Aug 11, 2015 | Poonam Velagapudi, MD, MS
Chapter Engagement

I joined the ACC Missouri Chapter as a fellow-in-training (FIT) member during my first year of fellowship. My early association with the chapter opened up several opportunities both at the state and national level to network and to engage and work with the Chapter’s leadership on various avenues including education, advocacy and career development. The Missouri Chapter leadership is very encouraging of FITs to get involved in the Chapter’s proceedings. Here are some examples of how to get involved:

Annual Meetings

The Missouri Chapter has an annual meeting that provides faculty and FITs from the state the opportunity to present, interact, learn and network during the one day event. Last year, the conference was held in Kansas City, with a large participation from FITs. A major highlight of our annual meeting is the FIT Research Presentation, where one FIT from each of the training programs within Missouri has an opportunity to present their research and the top three presenters are recognized for their work.

This year, the Chapter’s annual meeting will be held on Oct. 24, 2015 at the Reynolds Alumni Center in Columbia, MO. As part of the FIT activities, we plan to have clinical and research poster presentations where FITs can present interesting clinical cases or research in a poster format. We also plan to organize a state level FIT ‘Jeopardy’ game, where FIT teams from various training programs from Missouri will an-swer intriguing questions related to cardiovascular medicine. The winning team will represent the ACC Missouri Chapter at the inaugural inter-state chapter FIT Jeopardy Challenge at ACC’s 65th Annual Sci-entific Sessions (ACC.16).

The Chapter supports attendance of two fellows at ACC’s Annual Scientific Sessions each year. After review of all research abstracts that had been accepted for presentation at ACC.15, two FITs whose re-search abstracts received the highest score by the judging faculty were awarded a scholarship to attend the conference in San Diego, CA.

Advocacy

The ACC Missouri Chapter leadership strongly supports FIT participation in advocacy. The chapter has two scholarships each year to support FIT attendance at the ACC Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. A team of Missouri Chapter members, including senior and early career cardiologists, FITs and advanced nurse practitioners, attended the Legislative Conference last year. We attended talks by well-known personalities, including power couple Mary Matalin and James Carville, Mark Miller, executive director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, and staff from the White House who talked about their perspective on health care. We also had briefings by ACC members on various issues relevant to the cardiology community, followed by breakout sessions on how to successfully meet with members of Congress. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for first-time FIT attendees, and we look forward to supporting ACC Advocacy at the 2015 Legislative Conference.

Women in Cardiology

The ‘Women in Cardiology’ (WIC) section of National ACC is a platform that brings together female members of the ACC, advocating for and advancing the priorities of interest to this group. Less than 10 percent of women practice cardiovascular medicine, despite 40 percent of female medical school graduates completing their residency in internal medicine. The numbers are fewer in the interventional cardiology and electrophysiology subspecialties. The WIC Section provides a platform for women to get together, mentor and help each other advance their career and support female internal medicine house staff who want to pursue a career in cardiovascular medicine.

During the WIC Leadership Workshop in Washington, DC in January 2015, we had breakout sessions on ‘Listening and Paying Attention,’ ‘Managing Work Life Balance,’ and ‘Leadership Skills,’ followed by a panel discussion on ‘When to Say Yes and When to Say No.’ The workshop also allowed us to network with female cardiologists and FITs from other states and discuss ways to improve leadership skills and strengthen our professional support system. Multiple WIC meetings are also held during National ACC and American Heart Association (AHA) meetings and we encourage anyone interested to attend.

Career Development

Being an active member of the state chapter provides opportunities for mentor-mentee relationships based on areas of interest and career goals. In the ACC Missouri Chapter, there are several opportunities for FITs to participate in many councils and committees, such as the Chapter Council and the Continued Medical Education Committee. Another great advantage of active engagement in state chapter activities is the opportunity to network with other FITs at the chapter and national level. In my case, the career advice I got from senior FITs helped me a great deal in selecting the right program for an advanced fellowship. At the national level, there is also an excellent mentorship program where FITs are paired with men-tors around the nation based on common interests, which I also found this very helpful.

Getting involved in the ACC as an FIT has many advantages. My association with ACC has helped me meet several cardiologists and FITs who have become good mentors and friends. If you are interested in becoming an active member of the College, a great way to start is to communicate with your chapter governor or executive about upcoming activities, councils and committees. The ACC sends out emails from time to time regarding opportunities available for FIT participation. I wish you all good luck with your cardiology fellowship training and hope to see some of you at future cardiology meetings.

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This post was authored by Poonam Velagapudi, MD, MS, a PGY6 cardiology fellow at the University of Missouri.