The eight month of this year saw a scientific event of utmost importance to the community of young interventional cardiologists in Latin America: the José Gabay course. The meeting, which took place at Buenos Aires Hilton Hotel, gathered more than 140 fellows eager to update their medical knowledge on this area of expertise.

The event was organized in five modules with a practical focus, step by step demonstrations, tips and tricks, and educational cases. Prestigious international and local professionals presented interesting sessions about “complex coronary interventions”, “diagnosis tools in the cath lab”, “peripheral intervention” and “structural cardiomyopathy”.

Juan Granada, Ricardo Petraco, Jorge Belardi, Hugo Londero, Aníbal Damonte and Oscar Méndiz, among others, spoke before a packed audience and kindly answered the fellows’ questions.

The course started at 8:00 a.m. in the Pacará Room on the 5th floor with an opening ceremony introduced by the Fellows Course Director Dr. Leandro Lasave, SOLACI-CACI 2017 Director Dr. Rubén Piraino, and CACI Vice-President Dr. Aníbal Damonte. The three physicians agreed on the importance of this kind of events to promote scientific exchange and the education of the new generations of interventional cardiologists in Latin America. In addition, they highlighted the theoretical and practical importance of the course and the need to keep nurturing the developing of our young professionals with this initiative.

The morning moved on to discussing the femoral and transradial approaches, primary PCI, chronic total occlusions and ways to treat the left main coronary artery. After that, there was a Symposium lunch and later the job placement forum, open to all those “on the hunt”.

During the afternoon, there were several activities on different topics, and the winners of the Peripheral Interventions and Structural Cardiomyopathy Contests were presented (Dr. Efraim L. Flam and Dr. Eduardo Barrio, respectively).

According to Leandro Lasave, “It was 12 intense hours of great scientific capacity, given that all talks captured our attention, generating passionate debate and fruitful fellow interaction”.  When asked about the importance of SOLACI promoting this kind of events, Lasave assured: “it is essential, because one of SOLACI’s goals is the continuous education of Latin American doctors and the standardization of knowledge (…). The course is attended not just by fellows, but also by interventionists constantly looking to update their skills”.

The cherry on top was an optional final exam with an award for the top scorers. The winners will be awarded with free registration and accommodation for the SCAI Fellows course to take place in Las Vegas, later in December. Winners will soon be announced.  

Looking further into the future, Lasave stated that “The course is constantly updated, which is why we need to look for ways to keep evolving”.

See you all at the ninth edition of the José Gabay course!

Full list of speakers: Dr. José Álvarez, Dr. José Luis Leiva Pons, dr. Gustavo Vignolo, dr. Ricardo Lluberas, Dr. Daniel Berrocal, Dr. Jorge Belardi, Dr, Alexandre Quadros, Dr. Ricardo Petraco, Dr. Juan M. Telayna, Dr. Mario Araya, Dr. Ribamar Costa, Dr. Juan Granada, Dr Ari Mandil, Dr. Hugo Londero, dr. León Valdivieso, Dr. Maximiliano Rossi. dr. Efraim L. Flam, Dr. Raúl Arrieta, Dr. Anibal Damonte, Dr. Henrique Ribeiro, Dr. Oscar Méndiz, Dr. Leandro Lasave, Dr. Eduardo Barrio.

We are interested in your opinion. Please, leave your comments, thoughts, questions, etc., below. They will be most welcome.