- Email: [email protected]
It is an honor to serve
Journal of Cardiac Failure Vol. 10 No. 6 2004
HFSA President’s Editorial
It Is an Honor to Serve GARY S. FRANCIS, MD, PRESIDENT OF THE HEART FAILURE SOCIETY OF AMERICA Cleveland, Ohio
and heart transplantation. There are numerous opinions, both pro and con, as to what role the Society should play, if any, in the credentialing process. For now, the American Board of Internal Medicine has no plans to credential heart failure specialists, but this issue continues to come up and is being addressed by Executive Council. Another item on our agenda is the training of heart failure specialists, and whether implantation of resynchronization devices and ICDs should be performed by heart failure specialists. Again, there are varying opinions, many pros and cons, and special credentialing issues to consider.1–3 Patients in need of biventricular pacemakers and ICDs are continually under our care, and most believe heart failure specialists should be the ignition in the decision to employ these expensive therapies. Whether heart failure specialists should be trained to implant them is a separate issue and is under ongoing discussion. Lastly, I would like to congratulate Dr. Barry Massie and his associate editors for guiding the Journal through a time of unprecedented growth and high visibility. The Journal of Cardiac Failure continues to be a primary vehicle for Society matters, in addition to being an important scientific repository in its own right. The Journal has grown in stature and matured over the past ten years. The number of new manuscripts being received has grown substantially in the past two years. This is a real credit to the current Editor-inChief and his staff. In summary, I would like to thank the constituency for their ongoing support of the Heart Failure Society of America. We owe much to Marvin Konstam for his expert leadership and guidance over the past two years. The Society is thriving, our house is in order, but there are very important issues to address over the upcoming two years. Your input is most welcome, as it has been in the past, and your ideas will be given every possible consideration.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Heart Failure Society of America, along with its leaders and committee members, for affording me the honor to serve as the fifth President of the Society. The society is thriving. The annual meeting, which was held this year in Toronto, was a tremendous success from all accounts. As the Society continues to mature, there will be undeniable and inevitable growing pains. New and important issues will continue to arise that will directly affect the membership. It is important to note that the Executive Council serves as the powerhouse of the Society. Virtually all major decisions go through the Council. Issues are discussed in detail prior to making any official policy. I believe the Council functions best when it has direct input from its members. Should you have concerns about either philosophical or operational issues that you believe need to be addressed by the Society, these should be brought to the Council’s attention, which meets formally on a regular basis. In general, these matters are considered by the appropriate committee and are then brought back to Council for additional discussion and resolution when appropriate. The organization and execution of the annual meeting remains one of the most important functions of the Society. The new program committee, under the leadership of Douglas Mann and Stephen Gottlieb, has already begun to put next year’s program into place. Many of you have contributed very creative suggestions, and it is hoped that some of these can be incorporated. We serve a large and varied constituency, made up not only of physicians, but of researchers, nurses, pharmacists, members of the industry, and others. Every attempt should be made to have all voices heard at the table. The annual meeting is the appropriate forum for these voices to be heard. I am confident that the meeting will continue to be the major attraction for all of our members. We owe a special thanks to Peter Liu and Tom Force as well as their committee for organizing the last two annual meetings and look forward to even better things to come, if that is possible. Issues facing the Society now include the question of credentialing of physicians in the subspecialty of heart failure
References 1. Adamson PB, Abraham WT, Love C, Reynolds D. The evolving challenge of chronic heart failure management. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004; 44:1354–7. 2. Naccarelli GV. Does it make sense to train plumbers as electricians? J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:1358–60. 3. Konstam MA. Heart Failure Training. A call for an integrative, patientfocused approach to an emerging cardiology subspecialty. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:1361–2.
From the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. Address for Correspondence: Gary S. Francis, MD, Cardiology Desk F-25, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195. 1071-9164/$ - see front matter 쑕 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cardfail.2004.11.005
451
HFSA President’s Editorial
It Is an Honor to Serve GARY S. FRANCIS, MD, PRESIDENT OF THE HEART FAILURE SOCIETY OF AMERICA Cleveland, Ohio
and heart transplantation. There are numerous opinions, both pro and con, as to what role the Society should play, if any, in the credentialing process. For now, the American Board of Internal Medicine has no plans to credential heart failure specialists, but this issue continues to come up and is being addressed by Executive Council. Another item on our agenda is the training of heart failure specialists, and whether implantation of resynchronization devices and ICDs should be performed by heart failure specialists. Again, there are varying opinions, many pros and cons, and special credentialing issues to consider.1–3 Patients in need of biventricular pacemakers and ICDs are continually under our care, and most believe heart failure specialists should be the ignition in the decision to employ these expensive therapies. Whether heart failure specialists should be trained to implant them is a separate issue and is under ongoing discussion. Lastly, I would like to congratulate Dr. Barry Massie and his associate editors for guiding the Journal through a time of unprecedented growth and high visibility. The Journal of Cardiac Failure continues to be a primary vehicle for Society matters, in addition to being an important scientific repository in its own right. The Journal has grown in stature and matured over the past ten years. The number of new manuscripts being received has grown substantially in the past two years. This is a real credit to the current Editor-inChief and his staff. In summary, I would like to thank the constituency for their ongoing support of the Heart Failure Society of America. We owe much to Marvin Konstam for his expert leadership and guidance over the past two years. The Society is thriving, our house is in order, but there are very important issues to address over the upcoming two years. Your input is most welcome, as it has been in the past, and your ideas will be given every possible consideration.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Heart Failure Society of America, along with its leaders and committee members, for affording me the honor to serve as the fifth President of the Society. The society is thriving. The annual meeting, which was held this year in Toronto, was a tremendous success from all accounts. As the Society continues to mature, there will be undeniable and inevitable growing pains. New and important issues will continue to arise that will directly affect the membership. It is important to note that the Executive Council serves as the powerhouse of the Society. Virtually all major decisions go through the Council. Issues are discussed in detail prior to making any official policy. I believe the Council functions best when it has direct input from its members. Should you have concerns about either philosophical or operational issues that you believe need to be addressed by the Society, these should be brought to the Council’s attention, which meets formally on a regular basis. In general, these matters are considered by the appropriate committee and are then brought back to Council for additional discussion and resolution when appropriate. The organization and execution of the annual meeting remains one of the most important functions of the Society. The new program committee, under the leadership of Douglas Mann and Stephen Gottlieb, has already begun to put next year’s program into place. Many of you have contributed very creative suggestions, and it is hoped that some of these can be incorporated. We serve a large and varied constituency, made up not only of physicians, but of researchers, nurses, pharmacists, members of the industry, and others. Every attempt should be made to have all voices heard at the table. The annual meeting is the appropriate forum for these voices to be heard. I am confident that the meeting will continue to be the major attraction for all of our members. We owe a special thanks to Peter Liu and Tom Force as well as their committee for organizing the last two annual meetings and look forward to even better things to come, if that is possible. Issues facing the Society now include the question of credentialing of physicians in the subspecialty of heart failure
References 1. Adamson PB, Abraham WT, Love C, Reynolds D. The evolving challenge of chronic heart failure management. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004; 44:1354–7. 2. Naccarelli GV. Does it make sense to train plumbers as electricians? J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:1358–60. 3. Konstam MA. Heart Failure Training. A call for an integrative, patientfocused approach to an emerging cardiology subspecialty. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:1361–2.
From the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. Address for Correspondence: Gary S. Francis, MD, Cardiology Desk F-25, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195. 1071-9164/$ - see front matter 쑕 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cardfail.2004.11.005
451