Sept 22, 2015 | Monica Verdoia, MD
International

“Cardiologists of Tomorrow” is an initiative of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) that was launched in 2010, based on the idea of young cardiologists helping their peers in order to “create a new generation of cardiologists.”

“In few words,” says Saverio Muscoli, MD, president of the Italian Section of ‘Cardiologists of Tomorrow’, “this means that we have created a working group where cardiologists below 40 years of age, fellows in cardiology, medical students or young doctors with a special interest in cardiology can cooperate in realizing initiatives for promoting education and scientific research in the field of cardiovascular disease.”

“Contributions are very important,” adds Muscoli. “This is the reason why we have tried to make it very easy to get involved, with online subscription through our website: www.italiancardiologistsoftomorrow.it.”

"I had the honour to present — the results of the first two years of activity from the Italian Section of the ‘Cardiologists of Tomorrow’ at the Italian National Congress of Cardiology, held in Rome last December.” Since its creation in 2012, the Italian Section has quickly found its own shape, creating an organizational chart, rules and regulations.

Muscoli proudly points out that, since the very beginning, the section has given great attention to visibility, participating in ESC Congress initiatives with joint symposia at the national and international levels.

“We have achieved a key position among the European sections of the ‘Cardiologists of Tomorrow’. In fact one of us, for the first time in our country, joined a position on the central ESC ‘Cardiologists of Tomorrow’. In addition, we now are able to promote and distribute ESC grants for participating in the ESC Congress every year and also more structured European grants for education or research.”

“Luckily the Italian Federation of Cardiology seized upon the opportunity very quickly [to participate in the initiative], but until now only 28 out of 56 National Societies have formed a ‘Cardiologists of Tomorrow’ group.”

Muscoli also emphasizes the importance of the young community in promoting the interaction between cardiologists from different countries, favoring the creation of networks for research and the exchange of knowledge and experiences.

“ESC’s online portal offers several options, including an e-learning platform called ESCeL where anyone can contribute by uploading real-life cases which are divided into principal areas of cardiovascular disease,” explains Muscoli. “A great space has been given to social networks: we thought it was important to use the methods of communication popular among younger clinicians to keep them in touch as much as possible."

Thinking about the future, Muscoli says, ”now that the Italian Section of the ‘Cardiologists of Tomorrow’ represent a solid reality in the Italian Federation of Cardiology, we can create great opportunities to promote health and cardiovascular prevention in general population, never forgetting that our target is always engaging young clinicians. Our hope is that many young Italian cardiologists will join us in order to develop new and innovative projects.”

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

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This article was authored by Monica Verdoia, MD, Universita' del Piemonte Orientale (UPO), Novara, Italy.