Background:

Activities in invasive electrophysiology and catheter ablation are rapidly increasing. Especially the developments in catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation necessitates increased educational efforts. This education is most efficiently given through a longer lasting training in an experienced, high volume center.

Purpose:

Traditionally, it has been difficult to get grant support for clinical training. The purpose of the Nordic Invasive Electrophysiology Grant is to facilitate clinical EP training for Nordic cardiologists focused on invasive electrophysiology and catheter ablation. The Grant is sponsored by Biosense Webster, Johnson & Johnson Nordic Inc. with a total amount of 150.000 € per year. It can be applied for to support a long lasting (e.g. one year) clinical training in- or outside Scandinavia. It may also be applied for to support shorter lasting, focused training visits. It is proposed that the home-institution commit to cover 25% of the total fellow expenses for the applicant.

Qualifications:

The applicant should be a certified cardiologist (or close to) with documented interest and clinical activities in invasive electrophysiology and catheter ablation. This should be documented in a letter of support from the director/chairman of the EP laboratory in which the applicant is currently working or will be working after the training. In addition a letter of acceptance from the receiving institution should be included in the application.

Board:

The board for the Nordic Invasive Electrophysiology Educational Grant consists of one member from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark together with a representative from Biosense Webster (with no right to vote). The members of the board should be well known for their activities in the field of clinical EP. They will be selected for the board by the local society of cardiology in each country. To ensure a certain rotation of board members, it is suggested that the chairman of the respective national arrhythmia working groups constitute the board.

Application:

There is a specific application form. Individual application letter and budget together with a letter of support from the director/chairman of the EP laboratory in which the applicant is currently working (or going to work) and a documentation of acceptance from the receiving institution should be submitted. Applications should be mailed to the Board Secretary: pshansen@dadlnet.dk (Dr. Peter Steen Hansen, Chief Electrophysiologist, DMSci, Ph.D., Varde Heart Center, DK-6800 Varde, Denmark). Further informations can be obtained through the same mailing address or by phone: +45 7695 0102 (Secretary Lotte Bödskov Jörgensen).

Deadline for next grant application is April 1st

for support covering educational activities initiated during the following year.

In principle, one quarter of the available grant support per year will be dedicated to each of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). However, should there be no relevant applicants from a specific country for the whole grant, the Board can transfer the rest of the grant to applicants from the other Nordic countries.