For the first time, the Heart and Vascular Center and the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine came together to produce a two-day continuing education conference: the Iowa Cardiovascular Summit: Advances in Electrophysiology and Heart Failure.

The event’s planning committee was led by Paari Dominic, MD, Director of Electrophysiology, and Ernesto Ruiz Duque, MD, Interim Director of Cardiomyopathy.

“The first combined electrophysiology and heart failure conference was an innovative combination of two subspecialties of Cardiology that work with synergy,” Ruiz Duque said. “The symbiosis among the EP and HF physicians has increased over the last years, since therapies provided by electrophysiologists have improved the morbidity and survival for patients living with heart failure. The combination of guideline directed medical therapy, remote hemodynamic monitoring, cardiac modulation, baroreceptor stimulation, along a heart failure specialized team have demonstrated reduced hospitalization for heart failure and cardiovascular mortality.”

Spanning Friday and Saturday, the conference was hosted by various industry partners at The Graduate in downtown Iowa City, and showcased advanced practice providers, nurse clinicians, researchers, and physicians from UI Health Care in six themed sessions.

Each session included individual presentations and “sync sessions” during which presenters came together and accepted questions from the audience for 15 minutes. A collaborative case presentation was given each afternoon.

Friday evening, attendees were bussed to Kinnick Stadium’s Ted Pacha Family Club for a dinner event, where featured special guest Fran McCaffery, Iowa Hawkeye men’s basketball head coach, spoke to attendees about teamwork and leadership.

The inaugural event was a success for many reasons, including the skillful planning committee who executed it:

• Chris Cervantes
• Paari Dominic
• Ernesto Ruiz Duque
• Paige Graham
• Suzanne Hennings
• Elly Hinders
• Cathy Pierce