SICP President`s Message

I am now preparing to hand over the presidency to our President-Elect, Todd Chitwood, RCIS, FSICP. Todd has worked tirelessly for the last two years, focusing on legislative issues. He has represented the SICP at the CARE Bill Alliance meetings and has kept all of us updated on the position of the SICP and the recognition of the Registered Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist (RCIS). I am confident that the SICP will continue to grow under his leadership. Todd will begin his office January 1, 2008. James Glascow's position as Secretary/Treasurer is also ending in December 2007. The SICP is now accepting nominations for: President-Elect Secretary/Treasurer Committee Chair positions are appointed. If you are interested in working on a committee, please let us know. The following standing committees are: - Standards Committee - Education Committee - Publications Committee We are also developing Membership and Chapter Development Committees. If you or someone you know is interested and is willing to commit the time to volunteer for your professional society, please submit the name and contact information to membership@sicp.com. Voting will take place August through October of this year. It can be very rewarding to give back to your profession. We must all work together to make sure the invasive cardiovascular professional is represented and recognized! The SICP has many requests for our Signature Review Course. We regularly participate at national conferences and offer review courses. Coming up, we will conduct courses at New Cardiovascular Horizons in New Orleans. This course will be 3 half-day courses so attendees will be able to attend the main conference. If you are interested in hosting a course, please contact Nicole Shore at director@sicp.com. SICP will hold our annual conference September 20-22, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri. It will include everything we do in the cath lab! Peripherals, electrophysiology (EP), hot topics, human resource issues, Cath Lab 101, and a focused calculations and radiation safety breakout are on the agenda. We are excited to announce that Medtronic will present a breakout session for an EP overview. Also, the Medtronic simulation bus will be present and you will have the opportunity to practice both coronary and EP techniques. A big Thank you! to Medtronic for partnering with SICP to provide a great educational opportunity. Not only will you have the opportunity to learn (and receive those all-important CEUs!), you will get to network with other cath lab professionals from all over the country. By partnering with industry, SICP is able to offer a great conference at a very low cost. The SICP continues to grow. We are the only professional society that focuses on and represents the invasive cardiovascular professional exclusively. Cath lab professionals all over the country are in the process of forming chapters. I believe the chapter initiative is the most important aspect of our success. Get involved! If you know of a chapter near you, please attend a meeting. If there isn't one already started or is still in process of forming, find out how you can help. Participation in SICP helps not only you, but all of us working in invasive cardiovascular laboratories. There are many opportunities to get involved at the national level as well. As we prepare for Todd's presidency, answering the call for nominations and volunteers is a great way to start helping out, whether as a board member, committee chair, or committee member. I urge everyone to get involved and give your time to your profession. Not only will you grow professionally, but you will meet extraordinary people with whom you can learn and share.

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