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The Swiss Society of Cardiology (SSC)

Mission according to the statutes:
The Swiss Society of Cardiology is dedicated to reduce the burden of cardio-vascular disease of the population, to contribute to high standards in cardiological practise and to cultivate an optimal relationship between the members and other societies and organisations active in the health care field.

History:
The Swiss Society of Cardiology (SSC) was founded in 1948, i.e. one year before the ESC. It is one of the 14 founding nations of the ESC. Having been for many years a part of the Swiss Society of Internal Medicine, its first task was to find a real "stand-alone" identity. The creation in 1998 of an independent title of Specialist FMH (Swiss Federation of Physicians) in Cardiology" can be considered as the proof of its success. Since 1999 a Swiss Board Examination is organized yearly. Currently, the SSC counts more than 700 members including senior and junior members as well as honorary and honourable members. Virtually all practising cardiologists in Switzerland are active members of the Society.

Goals, particular characteristics:
To achieve one of the main missions, optimal training and continuing education, the SSC is subdivides in regional working groups and in 9 working groups according to the specific fields in Cardiology. In the area of prevention and patient education, the SSC is collaborating with specially dedicated organisations, namely The Swiss Heart Foundation and CardioVascSuisse, the latter representing all the societies and groups, also patient organisation, being active in cardiovascular medicine.
The formal postgraduate training assumed by the 5 University Clinics in Cardiology and a number of large community hospitals is crowned by the Swiss Board in Cardiology, a written and clinical examination realized by the SSC and approved by the Swiss Federation of Physicians. The continuing education, compulsory in Switzerland, is realized in dedicated meetings organized by the SSC itself - twice a year - and by its working groups. 80 credits a year are considered as a statutory minimum.
Unlike other national societies, the SSC is not exclusively a scientific society but has political missions as well. Currently, we are involved in the elaboration of a Federal Law for Prevention. In this field we are about to include the European Heart Health Charter into our discussions.
Another specificity of our country is that many cardiologists, roughly half the Swiss cardiologists, are practising in an independent private practice, alone or in groups. They assume the responsibility in the fields of the ambulatory diagnostic work-up - in collaboration with the primary care physicians who are GPs or specialists in Internal Medicine - the treatment and follow-up of cardiac patients. Concern:
Our board main concern is the peril of fragmentation of the society in “sub-specialized” subgroups. Obviously, the growing complexity of the technological aspects represents a need for highly specialized discussions and consensus, but the political situations still requires a perfect cohesion of the whole society. We keep trying to communicate this need.

Publications:
The Journal "Kardiovaskuläre Medizin/Médecine Cardio-vasculaire" created in 1996 is our official organ. Written in the national languages and in English its scientific and educational parts are dedicated to an international audience.

International links:
As one of the "founding Fathers" of the ESC, we are happy to be actively involved in many European programmes in different areas of cardiology, despite the fact that Switzerland is not yet a member of the European Union. Over the years, many Swiss cardiologists have been involved internationally, e.g. at the level of the ESC Board Hans-Peter Krayenbuehl, President ESC 1988-1990, Thomas Luescher, Frank Ruschitzka.
The ESC inputs are welcome in our country, especially the ESC Guidelines and the annual congress as well as the Spring Summit. We therefore keep promoting the ESC fellowship amongst our members.

Future meetings:
The annual Echo-course will take place in Lucerne in January 2008 (9-10.1.2008), a very well attended meeting with an international Faculty. The annual congress of SSC will take place in Berne in May 2008 (28.-30.5.2008) and the fall meeting SSC on November 20th, 2008. The "Swiss rhythm" is scheduled in November 2008.

Homepage: www.swisscardio.ch

We are keen to collaborate with the ESC and happy to celebrate our 60th birthday in 2008.

Dr Andres Jaussi, Président de la SSC