The British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) is a British organisation based in London with the stated aim to "support and represent all those working in the fields of cardiovascular care and research". It was founded in 1922 as the "The Cardiac Club".

History edit

Cardiologist James Mackenzie first suggested a club for physicians interested in heart disease in 1910. However the First World War prevented the formation of the club. In response to the thousands of cases of war-related cardiac problems, the government appointed consultants to aid regional directors in the treatment of these patients. Many of these were associates of Mackenzie and they held a conference in London in 1921. The attendees found the conference to be useful and two of them John Cowan and William Errington Hume organised the first annual meeting of what was known as "The Cardiac Club" in Oxford on 22 April 1922. At an Association of Physicians meeting in Oxford on 22 April 1922, the Cardiac Club was formed by 5 cardiologists: Carey F. Coombs, T. F. Cotton, John Cowan, A. G. Gibson (as chair), and W. E. Hume. It was founded in 1922 at the Club's first active meeting by 15 founder members — the original five plus ten others, including Thomas J. Horder and Thomas Lewis — and with one honorary member, namely Mackenzie.[1] In April 1937 it became the Cardiac Society of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1946 it became the British Cardiac Society.

It was incorporated (03005604) on 1 January 1995 as the British Cardiac Society.[2] It became the British Cardiovascular Society on 8 May 2006.[citation needed]

Function edit

The BCS produces the Heart, a cardiology specialty journal; this was established in 1939 as the British Heart Journal. The editor is Catherine Otto. It also produced the Open Heart journal.

Structure edit

It is situated in Fitzrovia in the London Borough of Camden. It became a UK Registered Charity in 2002. Its membership (2,500) included doctors and nurses. It is an affiliate of the European Society of Cardiology.[3] The current President of the Society for the 2018-2021 term is Simon Ray, Honorary Professor of Cardiology of Manchester University.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Cowan, John (January 1939). "Some notes on the Cardiac Club". Br Heart J. 1 (1): 97–104. doi:10.1136/hrt.1.1.97. PMC 503409. PMID 18609810.
  2. ^ Companies House
  3. ^ European Society of Cardiology
  4. ^ "Professor Simon Ray: President at the British Cardiovascular Society". BCS Hackathon. May 7, 2019.

External links edit

https://heart.bmj.com/content/heartjnl/108/10/761.full.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC503409/?page=2 https://www.britishcardiovascularsociety.org/resources/museum https://www.britishcardiovascularsociety.org/about