This activity has been planned and implemented in accordate with the Essentials Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and Internacional Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology. The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry is accreditated by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry designates this educational activity for a maximum of 10.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credits T. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

ISHNE Heart Failure World-Wide Internet Symposium
April 1 – April 30, 2006

1. Title of Activity:
ISHNE Heart Failure World-Wide Internet Symposium
President of the Symposium: Arthur J. Moss, MD, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Director of the Symposium: Sergio Dubner, MD, Swiss Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina 

2. Host Organization/Contact Information:
International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology (ISHNE)
President of ISHNE: Wojciech Zareba, MD, PhD, University of Rochester.
Symposium website: http://www.hf-symposium.org/home.php

3. Content Overview:
Heart failure is a disease entity which together with sudden cardiac death is responsible for the majority of cardiovascular deaths. Advancing knowledge and science of heart failure among physicians and other health professionals will contribute to a better patient care of this serious disease process. ISHNE Heart Failure World-Wide Internet Symposium covers a broad spectrum of topics related to etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, pharmacological therapy, and device therapy of heart failure. These topics will be addressed by a series of lectures, slide presentations, review article, and discussions presented via internet and accessible free of charge to registered participants. Details of the topics are provided in the attached Appendix A.

4. Target Audience
Similarly to previous virtual symposia organized by the ISHNE, we expect that numerous physicians and health professionals will be participating in the symposium.
The internet-based nature of the symposium with off-line access to educational materials (slides lectures, articles) provides opportunity for participation in the activities of the symposium at participant’s convenient time.

5. Learning Objectives
The symposium has the following objectives:

1. To provide understanding of current scale of the problem of heart failure and its significance for health service systems. 
2. To identify stat-of-the-art methods to identify and diagnose patients with heart failure utilizing model clinical, imaging, and biochemical modalities.
3. To develop understanding for the proper and optimal pharmacological treatment of heart failure patients.
4. To educate about the benefits of devices used in heart failure therapy including implantable cardioverter defibrillators, resynchronization devices, and left ventricular assist devices.

6. Educational Needs Statement
Popularity of last virtual symposium organized by ISHNE on Atrial Fibrillation with over 6,000 participants from 90 countries world-wide provides clear evidence that there is a profound need for such educational endeavors. Upcoming symposium on Heart Failure is expected to bring even more participants, who are eager to learn from leading experts in the field. 

7. CME Accreditation, Certification and logo
CME Accreditation is provided by the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. ISHNE is organizing the symposium.

8. Acknowledgement of Commercial Support
This Symposium is supported by unrestricted educational grant from St. Jude Medical.

9. Faculty listing
List of Faculty and relevant disclosures are provided in “Faculties and Experts”

10. Evaluation-Feedback Mechanism and Verification of Participation
a. Participants will be required to register to get access to the symposium site.
b. Evaluation of the Symposium will include the following questions:

1. Were the stated Learning Objective(s) met   (Y / N)
2. Was the presentation free of commercial bias  (Y / N)
3. Comments:

c. Verification of participation for CME credits will be based on the answering series of questions related to posted presentations lectures, and review articles. Answering correctly to 70% of questions will allow for passing the test. The educational material will be divided into 10 sessions allowing to obtain maximum of 10 credits.