Finnish Cardiac Society

About Finnish Cardiac Society

The Finnish Cardiac Society is an independent, volunteer-led, non-profit medical society. The founding meeting of the Finnish Cardiac Society (FCS) was held in November 13, 1967 in Helsinki. The aim of the society is to bring together the doctors and other allied professionals in the field of cardiology in Finland and to promote the scientific, educational and practical development of cardiology.

There are currently (2024) 843 members from which 361 (43 %) are consultant cardiologists, 23 pediatric cardiologits (3 %) and 118 (14 %) registrars in cardiology. The rest of the members consists of doctors/researhers with a special interest to cardiology (cardiac surgeons, anaesthesiologists, paediatric cardiologists, specialists in internal medicine, clinical physiology, paediatrics and radiology) and other professionals with an interest in cardiovascular medicine (nutritionists, nurses, technicians).

Out of the members 35 % are women and 65 % men. Out of the registrars in cardiology 41 % are women and 59 % men.

The main activity of the society is organizing education. The educational events are targeted all professionals working in the field of cardiovasular diseases. Some events have exhibitions for the medical and device industry. All the materials for the exhibitions are provided only in Finnish as the events are mainly domestic.

International co-operation

Finnish Cardiac Society is active also internationally. FCS is a member association of the American Heart Associationin (AHA) sekä World Heart Federation (WHF). FCS was a second society of the Nordic to join the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) as a member society toisena in 1968. The “Grand old man”, Pentti I Halonen, was one of the founding farthers of the ESC. FCS is committed to European Union for Medical Specialists (UEMS) Cardiology subcommittee work and to the principles/recommendations of the Pro Medicon and European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME®) when organizing educational events.

The Nordic and Baltic countries share a similar population base, goals and educational structure, and therefore the co-operation betweeen these counties is strong. Most visible form of this co-operation is international meeting Nordic-Baltic Congress of Cardiology which is organized every second year in turn by each of the eight Nordic Baltic countries.

Working Groups of the Finnish Cardiac Society

• Acute Cardiac Care
• Cardiac Arrhythmias and Pacing
• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Cardiovascular Research
• Congenital Heart Disease
• Heart Failure
• Invasive Cardiology
• Preventive Cardiology
• Thrombosis
• Valvular Heart Disease
• Young Cardiologists

Finnish Cardiac Society has 11 Working Groups. The activity of the WGs has been one main pillar at the continuous development of the FCS. WGs have a major contribution when planning scientific activities of the society. Also, the preparation of the national recommendations for practise are mostly conducted by the WGs. Contact information for the Working Groups, see here.

Membership Journal

Finnish Cardiac Society publishes membership journal Sydänääni. Journal has 3 issues yearly and one theme issue per year.

Journal is posted to the members of the Finnish Cardiac Society, it’s supporting industrial members and for example medical directors of the University and Central Hospitals in Finland. No availability to purchase or subscribe the journal. Contact information, see here.

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