Dear Colleagues and friends!
Those of us in the Council have been working hard over recent months to serve our members better. As part of our initiatives, we have renewed our web page, making application for membership much easier than during previous years. In future, we will provide you with further additional services on our web page.
Our aim is to establish a teaching programme in Paediatric Cardiology and its related disciplines of uniformly high quality in all the European countries. That is why, last year, we created new training recommendations. We have also established basic teaching courses for our colleagues in training. Our next goal is to plan a European examination in Paediatric Cardiology.
The Training Requirements for Congenital Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging were accepted during the 41st Annual Meeting, held in Basel in May. The European examination in Echocardiography takes place for the first time during the tenth Euroecho Meeting in Prague, organized for December of this year. We are grateful to our Working Group for Imaging for their active and enthusiastic work to make the examination and the training requirements come true.
Over 110 new members
We now have strong evidence that our efforts to increase the influence of the Association have been appreciated. Our colleagues from all around Europe have now joined up, and we are pleased to announce that we have introduced more new members than ever over the past year. Since May of 2005, we have received, and accepted, more than 110 new applications for membership. Of particular import is that 47 of these new applicants are Junior members. In all, our membership now stands at over 750. We will be strong once we are united.
Address change
All members that have taken care of their annual subscription now receive a copy of Cardiology in the Young as part of their membership. Several issues have been returned to the publisher, however, as some members have not remembered to provide the Association with their new address. It is crucial that all members send their new address to the Association should there be a change. In particular, we would like to have everyone's e-mail address to facilitate rapid communication. It is now an easy matter to change an address, or provide an electronic address, by using the membership section on our web page. We also take this opportunity to remind members of the importance of paying annual subscriptions in due time. Only once the dues are paid will members receive their complimentary copies of Cardiology in the Young, along with all the other valuable benefits of the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology.
Basic Teaching Courses for doctors in training, organized by the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology
Three years ago, we established a group of Junior Members within the Association, with Ruth Heying, Michael Rahbek, Joachim Eichhorn, and Heynric B. Grotenhuis forming their committee. The most important aim of the group is to support excellent opportunities for teaching people in training throughout Europe. For this, four Working Groups of the Association have agreed to organize Basic Teaching Courses, all in their particular field within Paediatric Cardiology. The aims are to organize indepth courses, in which experienced teachers pass on knowledge of their specific fields to people in training. These courses are designed to be of small size and affordable, not only in terms of fees, but also for accommodation and travel expenses. Any person in training in Europe should have the opportunity to attend these courses. The four topics are echocardiography, morphology, intervention and catheterization, and arrhythmias. These courses commenced this year, with the following timeframe:
- April 2006: Intervention and Catheterization; Budapest, Hungary
- September 2006: Echocardiography; Leuven, Belgium
- January 2007: Morphology; Leiden, The Netherlands
- April 2007: Arrhythmias; Leipzig, Germany
- September 2007: Echocardiography; Leuven, Belgium
The first teaching course, therefore, was held in Budapest, from March 31 through April 1, 2006. All participants were very enthusiastic about the good informal atmosphere, the dense package of knowledge that the speakers provided, and of course, the great opportunity to establish contact with other young people in training. It was a wonderful weekend, which hopefully will be followed by many more in the future. The participants expressed particular thanks to the Working Group in Intervention, and in particular András Szatmári, for the great course organized in Budapest! A better kick-off for the overall programme of Basic Teaching Courses cannot be imagined.
Further information about exact dates, programme, faculty, and registration are all listed on the website of the Association, as part of the section for Junior Members, at http://www.aepc.org/
We hope that that all of our young trainees will take the opportunity to attend these courses, and that all our prospective teachers will recognize the value of education, and encourage the young people in their hospitals to participate!
Sad news reached us on Saturday, 8 April, 2006. Peter Oberhänsli died after a prolonged illness. Peter was the loving husband of Ingrid Oberhänsli-Weiss, Secretary-General of the Association, and her right hand in the secretarial work. His skills have been invaluable in maintaining and developing our database. His help was even more crucial over the last year, as we sought to cope with more than 100 new members joining the Association. At the time of his death, Ingrid was with him. We are grateful for Peter's worthy help, diligence, his wisdom and his hearty smile over many years. We shall miss a good friend.
Prior to the start of the new Academic year, we wish you all a relaxing vacation, and look forward to your renewed active participation in the activities of the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology and its working groups.
