First Annual Ohio River Valley Cardiovascular Symposium is a Huge Success

What if you read comments like: Excellent breakout sessions; Symposium and entertainment were excellent; SICP should be commended; Very well-planned and thought out; I’ve attended these type of meetings in Cincinnati, Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana, and I feel this has been the most educational and excellent meeting I have been to in 10 years; you all are the GREATEST.; Instructors are knowledgeable and personable? These are the ratings and comments received from the attendees of the first annual Ohio River Valley Cardiovascular Symposium, sponsored by Norton Healthcare and the Society of Invasive Cardiovascular Professionals (SICP). The symposium was held in Louisville, Kentucky, October 25“27, 2002, and offered 12 hours of CEUs from the SICP. Program Chairman Roger Siegfried was very pleased with the results of the program evaluations and comments: People were coming up to me throughout the conference and asking if we were doing this again next year, but I sure didn’t expect these kind of ratings and comments from our very first attempt. Roger also noted, We have lots of ideas that will make the symposium even better next year. The conference had both entertainment and a great lineup of speakers. It started with a keynote address presented by Mr. Steve Williams, President and CEO of Norton Healthcare of Louisville, Kentucky. The symposium also included three breakout sessions: 1. Management; 2. Cardiovascular review; 3. Electrophysiology. All sessions were well attended, with the review course being the most highly attended session. The evaluations rated all three sessions very highly. Individual breakout sessions touched on all aspects of providing quality cardiovascular care in the new millennium, from pharmacological management with 2B/3A agents to the newer statin drugs, to providing quality care for the masses. Our healthcare system is a business. We must not lose sight of this, and at the same time, we must not compromise the level of care. Coding and reimbursement lectures were presented by Ms. Leah Amir, MS, MHA, and Ms. Linda Sawyer, BSN. The excitement about drug-eluting stents continues, and Dr. Michael Ball gave a lecture on current stent designs and the pharmacologic agents associated with each. Future techniques and visions for interventional cardiology were presented by Dr. Steven Raible. Dr. William Dillon gave a wake-up call on real-life worst case scenarios. In other words don’t be afraid, but be prepared. In partial preparation and/or review for the registry examination for some attendees, the conference focused on some basics. Lectures included: Congenital Heart Defects by Marsha Holton, RCIS, FSICP; Cardiovascular Disease Processes by Ken Gorski, RN, RCIS; ECG Interpretation by Rick Meese, RCIS, FSICP; Radiation Safety, Imaging, & Vessel Analysis by Tracy Simpson, RCIS, FSICP and Darren Powell, RCIS, FSICP; Current Interventional Procedures by Craig Cummings, RCIS, FSICP. Being one big happy family in the cardiovascular laboratory environment, we did not forget our brothers and sisters in the EP labs and the individuals that work with pediatric cardiovascular cases. Peds professionals certainly deserve our admiration, as cases can be very complex due to the challenging anatomy and physiology involved. Dr. Michael Recto gave an informative lecture on pediatric interventional techniques. As for the provocative group of professionals in EP labs, provoking arrhythmias are what you do best! Dr. Brendan J. O’Cochlain, Dr. Gery Tomassoni, Dr. Wm. Jeffery Schoen, and Dr. Tibor Szabo all presented on current trends in electrophysiology management techniques. Symposium entertainment included a Friday night trip and tour of the world-famous Makers Mark Distillery in beautiful Loretto, Kentucky, sponsored by Cordis. We had about 80 people attend this tour, and they were treated to a twilight tour of the factory, which was conducted especially for the attendees of the conference. The tour was followed by a beautiful reception held at the Burkes House on the distillery site, said Siegfried. Saturday evening found the attendees on the Star of Louisville Riverboat Cruise, an incredibly enjoyable event sponsored by Guidant. The boat cruised up and down the Ohio River while the people on board were treated to an excellent buffet and music. The evening ended at the Galt House at a Gala event, where everyone danced the night away. Acknowledgements: All in all, the conference was a success thanks to the hard work of many people. I would like to thank the planning committee: Denise Edwards RT(R), Andrea Davis RCIS FSICP Darren Powell RCIS FSICP and Julia Hillier RCIS FSICP. Special thanks go out to the Board members of SICP, who all contributed and had a tremendous impact on the success of this program and for speaking at Session I; Tracy Simpson RCIS FSICP, Rick Meece RCIS FSICP RCS CCT, Darren Powell RCIS FSICP, Marsha Holton RN FSICP RCIS, Ken Gorski RN RCIS FSICP, Tom Maloney MHA RCIS FSICP, Andrea Davis RCIS FSICP and Craig Cummings RCIS FSICP. We also want to thank our remaining speakers: Dr. William Dillon of Cardiovascular Associates of Louisville, Kentucky Dr. Michael Recto of Pediatric Cardiology Associates of Louisville, Kentucky Dr. Michael Ball of Saint Vincent Hospital Indianapolis, Indiana Dr. Steven Raible of Cardiovascular Associates of Louisville, Kentucky Dr. Brendan O’Cochlain of Louisville Cardiology, Louisville, Kentucky Dr. Gery Tomassoni of Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky Dr. Tibor Szabo of Bluegrass Cardiology, Louisville, Kentucky Dr. John Mandrola Cardiovascular Associates of Louisville, Kentucky Dr. Christopher Johnstrude of Pediatric Cardiology Associates of Louisville, Kentucky Ms. Leah Amir of the Institute for Quality Resource Management Mr. Michael Esposito VP Cardiac Services Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Kentucky Ms. Linda Sawyer Director Cardiac Services Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky Mr. Ryan Hebert of the Ochsner Foundation Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana Ms. Sharon Walker Executive Director, CPI of Sarasota, Florida Ms. Missy Napier, RN, Cardiovascular Associates of Louisville, Kentucky Mr. Alan Scheffer, Braun Associates of Sioux City, Iowa Ms. Nancy Braun, Braun Associates of Sioux City, Iowa A huge thanks to Roger Siegfried for all his hard work on pulling off this very successful first conference and a special appreciation to Norton Health Systems for its dedication and support of education in cardiovascular technologies. We also would like to thank all our sponsors; Guidant, Cordis, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Medical Imaging Solutions, Philips, Lilly, Mallinckrodt, CPI, Witt, Abersham, EPT, Possis, St. Jude, Datascope, GE, COR Therapeutics, Genetech, and Cordis Webster Biosense. Thanks also need to go out to the support staff for making it all come together: Pam Nobles, Diana Durrance, Debbie Siegfried, Cherie Kempa, Dennis Kempa, Michael Johnson, Charles Riddick, James Rayborn and Eric VanValkenburg.

NULL