UEMS - Cardiology Section

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE

U.E.M.S.  CARDIOLOGY SECTION

Friday, November 25^th 2005 – 10.00 am to 14.00 pm

Regus Skyport Meeting Center - Brussels Airport

Present;

   J.P.Amlie

   N.Boon

   A.Cieslinski

   L.Goncalves

   M.Mariani

   I.Oberhänsli Weiss

   P.Polak

   Serap Erdine

   G.Vollan

1. Opening

President of the section, Jan P.Amlie, welcomed the Steering Committee members to the meeting. He stated that unfortunately H.Huikuri was unable to come due to an injured knee,  and  R.Michels, Otto Hess, Heinz Weber and C.D. Fessas were also excused.

2. Approval of the minutes of the Stockholm meetings.

After a slight alteration of the text regarding the financial support from Italy (short explanation by Mariani), the minutes of the Steering Committee meeting, September 5^th and  the General Assembly September 6^th, were accepted.

3.  Speciality in Cardiology within Europe

Independent Cardiology is a specialty in most countries in Europe, but in Germany, Austria and Norway, you have to be a specialist in internal medicine before you can be a cardiologist.

As for training:

England: changing to (under discussion):

            2 years foundation course (to be started during general medical training))

            1 or 2 years basic medical cardiology

            3 years cardiology core training

            2 years speciality training

Portugal

            2 years internal medicine

            4 years cardiology

the Netherlands

            2 years internal medicine

            4 years cardiology

4. EBAC

L Goncalves reported on the historical evolution of the process of negotiation between EACCME and the ESABs (European Specialty Accreditation Boards), since he became EBAC chairman. From this process it is obvious that EACCME is not willing to set up a reasonable agreement with the ESABs.

In a meeting held on November 5^th in Brussels, Hallila, Harvey, Maillet (board of UEMS), Amlie and Goncalves (UEMS CS and EBAC) met to discuss the Cardiology accreditation process in Europe. Despite the friendly atmosphere it was obvious that EACCME wants to have an extremely centralized approach on all the accreditation process, in all the specialities, in all the European countries. This is simply not feasible.

 The following steps were proposed:

a/  A position paper (together with accreditation boards of the European Societies of Pneumology, Microbiology, Nuclear.Medicine  and Cancer) has been submitted to EACCME  for discussion during the meeting in Brussels November 26^th. This position paper has also been sent to all other sections.

b/  P.Polak (as NAA has demonstrated the present flowchart of accreditation in the Netherlands) will explain the situation in the Netherlands.

c/  A website is being started by ESABs . This website should be on line before 2006.

The UEMS CS fully supports the point of view taken by EBAC.

Survey

G.Vollan announced a (slightly reformed) concept of a questionnaire, intended to give information on cardiology training and practice in Europe. Recommendations and suggestions by the Steering Committee were welcomed and will be implemented.

AEPC

I.Oberhänsli-Weiss  reported on the paediatric cardiology in Europe. Most of the member states have basic paediatric training followed by cardiology.

In Switzerland and Sweden it is a recognised subspecialty.

In Germany it is a subspecialty of both paediatrics and cardiology.

In Portugal it is a monospeciality.

Guidelines in Paediatric Speciality will be developed according to (modified) American Guidelines.

Harmonization in training, as well as in quality control, remain difficult.

Oberhänsli-Weiss was advised to implement Chapter 6 in Paediatric Cardiology.

The UEMS SC strongly supports the activities of the Paediatric Cardiology

Next meeting

Lisbon, Friday May 5^th 2006, hosted by L.Goncalves.

Peter Polak, sign.

(Acting as secretary of UEMS-CS at request of President Amlie)

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE U.E.M.S. CARDIOLOGY SECTION

Tuesday, September 6^th - 14.00-18.00

Wenckebach Room - Green Zone - K24  - Congress Centre

Stockholm

Present                     Eero Jokinen

                                   A. Szatmari

                                   Lino Goncalves

Peter Polak

Nick Boon

Otto Hess

Erland Erdmann

Andrzej Cieslinski

Charris Fessas

Per Tornvall

Maria Schanfelberger

Gaute Vollan

Maido Uusküla

Nina Gotcheva

Jaromir Hradec

Anders Junker

Kjeld Lyngborg

Heikki Huikuri

Jan P. Amlie

Rolf Michels

Ali Oto

Oktay Ergene

Joanna Ortoli

B. Maillet

Heinz Weber

Lampros Michalis

Etienne Aliot

Lajos Matos 

1. President Jan P. Amlie welcomed the participants to the General Assembly of the UEMS Cardiology Section.

2. Secretary Heikki Huikuri gave an overview of the current status of professional recognition of cardiology within the EU. First, an overview of activities of the UEMS Cardiology Section was  presented, and then the secretary explained the short history of the EU directive of medical doctors. In 2002, a new proposal came from the EU Commission that only 17 medical specialties would be recognized in the EU. As a consequence, cardiology would have lost its position as an own speciality, because it is a subspecialty of internal medicine in Germany and Austria. This proposal was resisted by the UEMS Cardiology Section and the management council. They did a lot of lobbying within the EU, and finally, the European Parliament ,the Council of Ministers and the European Commission  made a decision that all the existing 52 specialities should be recognized, including cardiology. This will ascertain free movement of cardiologists within EU countries. Only language skills will be required. This will cause even more challenges for harmonization of training also in the new EU countries and in the expanding Europe. The Secretary`s presentation is attached as a separate file.        

3. Function and Objectives of UEMS. General Secretary of the UEMS management council,Dr.B. Maillet, gave an overview of the function and objectives of the UEMS. His presentation is attached as a separate file. Two main objectives of the UEMS were emphasized in Maillet´s  presentation. The first is to study and promote the highest level of training of medical specialists, medical practice and health care within the European Union. The second important objective is to study and promote the free movement of specialist doctors within the European Union, and  the harmonization and improvement of quality of medical specialists training and practice, and the professional defense of their specialty. After Maillet´s presentation, the relationship between EACCME and EBAC was commented and discussed. It was proposed that the representatives from EACCME and EBAC should continue their negotiations dealing with the relationship between these two structures. The differences between national and international meetings were also discussed in the application of CME points. A distinct demarcation between national and international meetings is sometimes difficult, and must be considered “in casu”.   

4. Subspecialty training. Vice president and chairman of the EBSC, Rolf Michels, gave an update and looked at the future of the European cardiologists. His presentation is attached as a separate file. Chapter Six, dealing with training, includes only training recommendation in general cardiology. New subspecialties will be developed within cardiology, but at the moment there are no recommendations for these in this chapter. Rolf Michels proposed a recertification of European cardiologists, and individual accreditation systems nominated as European cardiology registration and accreditation systems (ECCRAS) for the future. The Task Forces on subspecialty accreditation working groups are listed in the attached file. The EBSC Task Force for subspecialty accreditation in cardiology has issued recommendations on the minimum standards for subspecialty accreditation in cardiology. The central monitoring authority for the subspecialty will be in the EBSC. EBSC will also make recommendations for the requirements for training in the subspecialty, based on the  recommendation of the relevant Task Force groups. There will be requirements for training institutions, trainers and for training itself. Practical recommendations and auditing processes are still developing. Finally, Rolf Michels presented the number of European cardiologists at the moment, and overall worldwide distributions of  these diploma.

5. EBAC. The chairman of the EBAC,Dr. Lino Goncalves,  gave a presentation of the current status of EBAC. The presentation of Dr. Goncalves is attached as a separate file. Dr. Goncalves emphasize that EBAC is needed for the accreditation of any CME-event/product in cardiology at the European level. It is important that EBAC is independent of providers, industry etc. Dr. Goncalves proposed new rules for accreditation of meetings in cardiology. The requirements to programme submissions are attached in the presentation. A clear definition of what should- and should not - be done in communication are also presented in the attached file.

6. AEBC. Dr. Jokinen from Finland presented the recommendations for training in pediatric cardiology. His presentation is also attached as a separate file. There will be a common trunk of three years and another three years of pediatric cardiology in their recommendation. An European examination in pediatric cardiology is also recommended. Recommendation for training centers and trainers will also be proposed.

7. Financial situation. Otto Hess presented the financial situation of the UEMS Cardiology Section. Many countries have not paid their fees. It was proposed and decided, that still another reminder should be sent to these countries  Resignment  from the section will be the result of none payment.. Overall, the economical situation of the section is very good. The establishing of a Newsletter – financed by the section - was proposed.

8. Website. Lino Goncalves presented the UEMS Cardiology Section website (www.UEMS-cardio.com), which is working well in its current form. Increasing number of “visits” to the website can be seen.

9. New Steering Committee members. New Steering Committee members were proposed to the General Assembly. The following new members were accepted and nominated: Professor Etienne Aliot from France, Professor Ruth Strasser from Germany, Professor Ali Oto from Turkey and Dr. Peter Erik Polak from the  Netherlands.

10. New projects. Newsletter  project. Dr. Weber, Dr. Boon and the President of the section will start designing and preparing a Newsletter for the cardiology section.

Individual training programs were proposed as a new project. Rolf Michels and Joanna Ortoli will prepare this. 

Survey of European cardiologists was proposed as a new project. Gaute Vollan will prepare this. The details of this new project will be discussed in the next Steering Committee meeting. The Steering Committee will then accept the projects at the meeting in Brussels in November.

11. Next General Assembly will be held during the ESC meeting in Barcelona in August/September 2006.

Heikki Huikuri

Secretary of UEMS-CS

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE U.E.M.S.

CARDIOLOGY SECTION

Monday, September 5^th , 2005 - 17.00 to 19.00 pm

Wenckebach Room - Green Zone - K24 - congress Centre

Stockholm

Present:          J.P. Amlie

            H. Huikuri

            R. Michels

            A. Cieslinski

            N. Boon

            A. Szatmari

            O. Hess

            R. Strasser

            L. Goncalves

            G. Vollan

            H. Weber

            J. Ortoli

            C. Fessas

            S. Erdine

1.  President of the section, Jan P. Amlie,  welcomed the Steering Committee members to the meeting.

2. Minutes of the Steering Committee meeting held in Brussels May 20^th, 2005 were accepted in their presented forms.

3. EBAC and EACME. Relationship between EBAC and EACCME were widely discussed. Heinz Weber referred to a position paper which is aimed to define the responsibilities of EBAC vs. EACCME. It has become evident that the President of the UEMS management council, Hannu Halila, has not been well informed about this position paper. Therefore, there are still some controversies and problems in the relationship between EBAC and EACCME. The representatives of sections and boards have had a meeting in Brussels with EACME, where the main topics were discussed. One important topic is the fee, which is tentatively defined in the draft agreement between the UEMS and the sections. This draft dated November 26^th 2005 (??) is signed by Hannu Halila. Dr Weber discussed widely the existing problems. The main problem is still the fee system, which in its current proposal indicates that EBAC must pay a lot of money to EACCME. The latter organization is probably not as well structured as that of the EBAC itself. It was proposed that the EBAC Chairman, and the President of the Cardiology Section should negotiate further with Dr. Hannu Halila and Dr. Maillet, dealing with relationships between EBAC and EACCME.

4. Financial situation. Otto Hess presented the current financial situation. There are still countries that have not paid their fee, and France, Spain and Sweden for example, “never pay”.

Due to the good economical situation it was proposed that in the future, travel costs for the Steering Committee members could be reimbursed in cases where the National Societies would not do so.  Secondly, a Newsletter for the section was proposed. For this purpose, an organization should be created which will design and be responsible for the content and development of the Newsletter. Dr Boon from UK, Heinz Weber and some others will negotiate and plan the future of the Newspaper.    

5. Steering Committee.  Prof. Ruth Strasser/Germany, Dr Peter Erik Polak/ The Netherlands, Professor Ali Oto/Turkey and Professor Etienne Aliot/France were proposed as new members of the Steering Committee.  It was reminded that National Societies should be involved in the nomination system.

6. Manpower survey. Gaute Vollan from Norway  proposed a new manpower survey of cardiologists in Europe. It was proposed that Dr Vollan prepares a draft of survey and circulates it to the Steering Committee members. After comments and suggestions a new survey will be helpful. 

7. Nominating Committee.  President Jan P. Amlie proposed that a committee should be created for the nomination of new President and Secretary for the next term starting in September 2006. The Nominating Committee was proposed to consist of Jan P. Amlie, Heinz Weber and Lino Goncalves. However, at the
end of the meeting Lino Goncalves was replaced by Otto Hess.

8. Next meeting. Next meeting will be in Brussels, Friday 25^th November, 2005.  

Heikki Huikuri

Secretary of UEMS-CS

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)

Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting of U.E.M.S. Cardiology Section

Friday, Mai 20^th, 2005 - 10.00 to 15.00 pm

Regus Skyport Meeting Center

Brussels Airport

Present:          J.P. Amlie

            L. Goncalves

            Ch. Fessas

            H. Weber

            Gaute Vollan, NO (PWG)

1. Welcome. President of the Steering Committee, Jan P. Amlie welcomed the participants to the meeting and introduced the new representative of the PWG, Dr. Gaute Vollan from Bergen, NO, who is in his last year of Cardiology training (gaute.vollan@helse-bergen.no).  According to the UEMS CS rules, he

will then be a member of the EBSC.

2. Approval of the minutes of the BRX meeting. The minutes of the previous Steering Committee Meeting and General Assembly were accepted in their presented forms.

3. Presentation by Prof. Amlie: Cardiology as an own Speciality in Europe. Professor J-P Amlie presented the current state of the European Cardiology. He gave a short overview about EACCME, UEMS, EBAC and EBSC, their differences and duties, their limitations and advantages. During the discussion, some suggestions were raised:

• A recommendation to the EBSC should be transferred to re-evaluate the Chapter 6 rules for the Training in Cardiology. Especially the number of MR-investigations seemed to be insufficient, the upcoming important CT-investigations are missing,e and the Echo-Nos. should also be discussed, because it was felt in general that these figures were too low. Prof. Amlie will send a letter to the Chairman of EBSC, Dr. R. Michels.

4. EBAC.   Lino Goncalves gave a presentation dealing with new strategies within EBAC, and especially with the tremendous efforts EBAC and some other boards like FECS etc,. made to cooperate with EACCME. He also informed about the communication problems with the only representative of  EACCME, Dr. Maillet, and  about the discussion he had with the UEMS-President Dr. Halila, who had some information deficits about the ongoing business in EACCME.

 Furthermore the fee, which would be asked from EACCME for the approval of events, was discussed,: The proposal from the Board of EUR 100.- per event, which would mean a total  of  about  EUR 50.000.- annually, was denied by Dr. Maillet. This led to another proposal by the Boards with a stepwise increase of the fee from EUR 100.- for small sized events over EUR 200.- up to  EUR 300.- for big meetings (which will double the EACCME income!)

A Management Council Meeting of UEMS together with EACCME and representatives from the sections will take place in BRX on May 21^st., where Prof. Amlie will participate as President of the UEMS CS. All above mentioned issues will then be discussed.

Finally, all participants supported the EBAC efforts to cooperate with EACCME, because it is a necessity to achieve an EU-wide CME-system. Negotiations should lead to an acceptable contract for both sides, i.e. the Boards and EACCME, including a broader basis of UEMS representatives in EACCME, and also a clear operating plan regarding the duties and guidelines for both sides.

Nevertheless, Prof. Goncalves reported about a possible worst case scenario, with separate ways for the European Medical Educational Boards of different specialities. But finally it is in general the hope that negotiations will lead to a productive and acceptable cooperation between those important European  bodies. Prof.Amlie and prof. Goncalves will set up a meeting with the General Secretary and the President of UEMS  by the end of the year.  We then hope to get a good agreement with  EBAC and

EACCME.

AMENDUM: 

During the BRX Management Council Meeting on May 21^st,  UEMS  and UEMS CS agreed upon an

continuous  dialogue, and Bernhard Maillet promised to be in Stockholm in September to try to make

a good solution  for these questions.

5.  Economy.  Dr. Amlie reported on behalf of the Treasurer Dr. Hess about the good economy of the UEMS-CS. The annual fee has been paid by most of the member countries in due time, except – which is not new- the “big” EU-countries. A reminder will be sent, and one can only hope that the European solidarity will make the non-payers pay….

But the activities of the UEMS-CS should be discussed, and how to use the money properly.

6. Letters to the ESC and its subgroups dealing with education and accreditation of laboratories

It is a great need for structured education in electrophysiology and interventional cardiology.

In addition to that, accreditation of laboratories in the same areas should be performed, probably under supervision of EBSC.

7. Individual postgraduate Training – financial support from the UEMS CS

Prof. Amlie and Dr. Goncalves reported that the Chairman of EBSC, Dr. R. Michels, who is responsible for the accreditation of Training Centres in Cardiology in Europe (“Centres of Excellence in Cardiology” for basic training, for subspecialty training etc.) asked for financial support to set up this programme. Unanimously it was agreed that UEMS-CS should support a specific project financially. A letter will be sent to the EBSC-Chairman, asking for the concrete content of the project, so that a basis for further discussions and decisions will be available. It could include software or hardware development, as well as the payment for a secretary. Dependant of the submitted project, an amount of EUR 10.000.- could be considered.

8. Website.  Lino Goncalves informed the Steering Committee of the current state of the website, which is now ready. It can be visited on the internet: www.uems-cardio.com.  Lino informed that wrong information will be available at the UEMS-Website without a link to the CS-Website. A letter will be sent to the UEMS, asking them to wipe out the wrong information under www.uems.net/card and to get a link from the UEMS to our new Website.

9. Clinical grants for two young cardiologists from the new EU countries?

Prof.  Amlie suggested to create an “UEMS-CS Award” for one or two cardiologists. An amount of EUR 5.000.- for each is considered. More details should be proposed, discussed and decided during the upcoming Stockholm meeting, so that the first award could be given in 2006. Clear rules and a decision process must be made first. Suggestions and opinions are welcomed.

10. Miscellaneous

• Financial activities to improve the visibility of  the UEMS-CS
  • Support of EBSC (see above)
  • UEMS-CS- Scientific Award (see above)
  • UEMS could support the European CARDS registry project
     
• Newsletter

It was strongly suggested by Dr. Goncalves and Weber to create an “UEMS-CS-Newsletter”, which should be sent out via e-mail to all available Cardiologists  -at least twice a year, and about 4 pages. The content should deal with the Mission Statement of the Section, the Structure, the different Bodies and their duties (EACCME, EBAC, EBSC), the European Cardiologists, News from the EU etc.

The layout should be on a professional basis, and the editing  should  be the responsibility/duty of the Secretary of the Section. The first Newsletter could appear just before the Stockholm meeting

• New Steering Committee Members

Dr. Weber reminded that Members of the Plenary Assembly should be invited to become a Steering Committee Member. The selection process should not only include geographical or historical points of view, but more important whether the candidate will be able to participate actively in the work of the Section, beyond his main job as Cardiologist. The lists of the present delegates to the UEMS CS, will be mailed to the Steering Committee Members, so that suggestions could be made for the elections before the next meeting.  

• WPG-Activities

Dr. Weber informed the new delegate about the support of the Section and also of the ESC during the past to create a European body of Cardiologists in training. Material will be sent to Dr. Gaute Vollan via e-mail soon. 

• Survey of the current situation of Cardiologists  in Europe

Prof. Amlie suggested  that he and Dr. Vollan should make  a survey of the situation of  the Cardiologists in Europe. Dr. Weber reminded of the first EHJ publication dealing with this topic, by Dr. Petch and Dr. Block in 1998. There was a new survey in 2000 (published 2003), and now it seems to be time to repeat it again, and it might be appropriate to re-evaluate the questionnaires.

The new results can then be compared with the previous results, enabling us to see the development in Europe. Dr. Weber will support this project and will send former material to Prof. Amlie  and Dr. Vollan.

11. Next meeting. The next Steering Committee Meeting will be held during the ESC Congress in Stockholm.

Professor Jan P. Amlie                          Professor Heinz Weber

President UEMS CS                            Past-President UEMS CS

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE U.E.M.S. CARDIOLOGY SECTION

Friday, November 26th, 2004 - 10.00 to 16.00 pm

Regus Skyport Meeting Center

Brussels Airport

Present: J.P. Amlie

L. Goncalves

R. Michels

S. Erdine

I. Oberhänsli-Weiss

A. Cieslinski

H. Huikuri

S. Levy (ECAS presenter)

1. Welcome. President of the Steering Committee, Jan P. Amlie welcomed the participants to the meeting.

2. Approval of the minutes of the Munich meeting. The minutes of the previous Steering Committee Meeting and General Assembly were accepted in their presented forms.

3. Presentation of ECAS. Professor Samuel Levy presented the current state of the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (ECAS). Professor Levy commented on the motivation for creating a new association in arrhythmias to Europe. Heart Rhythm Society, previous NASPE, has presented their willingness to become a world-wide organisation in the field of arrhythmias. Many distinguished cardiologists in Europe have been afraid of the activities of the Heart Rhythm Society of U.S.A., because the power would then move from Europe to U.S.A. It has been speculated that the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), working under the umbrella of ESC, may not be powerful enough to protect European cardiologists in the field of arrhythmias against the Heart Rhythm Society. For example, the association working under the umbrella of ESC has no own economy, which may prevent its independence, power and strength. These factors have been the main motivation for creating a new arrhythmia association in Europe. Samuel Levy has collected many distinguished arrhythmologists for creating the ECAS. The first meeting has been planned to be held in Marseilles in April 2005. The device and other companies have not yet been willing to sponsor this meeting. There are many political issues behind the unwillingness of companies to start sponsoring ECAS, mainly because they are afraid of EHRA and the Heart Rhythm Society. In any case, the meeting will probably be held in Marseilles, France, and the programme is well-designed, the speakers and chairmen of this meeting are distinguished cardiologists both from Europe and U.S.A., and most of invited speakers have promised to participate in this meeting without any lecturer fee or any other honorarium. ECAS is willing, if it will survive, to collaborate as well as possible with all important organisations, such as UEMS-CS, EBAC and EBSC, to improve their status. The slide presentation of Prof. Levy is attached.

4. EBAC. Lino Goncalves gave a presentation dealing with new strategies within EBAC. Important issues in EBAC will be accreditations of CD-ROMs, CME articles (e.g. guidelines). Contacts with the European Heart Journal and other journals will be important for accreditation of guidelines etc. Individual programs for cardiologists in training and accreditations are also important. Lino Goncalves has proposed a meeting with the president of ESC and also with the president of UEMS. Accreditation systems for internet learning are also in progress.

5. EBSC. Rolf Michels gave an overview of the future activities of EBSC. He presented the communication between the ESC, EBSC and EBAC which together will have the European cardiologists quality control, starting from education to accreditation and to certification. He also proposed a new system, ECRAS, European cardiology registrations and accreditation system. This will enable an individual register for cardiologist dealing with accredited courses, internet courses and self-added courses. Promotion of European cardiology diploma was also presented by Rolf Michels and discussed. The role of EBSC in the European subspecialty training was also discussed. The future certification process was also proposed by Rolf Michels, e.g. board certification of European cardiologists, and re-certification after 5 years. Certification of paramedics, nurse practitioners and other specific fields of competence will also be under evaluation in the future. The slide presentation of Rolf Michels is attached.

6. ESH. Dr. Serap Erdine gave an overview of the European Society of Hypertension ESH). There are 771 hypertension specialists at the moment in Europe. Dr. Erdine presented the requirements of hypertension specialists. She also presented the problems of hypertension speciality and the goals of the European Society of Hypertension. The slide presentation of Dr. Erdines presentation is attached. ESH will work in close collaboration with the UEMS-CS.

7. Website. Lino Goncalves informed the steering committee on the current state of website. Website is ready. It can be visited on the internet: www.uems-cardio.com.

8. Symposia during the ESC meeting. Two symposia have been proposed by the UEMS-CS to the Stockholm meeting. The first proposal is the joint session between the UEMS and ESC dealing with education and accreditation in its broadest sense. The chairmen will be Professor Amlie and Michael Tendera. The first topic will be “Accreditation activities as ESC and European asset” by Peter Kearney. The second topic “Accreditation in echocardiography- a valuable experience” by Kevin Fox, the third presentation will be entitle “EBSC standards for speciality and subspeciality accreditation, diploma of European cardiologist” by Rolf Michels and last topic “CME accreditation as a complement in accreditation of individuals” by Lino Goncalves. Another proposal has been entitled “Strategies to bridge the gaps between the quidelines and clinical practice of cardiac patients”. This topic will deal with implantable devices and treatment of unstable angina pectoris and is aimed to give insight to the geographical situations of these treatment modalities in various parts of Europe. This session would give a basis for attempts to harmonise the treatment of cardiac patients in Europe.

9. AEPC. Dr. Oberhänsli-Weiss gave a presentation of the AEPC. She emphasised that the goal of AEPC will be an own speciality within Europe. AEPC will also work as actively as in previous years in the UEMS-CS. The slide presentation is attached.

10. Election of 12 candidates to the UEMS Multidisciplinary Join Committee of Intensive Care Medicine. One candidate from the Netherlands and one from AEPC was proposed.

11. Connection to the EU-Commission and next meeting. The next steering committee meeting was proposed to be held in Cyprus, were the Commissioner Marcus Kyprianou from EC would be present by invitation from Dr. Fessas and UEMS-CS.


 

Heikki Huikuri Jan Peder Amlie

Secretary of UEMS-CS President of UEMS-CS

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)

MINUTES OF THE UEMS CARDIOLOGY SECTION GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN MUNICH

August 31st, 2004 – 14.00 am to 18.00 pm

In the Edler Room, Blue Zone, Congress Centre

Present: J.P. Amlie

R. Michels

H. Huikuri

O.M. Hess

H. Weber

L. Goncalves

A. Cieslinski

C.D. Fessas

A. Szatmari

P. Block

F.J. Pinto

M. llorens

A. Fraser

P. Kearney

N. Gotcheva

L. Matos

K. Fox

M. Uusküla

K. Lyngborg

L. Michalis

I. Vassiliadis

E. Subkovas

I. Preda

R. Bjørnerheim

Apologies: Other delegates

1. President J.P. Amlie welcomed the participants of the General Assembly.

2. Secretary Heikki Huikuri gave an annual report of the activities of UEMS-CS.

3. New website. Lino Goncalves presented the current state of the new website. The web designer who has been responsible for the practical development of the website so

far, is unfortunately not able to continue. Jan P. Amlie proposed – and got acceptance –

for a new candidate to continue this work.

4. Voting of new representatives. Rolf Michels was proposed to be a chairman of the EBSC, Lino Goncalves the chairman of EBAC, Dr.T. Stefenelli the representative in the EBSC and Dr.C.D. Fessas the representative of UEMS in the EBAC. All nominations were unanimously accepted by the General Assembly.

5. EBAC. The current state of EBAC was presented by the Chariman, Heinz Weber. He pointed out the fact that EBAC is not dependent of the industry. General rules for all distance learning products: CD-rom, accreditation system, ECS educational website, and EBAC accreditation policy for CME articles, will all be the future topics in the activities of EBAC.

6. EBCS. Rolf Michels presented the current state of EBSC, for which a new structure has been proposed. This will be discussed in the future EBSC meetings. Promotion of European diplomas and coordination with new subspecialty association accreditation systems, will be of future importance.

7. AEPC. Dr. A. Szatmari presented the current state of AEPC. He pointed out the importance of a tight contact between AEPC and adult cardiologists. An important task in the

future, will be to maintain the identity of paediatric cardiologists

8. New subspecialties. Peter Kearney presented the activities of the subspecialty committee of ESC, which task is to organize the creation of new subspecialties within cardiology.

9. European Association of ECHO-Cardiography. Dr.A. Fraser presented the current state of the European Association of Echo-Cardiography. Having annual meetings, and their own journal and website, they fulfil the requirements of a new association. An accreditation system has been developed, including an accreditation committee. The association will have written examinations, and also non-physicians will be welcomed as members and thus receive accreditation.

10. European Heart Rhythm Association. DR M. Llorens gave an overview of the current state of this association, which fulfils all the requirements of a new association. An accreditation system has been created and is developing. The accreditation modalities will be practising professionals, training centres and practising arrhythmia units. To be accredited, a written examination will be needed, and there will be an organizational structure, including an accreditation committee, which will be responsible for the accreditations.

11. Special award ceremony. Prof. Jan P. Amlie gave the first two Diplomas of the UEMS-CS to Prof. Pierre Block: “A Gentleman with exceptional intellect and persistence”, and to Prof. Heinz Weber: “A friendly leader devoted to training and quality control”.

12. Budget. The budget situation is good. It was decided that travel expenses of the Steering Committee not being covered by the National Societies, might be reimbursed. A transition time for the new member states was accepted. This

allowing them to pay the “non- EU fee” for another 5 years. It was further decided that

no direct financial support to EBAC should be given.

13. End of meeting

Heikki Huikuri

Secretary of UEMS-CS

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE UEMS- CS IN MUNICH

Monday, August 30th, 2004 - 17.00 to 19.00

Wenckebach Meeting Room - Blue Zone - 2nd Floor Congress Centre

Present: J.P. Amlie

R. Michels

H. Huikuri

O.M. Hess

H. Weber

E. Erdmann

L. Goncalves

C.D. Fessas

A. Szatmari

1. President Jan P. Amlie welcomed the members of the Steering Committee to the meeting.

2. Secretary Heikki Huikuri presented the summary of minutes of the previous Steering Committee Meeting in Brussels. The minutes were accepted in their presented form.

3. The secretary function. Secretary Heikki Huikuri informed that his future position will change at the University Hospital of Oulu. He will be responsible for more administrative work as a director of the cardiovascular sector in his hospital. Therefore, he has to step down from the position of secretary of the UEMS-CS, simply because of lack of time to function effectively. This can well be done smoothly, so that a future secretary can work together with the current secretary for a certain period of time. A nomination and invitation of a future secretary should take place immediately.

4. New task. The proposal of having a meeting organized by the UEMS- CS in Strasbourg - or somewhere else - was lively discussed. One option is to organize a high level meeting together with the ESC, for example during the next ESC meeting in Stockholm, which should guarantee a high number of participants. Various topics were proposed, mainly dealing with quality questions, implementation of guidelines, and socioeconomical aspects in cardiology. Another proposal was that UEMS-CS should work independently from the ESC and organize its own meeting aimed at attracting participants also from EU, and perhaps national health authorities. The final decision regarding this meeting was left open and will be discussed later.

5. A new survey. A new survey about the number of cardiologists in Europe was proposed to be organized. This has been done twice before by P. Block. A questionnaire regarding education of cardiologists in Europe would also be helpful. It was decided that a combined survey dealing with manpower and training in cardiology in various EU countries will be performed by Rolf Michels on behalf of EBSC and UEMS-CS.

6. Communication between EBAC and EACCME has been discussed and prepared by Heinz Weber. He proposed that the boards of different sections of UEMS should arrange a meeting with the UEMS board dealing with the collaboration between EACCME and sections.

Dr. C.D. Fessas from Cyprus was proposed to become a member of EBAC. His nomination will be presented to the General Assembly.

7. Non-EU countries The Fee for the new member states should be settled. A transition time

of five years with the old “non EU-fee” was proposed . Then every member state will pay the same fee. The question of some non-EU countries, e.g. Turkey, Romania, etc., was also discussed, but no final decision was made dealing with a new fee system for these countries.

8.The next Steering Committee Meeting will be held in Brussels in November in connection with

the EBAC/ EACCME meeting. The commissioner of health of EU will be invited to participate.


 

Heikki Huikuri

Secretary of UEMS-CS

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)

MINUTES OF THE UEMS-CS STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN BRUSSELS

May 14th, 2004 – 10.00 am to 15.30 pm

Maison des Associations Internationales,

Rue Washington 40, 1050 Brussels

Present:
J. P.Amlie
H. Weber
Otto Daniels
Lino Goncalves
H. Huikuri

1. Minutes of the meeting held in Amsterdam were presented by secretary Heikki Huikuri and they were accepted in their presented form.

2. Professional qualifications. Secretary Heikki Huikuri presented the current status of professional qualification. At present, the proposal will be that if the medical speciality is accepted as its own speciality in 2/5 of the member state, it will be accepted as on own speciality within EU. This topic will be present in the meeting of Council of Ministers of EC in May or June 2004. It was proposed that after the final decision, UEMS-CS will inform the delegates and the national cardiology societies about the final solution in this important issue.

3. EBAC and its relation to EACCME. Heinz Weber gave a thorough presentation about the history and current state of EBAC. A total of 235 events have been accredited between 1998 and 2004. During the last two months, 4 ESC events and 38 other events were accredited. The system is functioning well, overall. Important issue for the future is the CME accreditation, CD-rom accreditations and internet learning accreditations. There will be some pilots with internet courses with 27 modules from ESC. Many EBAC accreditation applications are related to industry. In this respect, it will be important that the EBAC has specific rules on the role of industry. CME certified institution must be included in all events sponsored by industry. 14 national societies have agreed that EBAC is responsible for international meeting accreditations. The financial status of EBAC is not positive at the moment. There are two employees (Joanna Ortoli and the secretary). At the moment EBAC has a loan from ESC. Heinz Weber proposed that a new chairman should be nominated to the EBAC. Lino Goncalves was proposed by the UEMS-CS as a new chairman of the EBAC.

Heinz Weber commented that the relations between the EACCME and the EBAC should not become a problem. EACCME should be a clearing house, but cannot be a primary accreditation place for various specialties. EACCME should also communicate with the national authorities. Heinz Weber will meet dr. Maillet to discuss the relations between the EBAC and EACCME.

4. Restructuring EBSC. A restructuring of EBSC was discussed lively. Development and creation of new Associations, e.g in Echocardiography and Heart Rhythm, are in progress. Each of these has their own accreditation proposals for there subspecialties. The consensus was that these proposals should also be viewed and accepted by the UEMS-CS to have more legitimacy within EC. The following structure was proposed.

8 members to the EBSC were proposed. 2 from ESC, 2 from UEM-CS, 1 from pediatric cardiology, 1 from cardiologists in training, and 2 from new associations. This proposal will be sent to the ESC and to the new Associations.

5. Website. Many proposals for the new web-site were presented. Links to the ESC and EC should be included in the web-site. An own address for the web-site was decided.

6. European heart network. A joint effort of the ESC and EC was created and they had their meeting in Cork dealing with cardiovascular prevention in Europe.

7. Registries. A CARDS project has been created to create a common electronic database for various cardiovascular diseases and techniques in cardiology from the European countries. This effort is sponsored by the EC and the ESC. A meeting has been held in Ireland, where different subspecialties planned the contents of the registries in their own fields. These registries will be important and strongly supported also by the UEMS-CS.

8. Honorary members of UEMS-CS. J-P Amlie proposed that a ceremony will be held in Munich where a pin and diploma will be given to Pierre Bloch and Heinz Weber.

9. New members. New EC member states should be invited to the UEMS-CS. These should nominate their delegates to the section. A reduced fee should perhaps be given to new member states within a certain transition time.

10. Next meeting. The next meeting will be held in Munich at the time of the Congress of the ESC. (30/8-2004, 17.00 to 19.00, Wenckebach Room)

Heikki Huikuri

Secretary of UEM-CS

Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN AMSTERDAM

December 10th 2003 - 10 am to 16 pm

(Confio Business & Conference Center - WTC Schiphol - Manchester room)


 Present:  
J. P.Amlie  
Rolf Michels
H. Huikuri
Lino Goncalves
Otto Hess
Erland Erdmann
Nick Boon
Leonard Harvey (UEMS past president. Liaison Officer)
Carris D. Fessas
Andrzej Cieslinski
Paul Vanberg
Joanna Ortoli (EBAC)
Otto Daniels       

1. President Jan P. Amlie welcomed the Steering Committee members.

2. Secretary Heikki Huikuri presented an overview of the previous Steering Committee Meeting in Vienna. The list of the participants was incomplete, but has been corrected and sent to the members.  Otherwise the minutes were accepted.

3. EBAC.

Relationship between EBAC and EACCME was lively discussed. Lino Goncalves gave a slide presentation of the role of EBAC. The main problem in the current situation is that some applications of credit points of scientific meetings are directed first to EACCME and not to EBAC. In some cases, EACCME then will give legitimization of the meetings and credit points directly to national accreditation authorities without any consultation with EBAC. EBAC itself and the UEMS-CS propose that the providers should first send the applications to EBAC. EBAC has international  reviewers who decide on the accreditation process and  the number of credit points via an efficient electronic system.

This information can then be sent to EACCME which gives the final legitimization. EACCME could then forward the credit points and the legitimization to national accreditation authorities and finally to providers of the scientific meetings. Joanna Ortoli gave a thorough presentation of the potential problems in the current system. Liaison officer Leonard Harvey commented that there should not be a major problem in the relationships, but the possible problems should be discussed directly by the UEMS-CS and the UEMS itself. After lively discussion it was decided that the UEMS-CS representatives of EBAC (Heinz Weber, Lino Goncalves and Rolf Michels) should continue the discussion, and try to solve this topic with UEMS and the EACCME.

4. Website of UEMS-CS.  

Lino Goncalves presented the current situation of the UEMS-CS web-site, which consists of  nine different parts:

1) The names of the board members.

2) The history of UEMS.

3) The programme of the board.

4) Website of medical organizations.

5) Minutes of the board meetings.

6) Training programme in cardiology.

7)  UEMS news.

8) Publications.

9) Dates for meetings and conferences.

The structure of the website seems to be ok. In the future, a written text should be added.

The following tasks were proposed:

The history of the UEMS section to be written by Pierre Block. A definition of the profession should also be included, and the secretary promised to do this. English language was preferred in all website information. A general outline of cardiac diseases in Europe was also proposed to be included.  It was proposed that Martin Simons should be asked to contribute by writing this summary. Information on CME  should also be included and this could be written by Heinz Weber. Information of the quality policy should also be included, and  Rolf Michels proposed to contribute to this section on the regulation and quality issues. Names of cardiologists in the member nations, as well as names of the European Diplomas and addresses of the national societies should perhaps also be included, and this issue could be co-ordinated with ESC. It was also discussed whether a section directed to the patients should be included. The response was positive, overall.

5. UEMS Cardiology Section diploma.

Jan Peter Amlie proposed that a diploma should be given to some members of UEMS-CS who have done active work for the section. It was decided to make a  pin with a logo, and Pierre Block was proposed as the first candidate to whom this pin should be presented.

6. Professional recognition of cardiologists.  

Secretary Heikki Huikuri commented on the current situation and  Leonard Harvey gave thorough and updated information.. There is a proposal that only those specialties which are own specialties within all EU countries will be recognized by EU. This proposal has not yet been decided in the European Parliament, and most probably wont be in this period, but postponed to the future. However, this issue is important because it has the impact on free movement of labour in the internal market. At the moment, cardiology is recognized as an own specialty, but if this changes there will be problems. For example, permission to work as a cardiologist without being specialist in international medicine would not be possible for foreign cardiologists in Germany. Some lobbying has been done by UEMS in this matter, and most probably the final decisions will be taken by the EU parliament later on.

7. Cardiology training after the extension of EU.  

When the new nations have joined the EU, there will be a lot of work in harmonizing the training within EU. It was proposed that the Chapter Six should be widely distributed to the new EU members states, and UEMS-CS should work actively by introducing the training qualification included.  

8 A meeting with the EU parliament in 2004.  

Jan P. Amlie commented on the previous, successful meeting of the Neurology Section and the EU parliament, dealing with stroke. Similar plans have been made to arrange a meeting between UEMS-CS and the EU parliament. Because EU and ESC will have joint meetings in Ireland in 2004, it was considered that a concomitant meeting in May 2004 between UEMS-CS and EU parliament members may not be a proper timing. Therefore, this joint meeting was postponed.

9. The budget and the membership fee.  

J. P. Amlie and Otto Hess gave an overview of the budget and economical situation of UEMS-CS.  There is some money to be used, and this will be directed to the creation and maintenance of the website. A detailed proposal of the costs should be obtained. Executive secretary should again write a letter to the societies of those countries which  have not paid the fees. Those who have neglected the payments should be expelled from the UEMS-CS. Otto Hess proposed a new fee system., deciding that the member fee will be asked only from cardiologists and not the non-cardiologist members of each society. However, travel expenses for the Steering Committee members should be paid by national societies after reduction of the fees. A letter will be sent to the national societies, asking them to state the number of cardiologist members. Thereafter, a new fee will be calculated for each member state.

10. New associations in the ESC.

The impact of new associations within the ESC were discussed. The European Heart Rhythm association has already been introduced and active work has already been done. Working group of echocardiography has also proposed an accreditation system of their new association. In their proposal, there will be non-cardiologists who could also get an accreditation for echocardiography. This topic was lively discussed in the Steering Committee, but no final statement was given.  J.P. Amlie commented that ESC has a new "ad hoc" committee dealing with education and subspecialties. This committee is chaired by Peter Kearny  

The next Steering Committee meeting will be held on Friday 14th May in Brussels. Then the next one in Cyprus (a new member state) in November 2004, and possibly in Poland after that.

Heikki Huikuri,

Secretary of  UEMS-CS

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN VIENNA

September 2nd 2003 - 08.00-12.00

In the Wenckebach meeting room (Hall 12 - Congress Centre)

Present

J. P. Amlie

H. Huikuri

R. Michels

O. Daniels

H. Weber

N.A. Boon

C.D. Fessas

A. Cieslinski

G. Mancia

L. Goncalves

K. Lyngborg

I.Vassiliadis

J. Airaksinen

P. Kearney

M. Mariani

T. Tilney

P. Vanberg

H. Vik-Moe

I. Oberhänsli Weiss

M. Sigmund

I. Preda

Apologies: All other delegates

1. President J.P. Amlie welcomed the delegates of the UEMS cardiology section to the general assembly.

2. J.P. Amlie and Heikki Huikuri reported from the activities of the UEMS-CS 2002-2003.

Jan P. Amlie also presented the budget of the UEMS-CS. The economic situation is satisfactory, even though many countries still have not paid their fees. K. Lyngborg from Denmark suggested "a more professional set up" of the budget than what has been previously done. However, the treasurer Otto Hess was not present, and therefore this topic was not further discussed.

3. Secretary Heikki Huikuri proposed a new model for fees in the UEMS-CS.

The problem with the fees is that some countries will be penalized because of the high number of non-cardiology members in the society, e.g. nurses and technicians. The fee system has not been harmonized according to the number of cardiologists within each country. The secretary proposed a new model where the manpower is taken into consideration. With this system, some countries having paid high fees previously, will get lower fees. On the other hand, some of the countries would get higher fees than before. As expected, the delegates from countries getting higher fees, would not accept the changes as proposed. It was therefore suggested that all changes should be done gradually, and the societies should be informed in due course. It was therefore proposed that a letter from the Steering Committee should be sent to the national societies and professional organizations before a change in the fee system is effectuated..

4. P.E. Block gave a presentation of his efforts to create a socio-economic Task Force within the UEMS-CS. This issue was felt important by many of the delegates. P.E. Block asked for persons who would be interested to work on this topic. It was proposed that UEMS-CS should send a letter to all delegates and ask for their willingness to continue this work.

5-6. Peter Kearney gave a short overview of the EBSC at the moment, and H.Weber commented on the activities of the EBAC. Further, Rolf Michels gave a more thorough overview of the present activities of EBAC.

7. Heikki Huikuri commented on the current situation of the acceptance of cardiology as an own specialty in Europe. The EU parliament will have their conference late in September 2003, where this issue will be discussed and perhaps decided. According to the comments of Hannu Halila, the president of UEMS, UEMS has done a lot of lobbying in this issue, for example MEP´s have been informed on the problems of professional qualifications in some medical specialties. In these discussions, cardiology has been used as an example. It has been proposed that if specialty is accepted in at least 70-80% of the countries, it should be accepted as an own specialty. Heikki Huikuri also commented that there will be new members joining the EU in 2004. In this respect the free movement of labor, e.g. cardiologists, will be possible. It has been proposed that there will be a transition time for the new members regarding the free movement of labor. The transition time will be determined individually for each country. In this respect, UEMS could be active within each specialty.

8. J. P Amlie commented on the meeting in the EU parliament on June 19th 2003, where the UEMS neurology- and cardiology sections, represented by their respective presidents, had a meeting with the EU commission and the EU parliament. The topic was Stroke, and J.P. Amlie commented that this was a successful meeting where the MEP´s received important information on this specific disease problem. J.P. Amlie further commented that UEMS-CS is planning a similar joint effort between UEMS-CS, the EU commission and the EU parliament in 2004, possibly in May. The topic would be preventive cardiology, and top speakers could be invited.

9. J.P. Amlie welcomed a new member of the Steering Committee; N.A. Boon from the United Kingdom. And if the present Treasurer, OttoHess, is not able to continue on an active basis, a new candidate will be elected.

10. A General Assembly meeting was proposed to be held in Brussels, May 15th 2004, if possible, otherwise it will take place in Munich ultimo august 2004, in connection with the ESC meeting. This will be decided at the Steering Committee meeting and cardiology section in Amsterdam, December 10th 2003.

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN VIENNA

September 1st 2003 - 18.15 - 19.00

In the Wenckebach Meeting Room (Hall 12 - Congress Hall)

Present: J.P. Amlie

R. Michels

O. Daniels

H. Huikuri

M. Mariani

H. Weber

L. Goncalves

A. Cieslinski

N. Boon

P. Vanberg

C.D. Fessas

Apologies: Other Steering Committee members

1. President Jan P. Amlie welcomed the Steering Committee members.

2. Secretary Heikki Huikuri presented an overview of the previous Steering Committee meeting in Brussels. Only 3 members were present, but there was a fruitful conversation. The minutes of the meeting were accepted.

3. J. P. Amlie presented the highlights from the activities of the UEMS Cardiology Section 2002-2003. He commented on the joint efforts between the UEMS-SC and ESC, e.g. the activities of EBAC and EBSC, which are important. He also reviewed the other activities of the section, as the progress of the website. Secretary Heikki Huikuri commented on the current situation dealing with professional qualifications. It is still open, whether cardiology will be an own speciality within the EU countries. The EU parliament will have its conference in late September 2003, where this topic will be present.

4. Jan P. Amlie presented the agenda of the General Assembly. New members for the UEMS Steering Committee should be invited and nominated. J.P. Amlie suggested A.N. Boon from the United Kingdom. This was accepted unanimously by the Steering Committee. A thoracic surgeon was also proposed as a new member. H. Weber commented that we should first invite the society of the thoracic surgeons and ask their willingness to join the UEMS-CS. Then we may nominate a candidate, and J.P. Amlie proposed Torkel Åberg from Sweden.

5. The time and place of the next Steering Committee meeting will be decided later.

 

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN BRUSSELS

Maison des Associations Internationales, rue Washington 40, 1050 Brussels

Friday, May 9th 2003

10:00 - 16.00 hours

Present J. Amlie H.

H. Huikuri

H. Weber

Apologies: All other steering committee members
 

Only three steering committee members, the president, past president, and the secretary were present in this steering committee meeting. Therefore, no formal decisions could be made. There were fruitful discussions between the three about the future and the strategies of the UEMS cardiology section. All shared the concern of low participation rate for this steering committee meeting, and various strategies to improve the visibility and attractiveness of this section were discussed. Hereby is mentioned only the main points of discussions.

1. Rome meeting

The steering committee meeting in Rome was successful. Modifications of the chapter 6 were considered important. The EBSC, a joint venture of UEMS and ESC, has proven its importance by harmonizing the cardiology training and by giving new guidelines for training. A strong input from the UEMS cardiology section to the work of EBSC was considered important also in the future.

Reimbursements of travel costs have not been received by all of the steering committee members from the Rome meeting. It was decided that these will be reimbursed by the UEMS CS.

The agenda of the joint meeting between the ESC and UEMS CS was discussed and was felt to be appropriate in Vienna.

2. EBAC

H. Weber gave a thorough overview of the function of EBAC. EBAC is an important regulatory organ already now, and its function will be of pivotal importance in the future, when the national CME systems will become more widely accepted by national authorities. H. Weber considered that it will be important that the chairman of the EBAC will be from the UEMS rather than from ESC also in the future. Some new nominations from the UEMS CS will be necessary in the near future for EBAC.

It was considered that the EBAC and EBSC should not be merged because of their divergent role and function.

J-P Amlie felt it important that EBAC carefully considers the role of industry in accepting the scientific programs. EBAC is the only regulatory organ that will be able to discriminate between real scientific or professionals meetings from those purely designed to support interests of industry.

3. Other topics

The fees from different countries to the UEMS cardiology section should be harmonized. This will be important, when new countries will join the section. The secretary will make a proposed for new system in the Vienna meeting.

H. Weber commented that it is even more important to think what do with the money!

Future attempts to approach EU were discussed. The relationship between the UEMS main organization and the cardiology section was also discussed. It was considered that a relative independence from the main organization should be maintained in the UEMS cardiology section.

Strategies to make the section more interesting, visible and attractive were discussed. It was proposed that a large, high-level, meeting should be held and organized by the UEMS cardiology section in May 2004, at the same time with the Steering Committee Meeting, where participants from the EU and other organizations could be invited.

New members to the steering committee were discussed. These persons should be well recognized and should be willing to give their input to the UEMS CS.

Possible sites to the future steering committee meeting were discussed. J-P Amlie proposed Lillehammer in Norway next winter, and perhaps Poland later on.

UEMS cardiology website was discussed. J-P Amlie told that he may have a person in Oslo who could start preparing the website. The section has enough money to put on creation and maintenance of website. An own website and links to the UEMS and ESC is preferable.

4. Next Steering Committee Meeting

Next steering committee meeting will be in Vienna.

MINUTES OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING IN ROME

18/12-2002

Present: Apologies:

J.P. Amlie O.M. Hess

H.R: Michels H. Weber

H. Huikuri

E. Erdmann

M. Mariani Copy:

P. Kearney

C.D. Fessas Hannu Halila, President of UEMS

A. Cieslinski

P. Vanberg

L. Goncalves

G. Mancia

MINUTES

1. Welcome and report by Jan P. Amlie

The Minutes of the last steering committee meeting held in Berlin during the ESC Congress, were unanimously approved.

The president of the UEMS, Cardiology Section, Jan P. Amlie, gave a short overview of the section at the moment. The most important functions of the section were repeated and highlighted. Amlie told that an important issue will be the recognition of cardiology as an own speciality by the EU parliament. Now cardiology is an own speciality in Germany, confirmed by a letter from M. Gottwik 6/12-2002.

Budget proposal for 2003 was also presented and accepted.

2. Suggestions regarding revision of Chapter 6, UEMS European training charter for Medical Specialists

Peter Kearney, the chairman of the EBSC, presented the proposed revisions for chapter 6 concerning training qualifications of cardiologists in Europe. The proposed amendments were commented and thoroughly discussed by the steering committee. European Board for the Speciality in Cardiology will do the central monitoring. EBSC has three members from UEMS, three from ESC, and one from adult pediatric cardiology. The chairman of EBSC is a member of the steering committee. Peter Kearney will resign as the chairman, and H.R. Michels is willing to take over as the new leader. Jan P. Amlie will resign as a member of EBSC. However, he will join the sub speciality group. When important modifications are proposed, these should be sent after acceptance by the cardiology section and UEMS to the national boards.

EBAC was discussed. A CME system is already in place in many European countries. We discussed some collaboration between these two organisations, but they should not be merged. EBSC is a provider of education, and EBAC is a regulatory organ.

3. Upcoming projects

A joint meeting between ESC and UEMS cardiology section was decided to be held in Vienna during the ESC Congress. P. Kearney has had the responsibility until now. Vice President R. Michels will be responsible for planning of the topics of the meeting.

Jan P. Amlie gave proposals for future communications with WHO. Many steering committee members had disappointing experience in cooperation with WHO.

The steering committee proposed that new delegates from Great Britain and France should be invited to the UEMS cardiology section. P. Kearney will contact representatives from Great Britain, and P. Block will contact some leading cardiologists in France.

Miscellaneous.

The increase in member states within EU and its impact on UEMS and UEMS cardiology section, was discussed. It is obvious that there will be little transfer of money from the old EU members to the new members within health care. On the other hand, many of these countries may need some help enabling them to quickly harmonise with the rest of Europe. C.D. Fessas and A. Cieslinski will give some advice at the next meeting.

The next meeting.

The steering committee and the delegates will meet in Brussels on May 9th, 2003. The new president of UEMS, Hannu Halila, will be present.

Jan P. Amlie Heikki Huikuri

Professor  Professor

President Secretary


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