Johannesburg – South African non-profit company, the SA Heart Association’s renowned annual congress will be taking place this year at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg from 27 – 29 October.
The congress will feature unique, hands-on training sessions by some of the world’s leading cardiologists.
As a key event on this year’s health calendar and eponymously dubbed the “Cardiac Collaboration”, the congress will boast joint symposia in highly specialised fields including cardiac anesthesiology, endocrinology, critical and emergency care, sports medicine, and radiology.
The aim is to develop future collaboration with other academic societies and create a footprint for cardiologists to work in tandem with them and other special interest groups.
Speaking ahead of the annual congress, unlike any of the 22 preceding events, Cardiologist, Congress Convenor, and Wits University lecturer, Dr. Farouk Mamdoo, said several internationally renowned cardiologists and opinion leaders, local and global, will hold “training villages” offering valuable, hands-on training to delegates.
These will be held at times separate from the overarching congress presentations and spread across the three congress days, allowing delegates the chance to interact with international masters, some of whom will be using state-of-the-art devices and equipment in these personalised training sessions.
The congress has sparked global interest and attendance is considered essential among cardiologists and related disciplines wanting to update their knowledge and take advantage of the unique collaborative gathering that will have far-reaching future clinical and research implications.
Organisers said they have also taken the stellar expert input one step further.
The trend-setting cardiologists will conduct roadshows at major hospitals around the country, both before and after the congress, giving local colleagues an unprecedented opportunity to work on patients with them, whether it be through consultations or surgical procedures.
The roadshows will also provide continuity for delegates who attend the Training Villages at the Sandton congress.
Dr. Mamdoo said: “Normally special devices, simulators, and equipment are statically displayed on exhibition stands in the conference hall.
“However, at this year’s congress, delegates will be able to see them being used in real-time – some of which this country hasn’t even seen before.”
Dr. Mamdoo said additional pre-congress workshops will consist of didactic and practical lectures about hands-on procedures, with “tips, tricks and advice,” and case studies presented.
Echocardiography, electrophysiology, paediatric cardiology, and cardiology for non-cardiologists will be among the fields embraced.
“The Training Villages will each have their own agenda with specific key learning topics and a timetable,” said Dr. Mamdoo.
“Delegates can access these via the conference program on our website – and find out where the experts will be during the roadshow.”
Some of the top global names in cardiology, many of them local, that will be attending, presenting, and leading workshops at the congress, include;
- Professor Mark Petri, Cardiologist at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow;
- Professor Javed Butler, Patrick H. Lehan Chair in Cardiovascular Research and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Mississippi;
- Professor Renato Lopes, Department of Medicine within the Division of Cardiology at Duke University Medical Centre, North Carolina;
- Dr. Seth Worley, Electrophysiology and Interventional Implants, Medstar Heart Vascular Institute in Washinton DC;
- Dr George McDaniel, Paediatric and Adult Congenital Electrophysiologist, UVA Children’s, Virginia; and
- Professor Jeroen Bax, Leiden University, Netherlands; Non-invasive imaging.
Among the most cutting-edge developments to be presented will be breakthroughs in heart failure therapy, new ways of treating complex coronary disease plus advances in the latest techniques, technology, and diagnostic tools – and the evidence to support their use.
Local experts presenting at the congress – many of whom are globally recognised – include:
- Professor Karen Sliwa, clinician-scientist and Director of the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Africa at the University of Cape Town (Managing cardio vascular risk factors during pregnancy);
- Dr. Brian Allwood, Consultant Pulmonologist at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital, where he has been responsible for expanding the pulmonary hypertension service and starting the first dedicated post-tuberculosis clinic in the country (Idiopathic pulmonary hypertension);
- Mpiko Ntsekhe, Cardiology Head of Department at Groote Schuur Hospital (HIV and cardiovascular disease – an update); and
- Fathima Paruk, Academic and Clinical Head of the Department of Critical Care at the University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital (Navigating social media as a clinician).
Case-based plenaries will be a feature of the conference while cardiac Fellows will present their work in separate sessions with prestigious awards for the best abstract and oral presentations, plus a Henley Business School award sponsored by medical scheme, Discovery Health.
Cardiologists from the public sector, particularly registrars, are likely to find the conference particularly rewarding as few will have had the opportunity to work with much of the newer equipment that will be present – or interact with globally recognised experts face to face.
Dr. Mamdoo said: “We look forward to hosting this exciting, world-class event with a jam-packed agenda and interacting with each other, celebrating our achievements and collaborating in an inclusive and diverse space with welcome encouragement from our learned peers – and fresh talent from across our beautiful country.”
To view the full congress agenda, access further information and book your place, visit: www.saheartcongress.org
