Annual Meeting May 24 through 27

Plans for the Annual Meeting, to be held in Basel over the period 24 through 27 May, are well in hand, and the organizers are prepared to welcome you in great numbers. An interesting scientific programme has already been prepared, with prearranged sessions from the different working groups, along with several symposiums sponsored by the industry. The scientific secretary, Shakeel Qureshi, will arrange the abstracts sessions in collaboration with Jean Pierre Pfammatter from Bern. We expect to receive the final programme within the next few days. Now is the time to register for this annual event so as to take advantage of the early registration fee. Those wishing to attend should also remember to book their hotel rooms, as Basel is a busy town.

Coding Committee

The Coding Committee has been very busy with cross-mapping the European Paediatric Coding System with the systems of the European and International Coding Systems of the Cardio-thoracic Surgeons. The new long list of the International Paediatric Cardiovascular and Cardiology Coding System, and an upgraded short list of the European Paediatric Cardiology Coding System, are now available on our website. They can be downloaded for professional activities by sending back the usual acknowledgement.

Website

We hope that website is becoming increasingly attractive and useful. Very shortly it will incorporate an on-line mechanism for payment of the annual dues. The Council hopes that this new mode of payment will become attractive, but asks those using it also to send the yellow sheet, carefully filled in with the required information, to the treasurer by e-mail. This will help the treasurer to assess the success of the newly installed system.

We expect that, by the end of February, all our Working Groups will have the opportunity to develop their special web page. Proposals for further development of these pages should be sent to the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General elect. The address of individual websites, if appropriate, should also be sent so that they can be linked to the web pages of the Association.

News from the Junior Members

The group of Junior Members within the Association, currently organized by Ruth Heying, Michael Rahbek, Joachim Eichhorn, and Heynric B. Grotenhuis, has now been in existence for 3 years. Its most important aim was, and is, to establish opportunities for teaching those in training. To fulfill this aim, four Working Groups have thus far agreed to organize basic teaching courses, all in their particular field. The courses will extend over 2 days, when experienced teachers will pass on their accumulated knowledge. They will be designed to be small in size but affordable, both in terms of fees, accommodation, and travelling. Any person in training in Europe should have the opportunity to attend these courses, but as the number of attendees will be limited, preference will be given to Junior members of the Association. So far, four topics have been selected, specifically echocardiography, morphology, haemodynamics and catheterization, and arrhythmias. The courses will start in April of 2006, when haemodynamics and catheterization will be covered in Budapest, Hungary. Thereafter, in September of 2006, echocardiography will be the topic, in Leuven, Belgium. In January of 2007, attention will shift to morphology, to be addressed in Leiden, The Netherlands, and then, in April 2007, arrhythmias will be the topic, in Leipzig, Germany. Subsequently, we will return to echocardiography, in September, 2007, again in Leuven, Belgium. Further information about the exact dates, the programme, the chosen faculty, and registration will be listed in the section of the website devoted to the activities of our Junior Member. We hope that this initiative will be suitably appreciated by colleagues in training, and that many young people will attend these courses. We also hope that teachers will approve the value of proper education, and encourage their young people to participate in the courses!

Retirement of Prof. Otto Daniëls

In autumn, 2005, the Council was informed that Otto Daniëls had taken a rather unexpected and sudden decision to opt for early retirement by the end of 2005. Otto has been one of the most active members of the Association. He has served on Council as Secretary-General, as President-elect, and as President. During these very active years, he initiated important changes in the Association. He pushed the Association to become a more professional organization, to accept all European Paediatric Cardiologists for membership, and to invite also colleagues working in connected fields to become members. He was eager to establish close connections with the European Society for Cardiology, and followed their development by implanting similar structures, obligations, and requirements in our own Association. He saw early the need and the importance of establishing close links and collaboration with the European Union for Medical Specialists, and to develop unified requirements for training, thus providing the guarantee for professional quality in the field at the highest levels. For his never-resting efforts, the Association expresses its profound gratitude. We hope that, despite his retirement from the University in Nijmegen, we will continue to see him during our Annual Meetings. The Council, on behalf of all the members, wishes Otto many rewarding and healthy years to come, in which he, together with his lovely wife, will find new areas of interest, and renew close relationships with old and new friends.

New membership

On behalf of the Council, we invite all members to stimulate their colleagues, irrespective of their seniority, to join the Society as active ordinary or junior members. Only as a united organization will we stay successful, gain importance, reach the goals, and protect our profession! An online application form, and online payment for annual dues, is waiting to be used within the website. As already discussed, those members using the new system to pay their dues are also asked to inform the treasurer by e-mail to provide the necessary crosschecking of the system.

Upgrading addresses

We ask you that all members upgrade their addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses by using the appropriate form on the website under “Membership Information/Important Information for All Members”.

Bonne Chance to you all!