 abstracts have been submitted this year. A panel of reviewers is currently screening all abstracts, and will select oral and poster presentations. There will be three prizes for the best posters. As in previous years, junior participants will receive particular consideration. The prizes will be distributed during the Social Evening of the meeting. We are looking forward to see great numbers in Warsaw, and we encourage all our members not only to come themselves, but also to bring their colleagues and juniors. The 42nd Annual meeting will provide the opportunity for personal exchange of ideas, thoughts, and knowledge, as well as to spend several enjoyable hours together with friends.

The Annual Teaching course during the 42nd Annual Meeting

This year, the teaching course will be delivered by the task Force for Grown-ups with Congenital Heart Defects. It will take place on Wednesday, 16 May. The programme is most interesting, and will instruct and update not only Junior Members but also all other Paediatric Cardiologists and Cardiologists. While the course will be free of charge for Juniors in training, ordinary members wishing to attend will have to pay a contribution of 80 euros, with non-members paying 90 euros.

Special Training Courses

By the time you read this letter, our Basic Course on Paediatric Cardiac Morphology will have been held at Leiden University Medical Center, from January 25 through 26. The Basic Teaching Course in Arrhythmias will take place in Leipzig, Germany, over the period April 20 and 21. A further training course in echocardiography will be organized in Leuven, Belgium, in September. For more information, please visit the Association's web page at http://www.aepc.org

These courses are designed to be of small size and affordable, not only in terms of fees, but also for accommodation and travel expenses. Please encourage your Junior Fellows to register soon. The number of attendees accepted is limited.

In closing, members of Council, along with ourselves, look forward to welcoming you at the Annual Meeting in Warsaw in great numbers, irrespective of whether you are members of the Association. As emphasized in our introduction, if you are not members, then we encourage you to join!