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From the Member Sections | ACC Early Career Professionals Section: Home Sweet Home
With so many things competing for an Early Career (EC) Professional's time, the ACC may not have always been a top priority for some. Be it completing Board exams, reading to stay current, starting a new job, starting a family and taking care of kids, or of course, maintaining an active practice or research, time is in short supply for EC Professionals.
The ACC Early Career Professionals Section has transformed the College in many fundamental ways – providing them an official home and comprehensive gateway to engagement in ACC.
For those of us in our early careers (first 10 years after training), we now have a well-developed Section complete with programs, activities and growth opportunities. These developments make it a natural home to connect with others in our same demographics and career stages.
Further, the very notion of having an EC Professional member involved in guidelines, writing groups, teaching sessions, advocacy efforts and leadership is now commonplace. In fact, virtually every ACC committee and major paper published has at least one if not more EC Professional member.
Most importantly, the quality of work by EC Professionals has been clearly demonstrated. We have become a sought after demographic, because of our greater bandwidth and energy for projects along with great training.
While experience is still being gained, this is more than offset by energy, time and enthusiasm, with almost always an amazing end product. For example, the growth of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology Fellows in Training/Early Career Page has been instrumental in highlighting key concerns, issues and ideas for this cohort.
Early career programming at the annual ACC Scientific Sessions has been instrumental in the growth of early career engagement. With dedicated programming, networking opportunities and a lounge stuffed with high-quality activities such as small groups with icons of cardiology, it's no wonder EC Professionals are more engaged than ever!
Mentorship, funding opportunities, writing opportunities and more have ensured all the resources needed for a complete professional home are available for all EC Professionals in our Section. Every year, thanks to amazing leadership by the Council of the EC Professional Section, early career projects have been repeatedly recognized as adding incredible member value.
None of this would be possible without leadership who saw the value in EC Professionals, resources mobilized to make all of this happen and support from an incredible ACC staff. There really is no place like home. As an EC Professional, our dedicated Section has made it "home sweet home."
Visit ACC.org/earlycareer to share in your professional home.
This article was authored by Andrew M. Freeman MD, FACC, associate professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, CO, and founding chair of ACC's Early Career Professionals Section.
Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, Leadership, Reading, Mentors, Writing, Fellowships and Scholarships, Research, Cohort Studies, Demography
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