Important Sessions for Interventionist Women were Carried out at SOLACI-CACI 2024

SOLACI’s annual meetings are renowned by their high academic level, the quality of scientific sessions and attendee expertise, high end live cases, joint symposia carried out with the most relevant scientific societies in the world, and diverse hottest interventional cardiology topics. 

However, this year we have added yet another feature of paramount importance: nearly 30% of faculty were women. The scientific committee has succeeded in offering more and better opportunities to interventionist women in our region. 

In this context, different sessions were held by the Group of Latin American Interventionist Women (MIL Group) focusing on the different challenges, obstacles and opportunities for effective introduction and permanent presence of women in our specialty.  

And so, on Wednesday August 7, 2 joint sessions took place in the Quebracho Room of the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires. 

In the morning, the SOLACI-CACI@CONAREC joint session was held, aimed at providing the necessary tools for women to find out their cardiology specialization and discuss the specific pros and cons of the interventional cardiology specialization. 

In the afternoon, also in Quebracho, «SOLACI-CACI@MINT, MIL & Women As One» was held, to offer an international viewpoint on the past, present and future of women in the field. The present role of women in interventional cardiology was discussed, highlighting our achievements and pointing out the upcoming challenges. There were important keynote speakers from US (Dr. Roxana Mehran) and reputed opinion leaders from Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Peru and Mexico.

The second day featured activities for women from early in the morning, with “MIL and Allies, Nurses and Technicians @SOLACI”. In this activity, the group MIL and Allies was introduced, aimed at creating a space for educating and strengthening Latin American technicians and nurses through SOLACI. Surveys were presented and the discussion revolved around barriers for technician insertion in the field. Radioprotection was also discussed, and an enriching debate was generated. 

Later on, in the room Atlántico B, another joint session was held, between MINT, MIL and Women as One, where challenging edited cases were transmitted from India and Saudi Arabia. Operators were the renowned Sarita Rao (India) and Mirvat Alasnag (Saudi Arabia), and the discussion revolved around complex angioplasties, the use of intravascular imaging and calcium modification techniques in complex angioplasties. Our panelists for this session were from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala. 

Finally, the last day of activities the session “Mentors Latam@MIL-MINT-WAO” was held, aimed at exploring professional development strategies and leadership in interventional cardiology. The activity was conducted by Dr. Roxana Mehran (USA), Dr. José Luis Leiva Pons (MEX) and a gifted inspirational group of panelists from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.