TY - JOUR
AU - Nicholls, Mark
AB - View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide For more than six decades the Swedish Society of Cardiology has been a unifying body for heart specialists across the country, working to strengthen cardiology in Sweden; reduce health inequalities across the large yet sparsely population Scandinavian country; and raise its role within the European Society of Cardiology. Since its formation in October 1947 with a handful of founder members, it has evolved into an organization of 1350 cardiologists and over the years seen several leading Swedish practitioners make significant and lasting contributions to the field of cardiology. The initial goal of the association to arrange, talks discussions, and demonstrations, are maintained today by the agenda of continuous education and development. The history of the organization—which is also affiliated to the Swedish Medical Society—was recorded in detail in 2014 in a 450-page hardback book, The Swedish Cardiology History Book, with contributions from leading members and covering every aspect of cardiology. ‘There was very much an educational focus for colleagues from the beginning’, explained Professor Mats Börjesson, who was appointed President in April 2016 for a 2-year term. ‘Delivering continuous education for colleagues is still the main goal of the organization, but we also aim to be a home for collaboration between different branches of cardiology as well as from international collaborations, and also be an expert group within the country. I would say it has been successful in that because we are one organization uniting the cardiologists in the country and have been a leader in developing educational tools, providing professional meeting arenas for the colleagues and a framework for working groups and annual meetings’. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide Alongside his role of society President, Professor Börjesson is Professor of Sports Physiology in the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg and a cardiologist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra, spending 30% of his time in clinic, and the remainder on teaching and research with a focus on the benefits and risks of physical activity, including sudden cardiac arrest in sport. He explained that over the past 60 years, Swedish cardiologists have made significant and lasting contributions to the field and had an impact on cardiology in a European, and a global, sense. The society’s first president, Professor Gustav Nylin, went on to become the first ESC President in 1950, a role later occupied by Professor Lars Rydén in 1998. Three members have also received the ESC Gold Medal: Lars Rydén (2000), Karl Swedberg (2007), and Lars Wallentin (2010). View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide Professor Börjesson also points to the contribution of several members, all mentioned in the book, including Inge Edler—the father of echocardiography—working together with Hellmuth Hertz. Additionally, he mentions Finn Waagstein, who first showed how beta-blockers could revolutionize the treatment of heart failure patients; Gunnar Borg, for the Borg Scale for perceived exertion; and Sune K. Bergström and Bengt I. Samuelsson, who with John R. Vane were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1982 ‘for their discoveries concerning prostaglandins and related biologically active substances’. Sven Ivar Seldinger developed the Seldinger technique for catheterization, Bengt Lundqvist and Nils Löfgren who developed the use of lidocaine for anaesthesia, and Rune Elmqvist was an early leader in the development of ECG and the implantable pacemaker. Another member making important contributions in research into cardiovascular disease was Lars Werkö. ‘As a country we have been very successful in cardiology over the years’, he added. The Swedish Society of Cardiology has a board of eight members, including the editor of the organization’s journal, plus eight working groups covering heart failure and valve disease, heart rhythm, prevention, coronary artery disease, PCI, GUCH, young cardiologists, and translational cardiology from basic science to clinical. ‘These groups each produce courses on education and provide us with speakers for our annual meeting and the board provide them with funding, so they are actually the heart of the association’, said Professor Börjesson. The current objectives of the society focus on delivering effective continuous education to cardiologists in Sweden. A key part of that has been the society’s board taking a strategic decision to join the ESC European Exam in General Cardiology (EEGC). From an initial cohort of Swedish cardiologists, the society now plans to be fully involved in the exams, whilst continuing the Swedish theoretical and clinical exams in cardiology, with signs that the move has been well received among Swedish cardiologists. ‘We are hopeful we can send a substantial number of colleagues and I know this call has been very well received’, he added. Professor Börjesson, however, acknowledges there remain particular challenges facing cardiology in Sweden today. ‘One of our goals is to edge out inequalities in care in different parts of the country. As a fairly large country geographically with not so many people, it is important for us—and the government—to get the same quality of care all over the country’. To help address differences in care across the country, the Swedish society is working on the implementation of national guidelines through its guidelines committee under national co-ordinator Professor Ulf Näslun. Within the last 2 years, it has also endorsed ESC guidelines, whilst allowing an element of flexibility for local tradition and practice. The Swedish Society of Cardiology also has representatives on most of the guidelines committees in Europe. Future objectives for the society include endeavouring to make the adoption of the EEGC a success, seeing more Swedish cardiologists submitting abstracts to meetings, increasing Swedish involvement with the ESC and further developing the society’s educational role with the country’s cardiology community and beyond. Professor Börjesson, who was succeeded by Professor Stefan James in April 2018, concluded: ‘As a society we are proud to be part of the ESC. We are a small part of it with our 1350 members, but we think we have some influence scientifically and are striving to maintain that and also improve our presence in the society in committees’. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide Conflict of interest: none declared. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2018. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/about_us/legal/notices)
TI - The Swedish Society of Cardiology
JF - European Heart Journal
DO - 10.1093/eurheartj/ehy399
DA - 2018-08-14
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/the-swedish-society-of-cardiology-LUOJqaVcnE
SP - 2857
EP - 2858
VL - 39
IS - 31
DP - DeepDyve
ER -