How CardioPractice can help fulfil the needs of young cardiovascular professionals

Invitation to young professionals

CardioPractice is a new platform from the ESC for the exchange of information in our profession and it is only natural that we offer a place to the future generation of European and international cardiovascular professionals.

We are very pleased then to welcome the ESC Committee for Young Cardiovascular Professionals (YCP) to join us in this exciting endeavour. CardioPractice can provide an innovative and easily accessible tool for remaining informed and exchanging information. It will provide a space for open discussion with young specialists, and for all of us committed to advancing the practice of cardiology for the benefit of our patients.

Together, let’s keep the fire burning!

Marc Ferrini
Editor-in-Chief of CardioPractice

Who are the young professionals?

The ESC Committee for Young Cardiovascular Professionals (YCP) represents the large community of young doctors, nurses and allied professionals under 40 years old within the ESC. The Committee includes YCP from different countries with different backgrounds in specialty training and education. The aim of the new YCP committee is to improve the visibility of the young and focus on what the ESC can offer them, especially in terms of new educational platforms. The new ESC platform “CardioPractice” is an innovative concept that offers high-level informational content in an entertaining format to the YCP in order to enhance their continuing education. 

From Cardiologists of Tomorrow to the YCP

The ESC Cardiologists of Tomorrow group was founded in 2010 and has continued to grow since [1].  Ten years later, in 2020, the emerging group was transformed into the ESC Committee for Young Cardiovascular Professionals (YCP), an official ESC committee with representation on the ESC Board. This has given the group a more visible profile as well as a structure that includes representatives from national cardiac societies (NCS), young residents, ESC working groups and ESC associations, all to improve the collaboration within the group [2]. 

The committee has continued to grow stronger and is focusing on key aspects that enhance the visibility of the Young Community within the ESC.  Notably, we are focused on strengthening the educational and networking opportunities not only within the ESC working groups and associations, but also and most importantly, within the NCS. In the long term, the YCP will become the anchor point for every young cardiovascular professional. To achieve this aim, many actions have already been taken and more are to come. 

Over the last few years, many projects have been implemented and different surveys have been conducted by the YCP. These have shed light on the needs of younger professionals regarding training and visibility within the ESC community as well as the lack of awareness of all that the ESC has on offer [3, 4]. 

CardioPractice and the YCP

Scientific information is the cornerstone in the education of becoming a cardiovascular health care professional, to whom high quality educational content must be offered, regardless of geographical or political considerations. The ESC has created “CardioPractice” – formerly known as the E-Journal of Cardiology Practice - to cover clinical information in a variety of ways, such as videos or short articles with clear “take-home” messages at the beginning, which make it easy to learn important information quickly in an easy-to-read format. This is of particular importance, as increasing workloads and continuous clinical evaluations mean that new information is needed on a regular basis. The content will be easily accessible and reliable, addressed to the younger community at all the different training stages (students, cardiology residents, cardiologists after specialty examination, subspecialist and young FESC). 

Education and the YCP

The YCP is aware that travel expenses, lack of time and sustainability concerns mean that alternative education structures are essential. Online courses and videos may cover some of the gaps but there is more innovation that needs to be done in order to respond effectively to these restrictions. The universality of scientific journals makes them a precious asset in connecting professionals as well. 

The differences between ESC member countries regarding further clinical training and their requirements for becoming a professional are important concerns within the younger community.  It makes the group very heterogenous within its levels of expertise, but also creates a need for tailored scientific content for their advancement since many of the younger professionals have not yet chosen their cardiology subspecialty. ESC and the YCP aim to increase the visibility of the ESC Core Curriculum and the ESC Academy in order to improve the current heterogenicity of the different training programs across Europe. 

Working together

The YCP can only achieve their goals by gaining visibility for their mission. The committee cannot achieve these goals on their own, they need to be working in tandem with other relevant working groups, associations, and committees (e.g., the Education and the Communication committees). Interaction and exchange programmes must be facilitated as well as the opportunity to learn directly from experienced cardiovascular professionals which is an invaluable resource for the younger generation.

Shown below is the new committee structure with the Chair and Vice-Chair, representatives from the NCS, the associations and specific working groups. With this structure, we believe that the committee has the potential to work on the above-mentioned projects. It is important to note that only through a strong working alliance with the ESC staff and the other committees, working groups and associations can the goal of gaining visibility for the YCP be achieved. 

Figure 1. Overview of the new Committee for Young Cardiovascular Professionals serving the mandate of 2022-2024. 

Take-Home Messages

1.    Within the ESC there is a large community of young professionals who are both highly motivated and have important educational needs. They represent the future of the ESC. There is a lack of awareness of all that the ESC offers and the educational opportunities therein. 

2.    The ESC Committee for Young Cardiovascular Professionals (YCP) is a group of 12 young professionals working in the field of cardiovascular medicine who aim to integrate the YCP into each of the ESC pillars and structures in order to support the ESC mission.  The YCP Committee aims have a positive impact on the community and to improve awareness of all the available activities. 

3.    The committee is engaged to represent, empower, support and invest in the young generation of cardiovascular professionals in order to make the ESC their cardiovascular, scientific and international society. 

4.    The main objectives of YCP are to increase the involvement of the younger generation within the ESC, to increase their interactions with senior professionals and networks and to increase the ESC’s visibility by promoting important offers from the ESC. The overall goal is for the ESC to become their anchor cardiovascular society.