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In "The Alternative Fairytale," I explore my journey as a cardiology registrar/fellow, a path influenced deeply by my early displacement from war-torn Sudan. This piece reflects on the interplay between my professional choices and personal identity amidst the backdrop of a male-dominated field and societal expectations. It examines how my roots in a family that once fled conflict have shaped my approach to medicine—emphasizing community, empathy, and a leadership style that diverges from traditional norms. Through this narrative, I aim to redefine and help others to reflect on what success looks like in cardiology and medicine; advocating for diversity in leadership styles and highlight the importance of personal background in shaping professional paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women in cardiology experience considerable gender disparities in publications, which hinders their career advancements to higher faculty and senior leadership positions. However, the extent of these disparities across different types of cardiovascular literature is not well understood. We investigated gender differences in authorship across various cardiovascular publications over a decade and examined geographic variations in the representation of women authors. All papers published from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019, in 4 major cardiovascular journals (Journal of the American College of Cardiology , European Heart Journal , Journal of the American Medical Association Cardiology , and Nature Reviews Cardiology) were reviewed. Of the 18,535 papers with 111,562 authors, 20.6% of the authors were women, and 47.7% of the papers had no women authors. Over 10 years, the proportion of women authors remained low (20.7% in 2010 to 21.4% in 2019), with the lowest proportion in editorial papers (14.8%) and the highest in research papers (21.8%). More women as first (34.6%) and last (47.6%) authors were affiliated with institutions in the United States compared with other countries. The proportion of women middle-order authors was higher on papers with women as first authors (29.4% vs 20.5%) or last authors (30.6% vs 21.3%), compared with papers with men as first or last authors, respectively. Over the past decade, the proportion of women authors across all article types in major cardiovascular journals remained low. A call to action is needed to promote women in cardiology and provide them with equitable opportunities. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate fertility-based radiation safety data, education and knowledge is important for all staff exposed to occupational radiation. Women are under-represented in all medical fields with increased exposure to occupational radiation, to achieve better equity in our medical workforces evidence-based radiation safety knowledge is essential to overcoming perceived career barriers. This review of radiation safety policy and data focuses on providing health professions working in cardiology with accurate contemporary information about potential radiation exposure with respect to fetal risk for pregnant health professionals. The data summarized within this review shows when women continue to work in cardiac catheterization laboratories through pregnancy their expected occupational radiation exposure with appropriate shielding, will not meaningfully change pregnancy outcomes, nor will it significantly increase risk to the fetus. The review also summarizes international workplace policy for radiation exposure and monitoring and provides recommendations for ongoing safe practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aims The EACVI Scientific Initiatives Committee and the EACVI women's taskforce conducted a global survey to evaluate the barriers faced by women in cardiovascular imaging (WICVi). Methods and results In a prospective international survey, we assessed the barriers faced at work by WICVi. Three hundred fourteen participants from 53 countries responded. The majority were married (77%) and had children (68%), but most reported no flexibility in their work schedule during their pregnancy or after their maternity leave. More than half of the women reported experiencing unconscious bias (68%), verbal harassment (59%), conscious bias (51%), anxiety (70%), lack of motivation (60%), imposter syndrome (54%), and burnout (61%) at work. Furthermore, one in five respondents had experienced sexual harassment, although this was rarely reported formally. The majority reported availability of mentorship (73%), which was mostly rated as 'good' or 'very good'. While more than two-thirds of respondents (69%) now reported being well trained and qualified to take on leadership roles in their departments, only one-third had been afforded that opportunity. Despite the issues highlighted by this survey, >80% of the participating WICVi would still choose cardiovascular imaging if they could restart their career. Conclusion The survey has highlighted important issues faced by WICVi. While progress has been made in areas such as mentorship and training, other issues including bullying, bias, and sexual harassment are still widely prevalent requiring urgent action by the global cardiovascular imaging community to collectively address and resolve these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Social media is an effective channel for the advancement of women physicians; however, its use by women in cardiology has not been systematically studied. Our study seeks to characterize the current Women in Cardiology Twitter network. Methods and Results Six women-specific cardiology Twitter hashtags were analyzed: #ACCWIC (American College of Cardiology Women in Cardiology), #AHAWIC (American Heart Association Women in Cardiology), #ilooklikeacardiologist, #SCAIWIN (Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Women in Innovations), #WomeninCardiology, and #WomeninEP (Women in Electrophysiology). Twitter data from 2016 to 2019 were obtained from Symplur Signals. Quantitative and descriptive content analyses were performed. The Women in Cardiology Twitter network generated 48 236 tweets, 266 180 903 impressions, and 12 485 users. Tweets increased by 706% (from 2083 to 16 780), impressions by 207% (from 26 755 476 to 82 080 472), and users by 440% (from 796 to 4300), including a 471% user increase internationally. The network generated 6530 (13%) original tweets and 43 103 (86%) amplification tweets. Most original and amplification tweets were authored by women (81% and 62%, respectively) and women physicians (76% and 52%, respectively), with an increase in original and amplification tweets authored by academic women physicians (98% and 109%, respectively) and trainees (390% and 249%, respectively) over time. Community building, professional development, and gender advocacy were the most common tweet contents over the study period. Community building was the most common tweet category for #ACCWIC, #AHAWIC, #ilooklikeacardiologist, #SCAIWIN, and #WomeninCardiology, whereas professional development was most common for #WomeninEP. Conclusions The Women in Cardiology Twitter network has grown immensely from 2016 to 2019, with women physicians as the driving contributors. This network has become an important channel for community building, professional development, and gender advocacy discussions in an effort to advance women in cardiology.

Introduction: Bibliometric studies can help guide researchers and funding bodies toward fields where more research activity is warranted. Bibliometric analyses have previously been published in many specialties and sub-specialties. Our literature search did not show a bibliometric analysis on pericardial diseases. We performed a bibliometric analysis of the top 100 cited manuscripts on pericardial diseases to identify knowledge. Material and methods: Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative method to assess research performance and analyze publication trends. Web of Science was searched in April 2020 to identify the top 100 cited manuscripts in pericardial diseases. Results: Twenty-six out of the top 100 cited manuscripts were published between 2000 and 2009. These manuscripts were cited on average189 times (range: 110–743) since publication. Only two manuscripts were cited > 500 times. Among the top-ten cited manuscripts, there were 6 original articles, 1 case series, and 3 review articles. Of the 3 review articles, 2 were society guidelines. 90% of the authors had written just 1 manuscript. There were ten manuscripts with women as first authors with a significant association between gender of the first and corresponding author (odds ratio = 44, p < 0.001). Only 20% of manuscripts were funded. Most publications came from institutions in the United States (n = 40), Italy (n = 10), and Spain (n = 5). Conclusions: Our study provides an insight into the characteristics and quality of the highly cited literature in the field of pericardial diseases. This can be used to guide further research in the field of pericardial diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of Review: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in adult women in the USA, yet CVD is underrecognized in women. Disparities in care are further pronounced in women of racial/ethnic minority backgrounds. In this review, we discuss the role of social media (SoMe) as a tool to (i) promote women's cardiovascular (CV) health and (ii) address and potentially reduce gaps in care, particularly in general cardiology (targeting atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease), cardio-oncology, and cardio-obstetrics. We also briefly discuss women's CV health as a common, although not unique, focus of women in cardiology on SoMe. Recent Findings: Studies have suggested the utility of social media to help advance subspecialties of cardiology. Leaders within general cardiology, cardio-oncology, and cardio-obstetrics have curated social media strategies to advance their respective fields and call attention to cardiovascular health disparities in female populations and racial/ethnic minorities. In addition to these types of uses, women in cardiology also frequently use SoMe to encourage a career in cardiology and to share experiences, challenges, and resources for support and career advancement as healthcare professionals; men in cardiology and especially those who are allies for sex and racial/ethnic minorities also use SoMe for these means. Summary: Herein, we highlight the role and myriad applications of social media in the promotion of women's cardiovascular health. We discuss five primary roles of social media: increasing public awareness, disseminating medical literature in a rapid and accessible fashion, facilitating professional networking, serving as a platform for medical conferences, and empowering patients. These core strategies are discussed through the lens of general cardiology, cardio-oncology, and cardio-obstetrics. We also demonstrate how these applications can be leveraged to increase representation of women in cardiology, also supporting an increased focus on women's cardiovascular health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of the Turkish Society of Cardiology / Türk Kardiyoloji Derneği Arşivi is the property of KARE Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Specialty training in cardiovascular diseases is consistently perceived to have adverse job conditions and interfere with family life. There is a dearth of universal workforce support for trainees who become parents during training.Objectives: This study sought to identify parental policies across cardiovascular training programs internationally.Methods: An Internet-based international survey study available from August 2020 to October 2020 was sent via social media. The survey was administered 1 time and anonymously. Participants shared experiences regarding parental benefits/policies and perception of barriers for trainees. Participants were divided into 3 groups: training program directors, trainees pregnant during cardiology fellowship, and trainees not pregnant during training.Results: A total of 417 replies were received from physicians, including 47 responses (11.3%) from training program directors, 146 responses (35%) from current or former trainees pregnant during cardiology training, and 224 responses (53.7%) from current or former trainees that were not pregnant during cardiology training. Among trainees, 280 (67.1%) were parents during training. Family benefits and policies were not uniformly available across institutions, and knowledge regarding the existence of such policies was low. Average parental leave ranged from 1 to 2 months in the United States compared with >4 months outside the United States, and in all countries, paternity leave was uncommon (only 11 participants [2.6%]). Coverage during family leave was primarily provided by peers (n = 184 [44.1%]), and 168 (91.3%) were without additional monetary or time compensation.Conclusions: This is the first international survey evaluating and comparing parental benefits and policies among cardiovascular training programs. There is great variability among institutions, highlighting disparities in real-world experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular and reproductive health of women have been going hand in hand since the dawn of time, yet links have been poorly studied. Still, once basis of their connections started to be established, it depended on local regional abilities and level of progressive thinking to afford women comprehensive care beyond the “bikini medicine”. Further research identified different associations rendering more conditions sex-specific and launching therefore a slow, yet initial turn around in clinical trials’ concept as the majority of global cardiovascular guidelines rely on the results of research conducted on a very modest percentage of women and even less on the women of color. Currently, the concept of women’s heart centers varies depending on the local demographics’ guided needs, available logistics driven by budgeting and societal support of a broad-minded thinking environment, free of bias for everyone: from young adults questioning their gender identity, via women of reproductive age both struggling to conceive or keep working part time when healthy and line of work permits it during pregnancy, up to aging and the elderly. Using “Investigate-Educate-Advocate-Legislate” as the four pillars of advancing cardiovascular care of women, we aimed to summarize standing of women’s health in Serbia, present ongoing projects and propose actionable solutions for the future.

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Background: Maternity leave is highly variable in the United States given the lack of a federal workforce mandate.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences and impact of childbearing on women cardiologists and their careers, within a legal framework.Methods: A survey was sent to women cardiologists, asking about their experiences while pregnant and on maternity leave. The incidence of complications and career impacts on the cardiologists was assessed.Results: Of 323 respondents who had been pregnant as a practicing cardiologist, extra service or call before maternity leave was required in 37.2%. Of those who performed extra service or call, 17.5% were placed on bedrest before delivery, compared with 7.4% who did not perform extra service or call (P = 0.005). During the year of pregnancy, 41.2% experienced a salary decrease; only 7.4% had their relative value units prorated for time on maternity leave; 23.2% had no paid maternity leave. Self-reported pregnancy complications occurred in 36.5%, those with complications had a 60% greater chance of reporting that pregnancy adversely affected their career, compared with those without complications. Nearly three-fourths (237 respondents) reported experiencing at least one of several troubling practices that are illegal in many circumstances.Conclusions: Women cardiologists report wide variances in maternity leave in the United States, with many experiencing likely violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act or other statues. Childbearing issues in cardiologists should be addressed to improve the professional and personal lives of women cardiologists and the attractiveness of cardiology to potential trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Women continue to be underrepresented in cardiology and even more so in leadership positions. We evaluated the trends and gender differences in the guideline writing groups of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines from 2006 to 2020. Methods and Results We extracted all guidelines authors from 2006 to 2020, assessed their gender from publicly available profiles, and compared differences based on subspecialties and specific societies. Stratified and trend analyses were performed using χ2 and average annual percentage change/average 5 year percentage change. A total of 80 ACC/AHA (1288 authors [28% women]), 64 CCS (988 authors [26% women]), and 59 ESC (1157 authors [16% women]) guidelines were analyzed. A significant increase in inclusion of women was seen in ACC/AHA (12.6% [2006] to 42.6% [2020]; average annual percentage change, 6.6% [2.3% to 11.1%]; P=0.005) and ESC (7.1% [2006] to 25.8% [2020]; average annual percentage change, 6.6% [0.2% to 13.5%]; P=0.04), but the trend remained similar in CCS (20.6% [2006] to 36.3% [2020]; average annual percentage change, −0.1% (−3.7% to 3.5%); P=0.94), guideline authors. More women were coauthors in the ACC/AHA and ESC guidelines when women were chairs of guidelines. There was a persistent disparity of women among guideline authors for general cardiology and all subspecialties, except for pediatric cardiology and heart failure guidelines. The appointment of women authors as a chair was significantly low in all societies (22.4% [ACC/AHA], 16.9% [CCS], and 7.2% [ESC]; P=0.008). Conclusions There is a significant disparity in the inclusion of women on all national guideline committees, in addition to serving as a chair of cardiology guidelines. Further advocacy is required to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in our cardiology guidelines globally.

At the beginning of the SARS Co V2 (COVID-19) pandemic, women worldwide represented the majority of health care workers. As part of the fight against the pandemic, women health care workers became a part of the significant frontline response. This led to unique challenges that affected women physicians as well as the women patients they were taking care of. The American College of Cardiology Women in Cardiology International Working Group set up a webinar to discuss the challenges being faced by women physicians and women patients in various parts of the world and look towards finding possible solutions for these issues in a webinar themed “WIC Global Perspectives: COVID-19.”

Background Social media is an effective channel for the advancement of women physicians; however, its use by women in cardiology has not been systematically studied. Our study seeks to characterize the current Women in Cardiology Twitter network. Methods and Results Six women‐specific cardiology Twitter hashtags were analyzed: #ACCWIC (American College of Cardiology Women in Cardiology), #AHAWIC (American Heart Association Women in Cardiology), #ilooklikeacardiologist, #SCAIWIN (Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Women in Innovations), #WomeninCardiology, and #WomeninEP (Women in Electrophysiology). Twitter data from 2016 to 2019 were obtained from Symplur Signals. Quantitative and descriptive content analyses were performed. The Women in Cardiology Twitter network generated 48 236 tweets, 266 180 903 impressions, and 12 485 users. Tweets increased by 706% (from 2083 to 16 780), impressions by 207% (from 26 755 476 to 82 080 472), and users by 440% (from 796 to 4300), including a 471% user increase internationally. The network generated 6530 (13%) original tweets and 43 103 (86%) amplification tweets. Most original and amplification tweets were authored by women (81% and 62%, respectively) and women physicians (76% and 52%, respectively), with an increase in original and amplification tweets authored by academic women physicians (98% and 109%, respectively) and trainees (390% and 249%, respectively) over time. Community building, professional development, and gender advocacy were the most common tweet contents over the study period. Community building was the most common tweet category for #ACCWIC, #AHAWIC, #ilooklikeacardiologist, #SCAIWIN, and #WomeninCardiology, whereas professional development was most common for #WomeninEP. Conclusions The Women in Cardiology Twitter network has grown immensely from 2016 to 2019, with women physicians as the driving contributors. This network has become an important channel for community building, professional development, and gender advocacy discussions in an effort to advance women in cardiology.

Copyright of Herz is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Exposure to ionizing radiation is an inherent occupational health hazard in clinical cardiology. Health risks have been reported previously, including predilection to cancer. In addition, orthopedic injury due to prolonged wearing of heavy protective lead aprons, which are mandatory to reduce radiation risk, have been extensively documented. Cardiology as a specialty has grown with rising volumes of increasingly complex procedures. This includes electrophysiological, coronary, and structural intervention, advanced heart failure/transplant management, and diagnostic imaging. Both the operator as well imaging specialists are exposed to radiation, particularly in structural interventions where interventional cardiologists and structural imagers work closely. Increasingly, women interested in cardiology may deselect the field due to radiation concerns. This expert document highlights the risks of radiation exposure in cardiology, including practical tips within various subspecialty fields such as interventional/structural cardiology, electrophysiology, imaging, advanced heart failure, and pediatric cardiology., Competing Interests: Dr Zieroth has received research grant support, served on advisory boards for, or speaker engagements with AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cytokinetics, Eli Lilly, GSK, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche, Servier, and Vifor Pharma; and serves on a clinical trial committee or as a national lead for studies sponsored by AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Novartis and Pfizer. Nonindustray support was received by Canadian Medical and Surgical KT Group, CCS, CHFS, Charite, EOCI, Liv, Medscape, Ology, PHRI, PACE-CME, Radcliffe, Translational Medicine Academy. Dr Dalal is a speaker for Medtronic. Dr Razminia is related to Abbott. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Women remain largely under-represented in cardiology worldwide, despite gender parity among medical graduates. This is particularly notable in procedural subspecialties such as interventional cardiology and electrophysiology and is consistent at all levels of training. Cardiology continues to have the lowest proportion of females of all adult medicine specialties. This is a review of existing literature and statistics pertaining to women in cardiology and highlights the relative paucity of data or publications within Australia. Australian data from the Medical Training Review Panel reported that the proportion of females in cardiology advanced training (˜22%) has not changed over the last 9 years and that there is a significant attrition as trainees progress through the various stages of training. In 2018, females represent only 16% of first year cardiology advanced trainees in Victoria and Tasmania. This represents a decrease from 20-25% in previous years. The factors affecting gender parity in cardiology are complex and diverse, from personal reasons such as family planning, work-life balance and perceived gender bias, to recruitment inertia and an imbalance in opportunities for career progression, research, financial remuneration and leadership positions. Worldwide, a number of initiatives have been explored to address the gender divide in cardiology, including networking and mentorship programs and Women in Cardiology working groups, dedicated to addressing the issue of female under-representation in cardiology. Unfortunately, the progress we are seeing worldwide is not being realised in Australia. A collaborative approach is essential to achieve gender parity in cardiology. This involves introspection and accountability by College bodies and policy changes committed to promoting workplace diversity by welcoming and retaining female talent. We must recognise and address the current barriers and support women pursuing a career in cardiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The EACVI Scientific Initiatives Committee and the EACVI women's taskforce conducted a global survey to evaluate the barriers faced by women in cardiovascular imaging (WICVi)., Methods and Results: In a prospective international survey, we assessed the barriers faced at work by WICVi. Three hundred fourteen participants from 53 countries responded. The majority were married (77%) and had children (68%), but most reported no flexibility in their work schedule during their pregnancy or after their maternity leave. More than half of the women reported experiencing unconscious bias (68%), verbal harassment (59%), conscious bias (51%), anxiety (70%), lack of motivation (60%), imposter syndrome (54%), and burnout (61%) at work. Furthermore, one in five respondents had experienced sexual harassment, although this was rarely reported formally. The majority reported availability of mentorship (73%), which was mostly rated as 'good' or 'very good'. While more than two-thirds of respondents (69%) now reported being well trained and qualified to take on leadership roles in their departments, only one-third had been afforded that opportunity. Despite the issues highlighted by this survey, >80% of the participating WICVi would still choose cardiovascular imaging if they could restart their career., Conclusion: The survey has highlighted important issues faced by WICVi. While progress has been made in areas such as mentorship and training, other issues including bullying, bias, and sexual harassment are still widely prevalent requiring urgent action by the global cardiovascular imaging community to collectively address and resolve these challenges., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The article presents a research which offers information on an association of female corresponding authors and female co-authors in top contemporary cardiovascular medicine journal. The topics addressed include details on an analysis which used a bibliometric approach to analyse the authorships of manuscripts from the 20 top impact cardiology journals of 2017.

Introduction: Bibliometric studies can help guide researchers and funding bodies toward fields where more research activity is warranted. Bibliometric analyses have previously been published in many specialties and sub-specialties. Our literature search did not show a bibliometric analysis on pericardial diseases. We performed a bibliometric analysis of the top 100 cited manuscripts on pericardial diseases to identify knowledge., Material and Methods: Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative method to assess research performance and analyze publication trends. Web of Science was searched in April 2020 to identify the top 100 cited manuscripts in pericardial diseases., Results: Twenty-six out of the top 100 cited manuscripts were published between 2000 and 2009. These manuscripts were cited on average189 times (range: 110-743) since publication. Only two manuscripts were cited > 500 times. Among the top-ten cited manuscripts, there were 6 original articles, 1 case series, and 3 review articles. Of the 3 review articles, 2 were society guidelines. 90% of the authors had written just 1 manuscript. There were ten manuscripts with women as first authors with a significant association between gender of the first and corresponding author (odds ratio = 44, p < 0.001). Only 20% of manuscripts were funded. Most publications came from institutions in the United States ( n = 40), Italy ( n = 10), and Spain ( n = 5)., Conclusions: Our study provides an insight into the characteristics and quality of the highly cited literature in the field of pericardial diseases. This can be used to guide further research in the field of pericardial diseases., Competing Interests: NSB was supported by the American College of Cardiology (Presidential Career Development award to NSB), the Walter B. Frommeyer, Junior Fellowship in Investigative Medicine (to NSB), National Center for Advancing Translational Research of the National Institutes of Health (award number UL1TR001417 to NSB)., (Copyright: © 2023 Termedia & Banach.)

Women represented 29% of cardiology trainees and 16% of consultants in the UK in 2021. While the numbers of women in cardiology have increased over the last 20 years, these proportions remain among the lowest in comparison with other medical specialties. This essay aims to explore the contributing factors behind, and plans to reduce, gender disparity in cardiology. PubMed was searched using keywords such as 'gender', 'inequality', 'women', 'training' and 'cardiology'. Retrieved studies were screened for themes contributing towards, and strategies to overcome, gender inequality within cardiology. Reasons for gender inequality included poor perceptions of cardiology as a female-friendly specialty, experiences of gender-based discrimination, inflexible working hours, poor work- life balance, and lack of female role models. Recommended resolutions should target these themes; increase opportunities for flexible working hours, enforce a discrimination-free workplace culture, and encourage mentoring relationships between female senior and junior doctors. Improving the experience of the existing female workforce in cardiology will have a knock-on effect on the perceptions of trainees rotating through departments, in addition to initiatives promoting cardiology as a female-friendly specialty. In conclusion, promoting gender equality within cardiology remains an ongoing challenge. Nationwide efforts to increase retention and improve perceptions should target issues highlighted by the voices of women., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest None declared., (Copyright © 2023 Medinews (Cardiology) Limited.)

The American College of Cardiology third decennial Professional Life Survey was completed by 2,313 cardiologists: 964 women (42%) and 1,349 men (58%). Compared with 10 and 20 years ago, current results reflect a substantially lower response rate (21% vs. 31% and 49%, respectively) and an aging workforce that is less likely to be in private practice. Women continue to be more likely to practice in academic centers, be pediatric cardiologists, and have a noninvasive subspecialty. Men were more likely to indicate that family responsibilities negatively influenced their careers than previously, whereas women remained less likely to marry or have children. Men and women reported similar, high levels of career satisfaction, with women reporting higher satisfaction currently. However, two-thirds of women continue to experience discrimination, nearly 3 times the rate in men. Personal life choices continue to differ substantially for men and women in cardiology, although differences have diminished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are a consistent minority in the field of cardiology, with concerns regarding balancing career and parenting responsibilities often cited as a contributing factor to this under-representation. To investigate the impact that a career in cardiology may have on the family planning decisions of female cardiologists, the Women in Cardiology section of the American College of Cardiology conducted a voluntary anonymous survey. The following perspective highlights lessons learned from the survey, and potential solutions to the issues surrounding maternity leave, radiation exposure during pregnancy, and breastfeeding accommodations raised by these data. Given that most female cardiologists are pregnant at some point during their careers, particularly during the vulnerable periods of training and early career, improving the experience of pregnancy and early parenthood for all cardiologists may secure the best possible candidates to the field of cardiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women and a major contributor to morbidity and disability. This statement cannot be repeated enough and is often neglected. In 2008, there were 9,127,416 cardiovascular deaths in women worldwide, accounting for 33.2 % of all deaths in women. Coronary artery disease (CAD) differs in symptom presentation, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes in women compared to men. We have made great strides in diagnosing and managing cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women. However, this progress continues to be overshadowed by the improvements made on the understanding and management of CVD in men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Women continue to be underrepresented in cardiology and even more so in leadership positions. We evaluated the trends and gender differences in the guideline writing groups of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines from 2006 to 2020. Methods and Results We extracted all guidelines authors from 2006 to 2020, assessed their gender from publicly available profiles, and compared differences based on subspecialties and specific societies. Stratified and trend analyses were performed using χ 2 and average annual percentage change/average 5 year percentage change. A total of 80 ACC/AHA (1288 authors [28% women]), 64 CCS (988 authors [26% women]), and 59 ESC (1157 authors [16% women]) guidelines were analyzed. A significant increase in inclusion of women was seen in ACC/AHA (12.6% [2006] to 42.6% [2020]; average annual percentage change, 6.6% [2.3% to 11.1%]; P =0.005) and ESC (7.1% [2006] to 25.8% [2020]; average annual percentage change, 6.6% [0.2% to 13.5%]; P =0.04), but the trend remained similar in CCS (20.6% [2006] to 36.3% [2020]; average annual percentage change, -0.1% (-3.7% to 3.5%); P =0.94), guideline authors. More women were coauthors in the ACC/AHA and ESC guidelines when women were chairs of guidelines. There was a persistent disparity of women among guideline authors for general cardiology and all subspecialties, except for pediatric cardiology and heart failure guidelines. The appointment of women authors as a chair was significantly low in all societies (22.4% [ACC/AHA], 16.9% [CCS], and 7.2% [ESC]; P =0.008). Conclusions There is a significant disparity in the inclusion of women on all national guideline committees, in addition to serving as a chair of cardiology guidelines. Further advocacy is required to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in our cardiology guidelines globally.

(1) Background: Clinical presentation, disease distribution, or treatment received may provide insights into the reasons contributing to sex differences in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). (2) Methods: We evaluated 453 patients (56% women) between 2007–2019. Data was collected from REHAP (Registro Español de Hipertensión Arterial Pulmonar) registry. Two time periods were selected to evaluate the influence of new treatments over time. (3) Results: Women were older. Baseline functional class was worse, and distance walked shorter in women compared with men. Women had higher pulmonary vascular resistances. Despite this, pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) was carried out in more men, and women received more frequently pulmonary vasodilators exclusively. The 2014–2019 interval was associated with a better survival only among women. Interestingly, women had a more distal disease during this second period of time. (4) Conclusions: Even though women were older, and received invasive treatments less frequently, mortality was similar in both sexes. The introduction of balloon pulmonary angioplasty and the improvement of pulmonary endarterectomy, especially during the last years, could be associated with a survival benefit among women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Women's participation is steadily growing in medical schools, but they are still not sufficiently represented in cardiology, particularly in cardiology leadership positions. We present the contemporary distribution of women leaders in cardiology departments in the World Health Organization European region., Methods and Results: Between August and December 2020, we applied purposive sampling to collect data and analyse gender distribution of heads of cardiology department in university/third level hospitals in 23 countries: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UK. Age, cardiology subspecialty, and number of scientific publications were recorded for a subgroup of cardiology leaders for whom data were available. A total of 849 cardiology departments were analysed. Women leaders were only 30% (254/849) and were younger than their men counterpart (♀ 52.2 ± 7.7 years old vs. ♂ 58.1 ± 7.6 years old, P = 0.00001). Most women leaders were non-interventional experts (♀ 82% vs. ♂ 46%, P < 0.00001) and had significantly fewer scientific publications than men {♀ 16 [interquartile range (IQR) 2-41] publications vs. ♂ 44 (IQR 9-175) publications, P < 0.00001}., Conclusion: Across the World Health Organization European region, there is a significant gender disparity in cardiology leadership positions. Fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace is a priority to achieve the full potential and leverage the full talents of both women and men., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)