Announcing the Inaugural Class of Fellows of the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals

Posted on by Kurt Jensen
Announcing our First Fellows of the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals

As we celebrate Cardiovascular Professionals Week 2020, we are ecstatic to recognize a number of outstanding professionals as Fellows of the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals. These individuals have a demonstrated commitment to staying at the cutting edge of quality care in their specialties, and we know them to go above and beyond the call of duty to impact quality care at their organizations.

Fellowship in the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals is a recognition of professionalism and leadership in cardiovascular service delivery for non-physician professionals, cardiovascular service line directors and administrators. In addition, ACVP Fellows form a community which facilitates communication and advancement in best practices across organizational and regional boundaries.

Thoughts on Fellowship from our Fellows

"Earning fellowship status as a member of ACVP is special to me not only personally but professionally as well," says Fellow Eric Kallstrom, MBA, ACS, RDCS, RCS, FASE, FACVP. "As a leader in noninvasive cardiovascular imaging, obtaining the premiere status of Fellow allows me to further guide my staff with the trusted leadership that they need and be the person that they can go to regarding education, quality, and best noninvasive diagnostic practices."

"ACVP Fellowship is the ultimate recognition of professional achievement for cardiovascular technologists, registered nurses and radiologic technologists working in [cardiology]," says Fellow Christopher Steelman MS, RT(R)(CI), RCIS, FACVP. "This is a special honor for me as I have long admired many of the professionals with whom I will now share the distinction."

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Non-physician Cardiology CE 2020 Slate Announced

Posted on by Kurt Jensen
ACVP Cardio Conference Schedule Announced: Non-physician Cardiology CE in 2020

The Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals is excited to announce its upcoming slate of cardiology CE 2020 conferences for non-physician professionals. ACVP's mission is to bring the best low-cost, cardiology-specific continuing education directly to non-physician professionals around the United States.

Registered nurses and radiologic technologists often struggle to find quality cardiac-specific continuing education, as many of their CE resources are relevant to other specialties. ACVP seeks to solve that problem. And while cardiovascular technologists do not face the same issue in finding relevant education, ACVP remains a major provider of high quality continuing education for cardiovascular technologists.

ACVP is the only organization serving exclusively non-physicians in all cardiology specialties.

ACVP regional meetings provide a unique opportunity for registered nurses, radiologic and cardiovascular technologists to earn CEUs for cardiac-specific education in a preferred, in-person format. Excellent speakers offer timely content relevant to practice in your area, and attendee reviews are consistently stellar.

Dual-credentialed professionals, RT/RCIS or RN/RCIS, love our education for providing them with CEs applicable for both credentials. All ACVP conferences provide continuing education recognized by Cardiovascular Credentialing International, the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and all State Boards of Nursing.

Planned Slate of Regional Cardiology CE 2020 Conferences

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Will the Cath Lab of the Future be Radiation-Free?

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Radiation safety has been a hot topic for continuing education in recent years, but will the cath lab of the future feature fluoroscopy at all? This blog takes a look at future technology developments that may drastically reduce radiation exposure for professionals in the cath lab, or eliminate ionizing radiation altogether.

Growing Recognition of Need for Radiation Safety

Widespread recognition of the need for radiation safety has ballooned due to a confluence of factors. On one hand, advancements in what can be done via percutaenous coronary intervention in the cath lab have introduced longer and more involved procedures which increase the risks of radiation exposure for both patients and clinicians.

On the other hand, experts like Dave Fornell of the publication Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology rightly point out that the impact of long-term radiation exposure in interventional cardiology is only just now coming to light, 30 years after the subspecialty's inception. In 2015, for example, we published a blog series about non-physician professionals in the cath lab reporting more work-related pain due to wearing radiation protective gear.

A proliferation of best practice resources now exist to help clinicians reduce radiation exposure, like the 2018 Expert Consensus Document on Optimal Use of Ionizing Radiation in Cardiovascular Imaging, or the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Inteventions (SCAI)'s Quality Improvement Toolkit resource on radiation safety.

Of course, these resources are reflective of the status quo, and not predictive of the cath lab of the future—or even the near future—an environment where new technology may drastically reduce radiation used or eliminate the need for ionizing radiation entirely.

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Revamped Cardiology CE for Technologists, RNs

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

We've updated our online, on-demand continuing education platform to better serve cardiovascular professionals! We now host cardiology CE natively on the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals website with an overhauled and much improved user experience connected to your ACVP membership account.

On-demand Cardiology CE: CVCEU by ACVP

While cardiovascular technologists are used to finding education relevant to their specialty, it can be harder for registered nurses and radiologic technologists working in cardiac care environments to find quality online continuing education approved for them.

It's ACVP's mission to provide high quality continuing education to cardiovascular technologists, registered nurses AND radiologic technologists working in ALL cardiac specialties. Our new continuing education platform will further that mission with an easy-to-use interface and more educational content to come.

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