The leaves are turning and the nights are cold and winter is right around the corner. College football is in full swing, the NFL is at mid-season, and the NBA is kicking off. The HFSA remains in full swing and the past month has been very busy for many committees and HFSA staff. I believe the growth and vitality of HFSA is reflected in the increase in committee and staff work. I will recap a few highlights to update the HFSA community.
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The Annual Scientific Meeting co-chairs and HFSA Executive Vice President of CME and Educational Programs Jaime Abreu are already hard at work and planning has begun for the 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia. We are fortunate to again have outstanding and highly committed volunteer co-chairs including: Sheryl Chow PharmD, FHFSA; Dennis McNamara, MD; Sara Paul, DNP, FNP FHFSA; and Wilson Tang, MD, FHFSA.
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The board has approved a Future Leaders Meeting for 2019. The meeting will be held in Washington DC on May 10-11, 2019. The planning committee has been formed and is at work.
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John Barnes, HFSA Interim CEO, Chris O’Connor, MD, FHFSA, HFSA Immediate Past-President, and Randy Starling, MD, FHFSA, HFSA President, attended the ACC Legislative Conference in Washington DC on October 1st. This was a great opportunity for HFSA to meet with ACC and other society leadership to discuss synergy for collaboration. Although we are diverse and distinct societies the opportunities for joint efforts to advocate are fertile and we will continue to explore these opportunities with an open mind.
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A task force has been formed to address fellowship matching and the role of HFSA in this process. The HFSA board has recommended a shift to utilizing the ERAs system for HF fellowship matching. Robb Kociol, MD, FHFSA and Kenneth Margulies, MD, FHFSA have led this process and will be heading up the task force. A brief synopsis of the plans:
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Fellowship to move to ERAS and NRMP Application with Synchronized Match system
- As part of the Medical Specialties Matching Program.
- Sample Timeline for July 2020 Start Date
- ERAS applications will change from the present timeline to the July cycle – for July 2020 positions, we will use the ERAS July 2019 application cycle
- Timeline: ERAS opens for applications in July 2019
- Late August 2019 to end of October 2019 – registration for NRMP is open.
- Spots being offered: Programs must place all their funded, ACGME accredited positions in the match to participate. As a fellowship 75% of positions must be placed in the match.
- Rank list for programs and applicants opens the beginning of October via the NRMP website
- Deadline for rank list (closes) Mid-November 2019
- Match day is end of November 2019
- All specialties in match must agree to NRMP timeline. Hence, absolute timeline not set yet.
Cost to individual Programs: Institution registration fee $250 (already paid if has cardiology match or any other subspecialty NRMP match so likely N/A to most programs). $60 per program track, $60 per applicant match. So, for each matched applicant, the program will pay $120.
Please see HFSA website for additional details including requirements to be listed on the HFSA website as an HFSA endorsed fellowship.
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The Nashville Annual Scientific meeting was a huge success. Our sincere thanks to the meeting co-chairs G. Michael Felker, MD, FHFSA, Douglas Mann, MD, FHFSA, Colleen Mcllvennan, DNP, ANP, FHFS, and Orly Vardeny, PharmD, FHFSA, for their fantastic work. The reviews are in and were terrific. There was a great balance of new and senior member involvement, diversity of backgrounds, and a true reflection of the multi-disciplinary core identity of HFSA and our growing international collaborations.
This is a snapshot of meeting statistics:
The opening plenary session was a highlight with visionary presentations and prestigious awards to well deserving HFSA members.
2018 Lifetime Achievement Award
Marvin A. Konstam, MD, FHFSA
2018 Nursing Leadership Award
Nancy M. Albert, PhD, CCNS, CHFN, FHFSA
2018 Clinical Excellence in Nursing Award
Natalie W. Pierson, MSN, RN, FHFSA
As we all know the weather disaster and tragedy impacted many lives and their property and also prevented travel for members and speakers and delegates. HFSA made a donation in the amount of $2,500 to Team Rubicon, which provides disaster relief combining military veterans, first responders, medical professionals, and technology solutions in response to the ongoing challenges facing the victims of Hurricane Florence.
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Finally we thank the entire HFSA staff for executing another phenomenal annual scientific meeting and doing this at a dynamic time of transition with an interim CEO and COO. Kudos to the HFSA staff and thanks from the membership! Mandeep Mehra, MD, FHFSA and the CEO search committee continue to deliberate and will identify candidates for the next HFSA CEO to be reviewed by the board in the coming months. In the interim it is “business as usual” at HFSA with ongoing excitement and work to execute on our strategic plan and mission.
As always we welcome your feedback and hope you will free to contact me or HFSA staff with any questions or suggestions. Next month’s update to include an inside look at the Journal of Cardiac Failure team. Best regards for a wonderful November and Thanksgiving Holiday to all.
Best regards,
Randall C. Starling, MD, MPH, FHFSA
HFSA President
Twitter: @rcstarling