BJCA Newswire – 14th July 2023
Book Now – National Training Day – 8 September 2023
This one-day course at the Royal College of Physicians in London covers a range of topics from the current cardiology curriculum. Sessions for the day include a multi-modality imaging quiz and interactive MDT discussion, and are tailored to address potential gaps in the training programme or areas trainees have identified as being of concern. The trainee rate is just £75, and booking closes on 31 August 2023.
BHRS HANDS-ON SIMULATOR TRAINING DAY & EP TRACES DAY – 6 & 7 November 2023
The British Heart Rhythm Society (BHRS) has opened registration for two exciting practical days exclusively to its members! The EP Traces Day and Hands-On Simulator Training Day will take place at The Midland Hotel Manchester. You can choose to attend one or both days!
The hands-on simulator training day on 7th November is an intensive day of training in a range of device and EP skills. This is aimed at core and arrhythmia sub-speciality cardiology trainees and allied professionals seeking hands-on introductory and refresher experience. There will be over 25 training stations available from a range of companies including Abbott, Botronik, Boston Scientific and Medtronic. You choose which training stations you want to attend.
A separate EP Traces Day will take place 6th November. This is a free hands-on practical demonstration day with training provided on EP simulators.
For more information visit: https://www.millbrook-events.co.uk/BHRS2023
ESC Associations Working Groups & Councils
The ESC is committed to helping trainee cardiologists in developing their careers, offering various opportunities to support trainees. As part of this mission, here is a gentle reminder that multiple subspecialty grants and fellowship opportunities are available on the ESC website so please do not hesitate to apply and spread the word to your respective communities. You will find here enclosed a list of current grants available along with the weblinks to access it.
2025 Research Opportunity at the NIH
It is more than a decade since I was in this group, and for those that don’t know me I went down the academic cardiology path in Oxford for a decade, and then out to Manchester for a few years before industry beckoned. One of the things I have done is run the Early career mentor scheme for the US equivalent of BCIS (they are called SCAI, have 4200 members, and run an excellent training program called “Fall Fellows”)
I had an “out of the blue” email yesterday from Robert Lederman. He is based at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda which sits just outside Washington DC.
Robert is an interventional cardiologist, but occupies a unique niche as a pioneer of novel techniques, some of which are summarised in the attachment.
For some reason, the combination of the NIH environment with the UK cardiology trainee has been very profitable (for all concerned – the three recent ones are now employed as interventional cardiologists in the US). He would like to keep the plan that is working, and is looking for someone to start in 2025, and the applicant must have PCI training (I don’t know details beyond that). I am trying to help with that search.
If you are unfamiliar with their work in essence, the projects they have often take a surgical technique that fell out of fashion in the 1960s and turn into a transcatheter procedure for the 2020’s using electrosurgery to replace the scalpel. This requires a willingness to experiment with animals, and an ability to fabricate solutions from existing off-the shelf items.
It appeals to those who can think unconventionally, can tinker, and will be heading towards intervention (as operators or imagers).
By way of timelines, I am trying to gather a few hand-picked candidates by the end of the week and will then leave it for Robert to review/interview at his convenience.
Happy to field any questions you may have, I appreciate that you will all be working, so please respond when convenient for you. I will reply between 9am – 6pm.
Best wishes with the remainder of your training, thanks for replying if it appeals
Matt
Dr Matthew J Daniels BSc MA MB BChir PhD (Cantab) MRCP FSCAI
matthewdaniels@doctors.org.uk
Next episode of PMHx- Dr Ed Rowland: establishing Cardiac Electrophysiology in the UK
Continuing our series of conversations with doctors who have had a profound impact on our specialty, we bring the next episode of Past Medical Histories.
In this episode we sat down with Dr Edward Rowland, Consultant Cardiac Electrophysiologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and recently awarded an OBE for services to Cardiology. Dr Rowland was one of the first Cardiologists appointed with a subspecialist interest in EP. Literally developing the tools for catheter ablation and doing the first SVT ablation in the UK is an inspirational story to hear and we hope you enjoy watching here:
https://wondrmedical.net/ch/BJCA
Catch up on all episodes in this inspirational series here: https://wondrmedical.net/ch/BJCA
New echo skills days for registrars running national from September – November 2023
The British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) has launched a pilot programme of echo skills days in collaboration with the British Junior Cardiologists Association (BJCA).
The programme aims to alleviate the difficulty some registrars experience in accessing echocardiography training and will facilitate the acquisition of basic skills as well as introductions to echo training leads in their local area.
Taking place over five days from September – November 2023, the programme will initially open to ST4 cardiologists as you begin your training posts, but may be made available to a wider audience should places be available later in the summer.
The skills days will use live models and include basic echo training: how to hold the probe; how to operate the scanners; what measurements to take; basics on report writing etc. Crucially, the faculty leading the days will be the training leads in those regions enabling the registrars to meet the people who will be training them in their centres and therefore removing the obstacle many registrars find of knowing whom to contact within echo departments.
To supplement the learning there will also be online content provided. This will take the format of eLearning modules including MCQs to be completed pre and post the course.
Dates for your diary
- Friday 22nd September 2023, Newcastle
- Monday 25th September 2023, Manchester
- Wednesday 27th September 2023, Bristol
- Monday 30th October 2023, London South
- Tuesday 14th November 2023, London North
Click here to register your interest.
Flexible and LTFT Working in Cardiology Resource
A BJCA/BCS working group of LTFT trainees and consultants have produced a new document, which was presented at this months BCS conference. Available here: https://bjca.tv/flexible-working/ It is a comprehensive guide for Cardiologists who plan to or currently work LTFT. It covers the eligibility and application process across the four nations, with guidance for trainees, consultants, trainers, supervisors, assessors and rota coordinators.
We hope you find this to be a useful. For further information email BJCA LTFT rep Will Jenner cardiologyLTFT@gmail.com
Coronary Physiology Intravascular Imaging (IVUSOCT) Course
North East Cardiology Education Programme is organizing its first ‘Coronary Physiology and Intra-vascular Imaging (IVUS/OCT) Course, to be held at Hilton Gateshead, 2nd October 2023.
This course is aimed to enhance understanding of basic concepts of coronary flow indices and intravascular imaging. Target audience is ST5 onwards trainees with interest in coronary intervention. Trainee numbers has been limited to 15 places only for this course, to keep it interactive and give everyone ample time to practice.
They will provide hand-on sessions (group of 3-5) that will include vessel assessment including lesion identification, stent sizing and optimization. These sessions will have direct supervision of experts to support their training needs.
Introduction to Cardiac Structural Interventions (ICSI-UK) 2023
University Hospitals Nottingham NHS Trust are excited to announce that we will be organising the “Introduction to Cardiac Structural Intervention (ICSI-UK)” for the second successive year on the Friday 3rdNovember 2023 at the Marriot Nottingham, Belfry. Last years conference in 2022 was a great success, attended by around 80 participants from all over the world including Spain, India and Sri Lanka. The feedback has been excellent. This course is designed for Interventional Consultant at early stages of their careers in structural interventions, Cardiology trainees and Interventional trainees, with an interest in structural interventions. Attendees will experience in-depth education, hands-on simulations, and step-by-step instructions for common procedures while building the confidence with anatomical abnormalities using case- and simulation-based imaging. Attendees will also gain valuable clinical skills and an opportunity to connect with some of the pioneers of structural interventions in the United Kingdom.
Mastering Aortic Disease Management: AortaEd
An exceptional platform spearheaded by The Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust, this set of AortaEd resources equips healthcare professionals with a comprehensive understanding of aortic dissection. Spanning a wide range of topics, from recognising symptoms to delivering diagnostic advice, exploring therapeutic interventions, and providing informed prognoses. Content curated by subject matter experts including Graham Cooper, a renowned Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, and Prof Aung Oo, a prominent Consultant Aortic Surgeon, presents engaging, interactive sessions, medical case studies, informative blogs, podcasts and more.
We invite you to immerse yourself in this resource-rich platform bit.ly/AD-HCP-resources
Cardiac Devices – Technology & Troubleshooting – 25th September 2023
Interested in cardiac devices – technology and troubleshooting? This Medtronic-sponsored 1 day virtual course will take place on Mon 25th Sep 2023. It is newly created to specifically help prepare for device accreditation. It will include case studies, questions and answers to consolidate topics relating to pacemaker, ICD and CRT devices. To register, see the attached flyer or e-mail rs.crmeducationuki@medtronic.com.
Cardiology Fellowships
The BJCA are often provided details of fellowships (both clinical and research) to advertise. We have developed a system for uploading and displaying fellowships (and consultant posts) on the BJCA website:
Current fellowships/jobs the BJCA is aware of can be found here: https://bjca.tv/fellowships/
To post details of a fellowship/job for the website, go here: https://bjca.tv/post-a-fellowship/
Please circulate to any members of your departments who have fellowship opportunities to advertise.
