A stellar line up of Australia, New Zealand and international speakers, a programme featuring the latest in cardiovascular medical science and clinical practice and the promise of lively debate are just some of the things that CSANZ delegates can look forward to when they arrive in Adelaide later this week.
Professor Stephen Duffy, convenor of the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting told the limbic that one important focus of this year’s meeting was workplace issues in cardiology, including gender equity.
“Women in Cardiology, which started in Victoria and is now nationwide, are holding a Saturday afternoon session [1:30pm to 3:30pm] that is partly workforce-related but will also cover cardiac conditions that are more common in women, such as spontaneous coronary artery dissection which will be delivered by international expert Jacqueline Saw from Vancouver, Canada,” he says.
This will be followed by a session on the cardiology workforce [3:30 pm to 5:00 pm] that will tackle issues such as equalisation of gender opportunity, the relevance of the CSANZ, physician burnout and when cardiologists should consider retirement.
“These are all issues that historically have been underdone and we are hoping that this session will receive a great deal of interest,” says Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee Professor Tom Marwick.
Keynote sessions
As in previous years, this scientific programme committee has lined up a group of outstanding speakers to deliver the keynote lectures.
On Friday morning [9:00 am to 9:45 am] Frank Marchlinski from the US will be delivering the RT Hall Lecture: “Arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy: Diagnosis and treatment – challenging the dogma.”
Professor Jonathan Kalman from Victoria will kick off Saturday’s sessions by delivering the Kempson Maddox Lecture on mechanisms of atrial arrhythmias: implications for treatment and prevention [8:30 am to 9:15 am].
Later in the morning [10:30 am to 11:00 am] Professor David McGiffin from Victoria will give the Victor Chang Memorial Lecture on transplantation and mechanical circulatory support – from complementary to competitive.
At the same time Kimberly Bardsley from Queensland will deliver the Cardiovascular Nursing Lecture on applying guidelines in practice as a Nurse Practitioner.
Later in the afternoon [13:30 pm to 14:15 pm] Professor Bronwyn Kingwell will give the Basic Science Lecture on novel metabolic approaches to improve outcomes after acute coronary syndrome.
CSANZ, ESC and ACC joint sessions
In testament to the good relationships CSANZ has built with its overseas colleagues in recent years the President of the American College of Cardiology Dr Richard Kovacs will attend the meeting. And despite its own conference being only three weeks away, the President of the ESC Professor Barbara Casadei will also be attending along with five of the ESC’s high profile speakers.
In a joint CSANZ, ESC and ACC joint session on Saturday morning Prof. Casadei will give a talk on the ESC: A roadmap for innovation [10:30 am to 10:45 am] and Dr Richard Kovacs will give a talk on innovation in US cardiology: opportunities and challenges [10:45 am to 11:00 am].
Debating the hot topics in cardiology
The committee has made room for great debates, mostly in the post-lunch slot when delegates tend to be most amenable to the format, says Professor Marwick.
The Imaging debate on Saturday afternoon [1:30 pm to 3:00 pm] will address “very active issues” such as the non-reimbursement of CMR and nuclear cardiology.
However, of particular interest to Professor Marwick is the session that follows on the partnership between the cardiologist and the sonographer, The imaging partnership for acquisition and interpretation [15:30 pm to 17:00 pm].
“The labs that are the most effective are the ones where there is communication between the two because they have different perspectives about what’s important in a study and I hope we will bring up those discussions in the session,” he told the limbic.
The MBS review update which will be given by Richard Harper on Friday at 1:00pm also promises to be a controversial session.
“It is certainly been a while since those meetings occurred and it will be very interesting to hear from the speakers what progress has been made and what happens,” notes Professor Marwick.
Wrapping up the congress will be the “What’s Hot” plenary session on Sunday morning [11:00 am to 12:40 pm] that will cover arrhythmia, clinical, pre-clinical, heart failure, and imaging.
“It’s going to be the most exciting session of the meeting, everything that’s hot in cardiology will be on there … the brief that we’ve given to the speakers is to produce a recap of the last 12 months,” says Professor Marwick.
Getting social
There are also lots of opportunities to catch up with friends and old colleagues. The President’s welcome reception starts at 18:00 on Thursday and the CSANZ will be holding a cocktail function (ticketed) at the Art Gallery of South Australia on Saturday evening from 17:30.