Introduction to CMR 2018
In February 2018, the international cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) community converged in Barcelona for CMR 2018, a joint EuroCMR/Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) meeting organized by the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. A record attendance of over 1,800 delegates including cardiologists, radiologists, technologists, scientists, trainees and industry members gathered for the four-day meeting themed "Improving Clinical Value by Technical Advances." A wealth of CMR topics were covered during the meeting, ranging from basic physics to four-dimensional flow quantification, and the interests of delegates with all levels of CMR experience were discussed.

FIT Perspective
As an ACC International Fellow in Training (FIT) with an interest in cardiac imaging, CMR 2018 is highlighted in my calendar as an opportunity for learning, networking and sharing my research. Although the large, plenary talks with their dazzling live interventional CMR cases drew large crowds, I preferred to attend the smaller sessions. I targeted those focused on clinical applications of CMR such as "Current and Future Perspectives to Improve Patient Care in Heart Failure," which detailed the invaluable role of CMR in the differential diagnosis of heart failure, and "The Role of CMR in Valvular Heart Disease," which covered the expanding role of CMR in the assessment of heart valve lesions. These sessions served as prime educational opportunities and were directly relevant to my clinical training.

I presented two posters at the meeting. The poster hall was situated centrally within the Centre Convencions International de Barcelona, which boosted exposure of posters and facilitated stimulating discussion between presenters and delegates. I managed to discuss ideas with FITs from around the globe. With social media gaining momentum in modern medicine, it has been easy to stay connected with FITs by simply using Twitter. There were also Young Investigator Award opportunities for FITs to showcase their research, and the standard of talks was exceptionally high. It was clear that the opportunity to showcase research was a primary motivation for attending CMR 2018, and the prominence that the posters, ePosters and oral presentations were given reflected the importance of this component of the conference.

The conference organizers also hosted several evening social events during the meeting, with leaders in CMR available for informal discussion. I have found senior members of the CMR community to be extremely approachable and I thoroughly enjoyed networking late into the evenings.

In 2019, SCMR and EuroCMR will be hosting separate conferences in Seattle and Venice. I highly recommended attendance at either (or both) of these events!

This article was authored by Gaurav S. Gulsin, MD, Fellow in Training (FIT) at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.