EDITORIAL
28 April 2004: 70
years
Netherlands Society of Cardiology What has it brought and taught us? he Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC) was founded on 28 pril 1934, on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Professor Karl Friedrich Wenckebach. The official celebration ofthe NVVC foundation was postponed by one week because of the funeral of Queen-Mother Emma. The first record of our Society can be derived from Het Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (NTVG) 78.III.29, 21 July 1934:33933395. Professor W.A. Kuenen (Leiden) became the first President of our Society and at the same time Wenckebach (Vienna) was appointed Honorary President ofthe NVVC. The 1934, a NTVG publication stated the following: De Vereeniging is zuiver wetenschappelijk, iedere arts of diergeneeskundige, die belang stelt in de Cardiologie, kan zich bij den secretaris als candidaatlid-lid opgeven. De contributie is vastgesteld op f 5 per jaar. (The Society is purely scientific, every physician or veterinary surgeon with an interest in cardiology may apply for candidate-membership to the secretary's office. The annual contribution will amount to 5 Dutch guilders). In the mid to late 1930s many of the NVVC's activities were reported by the NTVG, which proved to be a very useful source. The first NVVC meetings were held on Sundays (!) and the very first Society Report was based on the NVVC meeting at the University Hospital of Leiden on 31 October 1936. Dr Herman Snellen presented his preliminary observations on intracardiac calcifications postmortem and in-vivo (NTVG 81.IV.50, 11 December 1937:5972-5981). Pioneers of the first hour were Wenckebach, Kuenen, De Haas, Van Mervenee, Enthoven, Kaaskoper, Furstner, Noest, Planteydt, Van Nieuwenhuizen, Snellen, Kleyn, Mrs Lohr, Magnus, Lamers, Weisfelt, Van Muyden, Formyne, Lionarons, Polak, Lingbeek, Aalsmeer, Van Buchem, and Van Ruyven. From then on, regular meetings were held at various places (Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Leiden, and also in Brussels together with the Belgian Society of Cardiology in 1938). NVVC activities went on until 1941 when the Second World War intervened. The last Society Report during the war dates from 25 October 1941 (Leiden, President Kuenen). After the war, the activities of the NVVC were first resumed in 1946 (Utrecht, 7 December, President Van Ruyven). To the best of our knowledge, the first official statutes ofthe NVVC date back to 1951 when Formyne was President. The goals of the NVVC at that time were twofold: 1) to promote the knowledge of cardiovascular diseases, and to take measures for fighting cardiovascular diseases and its consequences, 2) to serve the professional interests of Dutch cardiologists. In 1949, cardiology was recognised as an independent profession by the Registration Committee for Specialists (currently MSRC). Dr Snellen was the first representative of our profession within the MSRC. Our training programme initially consisted of a fiveyear residency period, including three years of internal medicine and two years of cardiology. In the early 1970s, the five-year cardiology training
Netherlands Heart Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, April 2004
141
Editorial
I
.
a
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Fizgure 1. First meeting of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology in 1934. period was changed to two years internal medicine and three years cardiology. In the 1980s it was decided that our training period would be expanded to a total of six years, consisting of two years internal medicine and four years cardiology. Very recently, at the 2003 October Congress of the NVVC, our members voted again for a change: one year internal medicine and five years cardiology. This proposed modification still has to be approved by the 'Central College' (CCMS). In 1994, the Netherlands Institute for Continuing Cardiovascular Education (CVOI) was established with the main goal to provide education to residents in training and to cardiologists. The CVOI has proved to be indispensable in educating members of the NVVC. Currently, there are 28 cardiology teaching hospitals in the Netherlands, 12 ofwhich have an A-status and 16 a B-status. These hospitals are visited on a regular basis by inspection teams assigned by the Concilium Cardiologicum belonging to our Society (Plenaire Visitatie Commissie). Apart from visiting teaching hospitals, quality review visits are being carried out by the NVVC Quality Committee in all hospitals with cardiology departrnents to assure minimum levels of training capacity and expert knowledge. In the future, strict distinctions between A and B hospitals will disappear and teaching hospitals will undergo quality visits as well. In 2001, our statutes were redefined and the goals of our Society were phrased as follows: 1) to develop cardiology in the broadest sense of the word, 2) to foster and control the quality in practising the profession of cardiology, and 3) to promote the professional interests of the members. Over the years, our Society has grown from a pure scientific organ to an outstanding professional institute serving a complete spectrum from scientific developments, training and education, generation of guidelines, quality assessment, to professional interests. Most of these issues are dealt with by our very professional office (Bureau NVVC), taking care of the needs and demands of the members. Many committees and working groups are very active within our Society. At present, our Society contains more than 1100 members and the organisational level of our Society is 97%! As a national society we are closely related to our mother society, the 142
Netherlands Heart Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, April 2004
Editorial
European Society of Cardiology. At our upcoming lustrum (70th anniversary) in April 2004, each NVVC member will receive an ESC membership card. Understandably, there are no recollections of the 10th anniversary of the NVVC due to the Second World War; neither there are mementoes of the 20th anniversary in 1954. The year 1964 was a very memorable year as two prominent members of our Society, the Professors Snellen and Van Nieuwenhuizen, acted as founders ofthe Netherlands Heart Foundation (NHS). The NHS developed into a powerful institute with its main emphasis on prevention, patient information and funding scientific projects. Fortunately, there are still many memorabilia left from the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the NVVC. All our anniversaries have been celebrated in hotels in Amsterdam: 1974 (Hilton), 1984 (Sonesta), and 1994 (Barbizon Palace). Also our 70th anniversary in 2004 will be celebrated in Amsterdam (Okura). At the scientific level (after all, we are a scientific society!) many achievements have been made during the past 70 years. First ofall, since the early 1990s our biannual congresses have become well-attended meetings creating a true scientific and social platform for all our members. Second, since 1994 we have our own monthly Society Journal, together with the NHS, bearing the name 'Netherlands Heart Journal' as of 2001. The journal is the ideal place to report important scientific progress in the Netherlands and to act as a porte-parole for NVVC members through its newsletter. A few years ago we started our own website (www.cardiologie.nl) providing up-to-date information to the readers. Lastly, the field of cardiovascular medicine is continuously evolving and moving forward. In nearly every decade of the 20th century (apart from the episodes of the two World Wars) tremendous progress has been made. Besides Einthoven, many Dutch cardiologists (and other experts in cardiovascular medicine) have performed pioneering work in a wide range of fields, such as in preventive cardiology, atherosclerosis, echocardiography and other imaging modalities, thrombolysis, percutaneous coronary interventions, pacemakers and ICD implantations. These contributions will be separately mentioned in the jubilee book that is to be published on the occasion ofboth the 40th anniversary of the NHS and the 70th anniversary of the NVVC. The first event will take place on Thursday 15 April in Leiden (Pieterskerk), and the second event on Thursday 22 April and Friday 23 April in Amsterdam (Okura Hotel). We are looking forward to meeting you on both occasions. Our Society is flourishing as never before! U Ernst E. van der Wall, Department of Cardiology Leiden University Medical Centre
Netherlands Heart Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, April 2004
143
28 April 2004: 70
years
Netherlands Society of Cardiology What has it brought and taught us? he Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC) was founded on 28 pril 1934, on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Professor Karl Friedrich Wenckebach. The official celebration ofthe NVVC foundation was postponed by one week because of the funeral of Queen-Mother Emma. The first record of our Society can be derived from Het Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (NTVG) 78.III.29, 21 July 1934:33933395. Professor W.A. Kuenen (Leiden) became the first President of our Society and at the same time Wenckebach (Vienna) was appointed Honorary President ofthe NVVC. The 1934, a NTVG publication stated the following: De Vereeniging is zuiver wetenschappelijk, iedere arts of diergeneeskundige, die belang stelt in de Cardiologie, kan zich bij den secretaris als candidaatlid-lid opgeven. De contributie is vastgesteld op f 5 per jaar. (The Society is purely scientific, every physician or veterinary surgeon with an interest in cardiology may apply for candidate-membership to the secretary's office. The annual contribution will amount to 5 Dutch guilders). In the mid to late 1930s many of the NVVC's activities were reported by the NTVG, which proved to be a very useful source. The first NVVC meetings were held on Sundays (!) and the very first Society Report was based on the NVVC meeting at the University Hospital of Leiden on 31 October 1936. Dr Herman Snellen presented his preliminary observations on intracardiac calcifications postmortem and in-vivo (NTVG 81.IV.50, 11 December 1937:5972-5981). Pioneers of the first hour were Wenckebach, Kuenen, De Haas, Van Mervenee, Enthoven, Kaaskoper, Furstner, Noest, Planteydt, Van Nieuwenhuizen, Snellen, Kleyn, Mrs Lohr, Magnus, Lamers, Weisfelt, Van Muyden, Formyne, Lionarons, Polak, Lingbeek, Aalsmeer, Van Buchem, and Van Ruyven. From then on, regular meetings were held at various places (Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Leiden, and also in Brussels together with the Belgian Society of Cardiology in 1938). NVVC activities went on until 1941 when the Second World War intervened. The last Society Report during the war dates from 25 October 1941 (Leiden, President Kuenen). After the war, the activities of the NVVC were first resumed in 1946 (Utrecht, 7 December, President Van Ruyven). To the best of our knowledge, the first official statutes ofthe NVVC date back to 1951 when Formyne was President. The goals of the NVVC at that time were twofold: 1) to promote the knowledge of cardiovascular diseases, and to take measures for fighting cardiovascular diseases and its consequences, 2) to serve the professional interests of Dutch cardiologists. In 1949, cardiology was recognised as an independent profession by the Registration Committee for Specialists (currently MSRC). Dr Snellen was the first representative of our profession within the MSRC. Our training programme initially consisted of a fiveyear residency period, including three years of internal medicine and two years of cardiology. In the early 1970s, the five-year cardiology training
Netherlands Heart Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, April 2004
141
Editorial
I
.
a
_-
Fizgure 1. First meeting of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology in 1934. period was changed to two years internal medicine and three years cardiology. In the 1980s it was decided that our training period would be expanded to a total of six years, consisting of two years internal medicine and four years cardiology. Very recently, at the 2003 October Congress of the NVVC, our members voted again for a change: one year internal medicine and five years cardiology. This proposed modification still has to be approved by the 'Central College' (CCMS). In 1994, the Netherlands Institute for Continuing Cardiovascular Education (CVOI) was established with the main goal to provide education to residents in training and to cardiologists. The CVOI has proved to be indispensable in educating members of the NVVC. Currently, there are 28 cardiology teaching hospitals in the Netherlands, 12 ofwhich have an A-status and 16 a B-status. These hospitals are visited on a regular basis by inspection teams assigned by the Concilium Cardiologicum belonging to our Society (Plenaire Visitatie Commissie). Apart from visiting teaching hospitals, quality review visits are being carried out by the NVVC Quality Committee in all hospitals with cardiology departrnents to assure minimum levels of training capacity and expert knowledge. In the future, strict distinctions between A and B hospitals will disappear and teaching hospitals will undergo quality visits as well. In 2001, our statutes were redefined and the goals of our Society were phrased as follows: 1) to develop cardiology in the broadest sense of the word, 2) to foster and control the quality in practising the profession of cardiology, and 3) to promote the professional interests of the members. Over the years, our Society has grown from a pure scientific organ to an outstanding professional institute serving a complete spectrum from scientific developments, training and education, generation of guidelines, quality assessment, to professional interests. Most of these issues are dealt with by our very professional office (Bureau NVVC), taking care of the needs and demands of the members. Many committees and working groups are very active within our Society. At present, our Society contains more than 1100 members and the organisational level of our Society is 97%! As a national society we are closely related to our mother society, the 142
Netherlands Heart Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, April 2004
Editorial
European Society of Cardiology. At our upcoming lustrum (70th anniversary) in April 2004, each NVVC member will receive an ESC membership card. Understandably, there are no recollections of the 10th anniversary of the NVVC due to the Second World War; neither there are mementoes of the 20th anniversary in 1954. The year 1964 was a very memorable year as two prominent members of our Society, the Professors Snellen and Van Nieuwenhuizen, acted as founders ofthe Netherlands Heart Foundation (NHS). The NHS developed into a powerful institute with its main emphasis on prevention, patient information and funding scientific projects. Fortunately, there are still many memorabilia left from the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the NVVC. All our anniversaries have been celebrated in hotels in Amsterdam: 1974 (Hilton), 1984 (Sonesta), and 1994 (Barbizon Palace). Also our 70th anniversary in 2004 will be celebrated in Amsterdam (Okura). At the scientific level (after all, we are a scientific society!) many achievements have been made during the past 70 years. First ofall, since the early 1990s our biannual congresses have become well-attended meetings creating a true scientific and social platform for all our members. Second, since 1994 we have our own monthly Society Journal, together with the NHS, bearing the name 'Netherlands Heart Journal' as of 2001. The journal is the ideal place to report important scientific progress in the Netherlands and to act as a porte-parole for NVVC members through its newsletter. A few years ago we started our own website (www.cardiologie.nl) providing up-to-date information to the readers. Lastly, the field of cardiovascular medicine is continuously evolving and moving forward. In nearly every decade of the 20th century (apart from the episodes of the two World Wars) tremendous progress has been made. Besides Einthoven, many Dutch cardiologists (and other experts in cardiovascular medicine) have performed pioneering work in a wide range of fields, such as in preventive cardiology, atherosclerosis, echocardiography and other imaging modalities, thrombolysis, percutaneous coronary interventions, pacemakers and ICD implantations. These contributions will be separately mentioned in the jubilee book that is to be published on the occasion ofboth the 40th anniversary of the NHS and the 70th anniversary of the NVVC. The first event will take place on Thursday 15 April in Leiden (Pieterskerk), and the second event on Thursday 22 April and Friday 23 April in Amsterdam (Okura Hotel). We are looking forward to meeting you on both occasions. Our Society is flourishing as never before! U Ernst E. van der Wall, Department of Cardiology Leiden University Medical Centre
Netherlands Heart Journal, Volume 12, Number 4, April 2004
143
