Dear Members,  

The field of cardiovascular medicine is at the helm of many great changes, and I am excited about the role that SCAI is taking in advancing interventional cardiology and better serving our members.  

Updates to SCAI Governance  

SCAI is revitalizing its governance structure to be more purposeful, visionary and reflect the evolving needs of a successful and mature Society. Our revitalized governance enhances member centricity while also creating greater leadership intentionality, consistency, transparency, and engagement. 

There are three components of new governance: defined competencies for Board leadership; representative and deliberate composition of Board: and greater member engagement in leadership selection. 

• Process:  
  • Diverse representation of career stage, subspecialty, international, and leaders (past and present) were enlisted to identify governance changes. 
  • The goals of Governance Task Force were to create a representative Board of skilled and reflective leaders with the opportunity for more member engagement in leadership selection. 
• Deliverables: 
  • Intentional board composition to ensure thorough representation of membership including employment setting, subspecialty, career stage, URM and geography as well as ex-officio rotational non-traditional Board members with outside expertise as needed. 
  • Individual board competencies defines qualifications and skills for successful Board leadership as well as an outlined pathway to leadership for all stages in a members’ career, including for Officers. 
  • Member engagement in leadership selection offering multiple Secretary candidates for members to vote, ultimately leaving final selection of upcoming presidents in the hands of members. The nominations and selection process will be more robust with candidates providing statements of purpose and being interviewed by the Governance Selection Committee to put forward a final slate of candidates to membership. 

The SCAI Board of Trustees believes that these progressive changes will address evolving member expectations and demands to support a strong and impactful Society.  In particular, the full membership vote for the highest role of Secretary, on way to President, is purposeful, unique among Societies, and reflective of SCAI’s trust in the community we serve. 

New Cardiovascular Certification Board 

Earlier this summer, SCAI was the first organization, making interventional cardiology the first specialty to issue a statement urging the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to rethink its maintenance of certification (MOC) policies. More recently, we announced along with several cardiovascular organizations including the American College of Cardiology, Heart Failure Society of America, and the Heart Rhythm Society that we would be working together to submit a new Board application, with potential for additional consortium members to join. We are happy to share that the American Heart Association has joined this consortium.  

Together, we will soon submit an application to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), requesting an independent medical Board for cardiovascular medicine to pursue a new competency-based approach to continuous certification—one that harnesses the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to sustain professional excellence and care for cardiovascular patients effectively. ABMS remains the only authority widely recognized by the public, regulators, and payers for initial and ongoing physician certification in the U.S. The new Board will replace the “Maintenance of Certification” approach with a pathway to continuous certification and competency options, offering diplomates convenience, support, choice and credit for the learning that physicians currently do to keep their knowledge and skills at the highest level. 

There is a formal application process for reviewing and evaluating applications for approval of new ABMS medical specialty boards. We expect that process to take 8-12 months. If an approval is granted, then it would be several more months before the formation of the new Board is complete and would begin offering initial certification and supporting continuous competency programs. 

I have shared consistently through recent months SCAI’s eagerness to collaborate with the other cardiovascular societies to bring forth the appropriate standards and transparency necessary for cardiovascular medicine certification requirements. As the premier society representing interventional cardiology, we are committed to ensuring that we create a simplified process that speaks to the evolving trends in continuing education and other rising demands of physicians in our current health care landscape.  

We plan to provide full transparency with our members and welcome you to visit the SCAI website and www.cvboard.org for more information and frequent updates. You can also submit questions about the process directly to SCAI here.  

As always, please contact me with any of your questions or concerns at president@scai.org. I appreciate your trust in the Society and look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,  

George D. Dangas, MD, PhD, MSCAI
2023-24 SCAI President