Why become a member

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

FOR MEMBERSHIP OR ADVANCEMENT

Introduction

The Philippine College of Cardiology is the professional arm of the Philippine Heart Association. Membership in the College is considered as a privilege rather than a right.

The Membership Committee of the Philippine Heart Association shall screen the candidate not only for the validity of his credentials but also for his fitness to be part of an assembly of his peers and to promote the objectives of the organization. Indeed, before recommending a candidate for admission, the Committee reviews the professional as well as personal qualifications of the candidate.

Professional Qualifications

At present, the professional qualifications upon application for membership, depending on the category applied for, are:

1. Fellow

To become a Fellow, the candidate must first satisfy at least one of the following professional qualifications:

1.1 He must have at least three (3) years of formal training in internal medicine or pediatrics and three (3) years of training or research in cardiovascular diseases in a duly accredited institution. In addition, he must be certified as Diplomate by the Specialty Board of Philippine College of Physicians or the Philippine Pediatric Society and the Philippine College of Cardiology.

1.2 For an affiliated specialist, he must be certified by the corresponding Specialty Board with related cardiovascular subspecialty board as Diplomate and Fellow.

Pediatric Cardiologists:

Certification by the Philippine Board of Pediatrics and by the Philippine

Specialty Board of Pediatric Cardiology

Cardiovascular Surgeons:

Certification by the Philippine Board of Surgery and Certification in Cardiovascular Surgery by the Philippine Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery

In addition, he must submit two (2) letters of recommendation from two (2) past presidents of the PHA and must have served actively in the PHA by serving as an Associate Fellow for three (3) years.

For a foreign trained cardiologist:

He must be a Fellow of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) or the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS).

He must present a certificate of training in cardiology from the institution where he/she trained.

He must present a Diplomate certification from the Specialty Board of the country of his/her training.

He must submit two (2) letters of recommendation from two (2) past presidents of the PHA.

He must be in active practice in the Philippines and has served actively in the PHA as an Associate Fellow for at least three (3) years.

To be admitted as Member of the College (Fellow) at least one year shall have elapsed between the deadline for submission of application and the conferment of membership. The deadline of application will be May 31 of each year. Announcement of decisions on the applications will be out by March of the following year. Conferment of membership will be during the annual convention in May. This interval is considered necessary to allow the candidate’s peers to have sufficient contact with the candidate in order to evaluate his maturity as a practitioner of his subspecialty.

Only full fellows are entitled to use the title of Fellow of the Philippine College of Cardiology (FPCC). For affiliated specialists, they must be specify, after the title FPCC, the area of their specialty society, such as Cardiovascular Surgery, Cardiovascular Anesthesia, Cardiovascular Pathology, Cardiovascular Radiology, etc.

2. Associate Fellow

An Associate Fellow must satisfy at least one of the following requisite qualifications:

2.1 He must have engaged in the active practice of cardiology of at least five (5) years and be recognized as a cardiologist by the Membership Committee.

2.1.1 Active practice of cardiology shall consist of serving as consultant in cardiology in a hospital with a cardiology training program approved by the Philippine Specialty Board of Cardiology (PSBC).

2.2 He must have had at least three (3) years of formal training in internal medicine, at least one year of which was devoted to the practice and teaching of, and/or research in cardiovascular diseases.

2.2.1 Formal training in internal medicine shall mean training in an institution accredited for internal medicine training by the Philippine College of Physicians and for cardiology training by the PSBC.

2.3 He must be certified by any of the appropriate national certifying boards accepted by the Membership Committee, provided, that he must have spent at least two (2) years in the active practice or teaching of, and/or research in, cardiology or cardiovascular diseases.

2.3.1 Surgeons, anesthesiologists, pathologists and radiologists certified by their respective boards who lack the qualifications for Fellow but can show evidence, satisfactory to the Membership Committee, of active practice for at least two (2) years in cardiovascular surgery, cardiovascular anesthesiology, cardiovascular pathology or cardiovascular radiology, respectively, as certified by the department head or medical director, may qualify as Associate Fellow. A physician certified by the Philippine Specialty Board of Internal Medicine or the Philippine Board of Pediatrics shall also be qualified, provided that he is an active consultant in adult cardiology or pediatric cardiology, respectively, in his practice locale for at least two (2) years as certified by a Fellow who serves in the same hospital(s).

3. Associate

Any physician interested in cardiology while engaged in the practice of a specialty in which he is accredited by the corresponding specialty board and which is acceptable to the Membership Committee as being substantially related to cardiology.

HOW TO APPLY:

Application Channels

Application Forms are available at the Secretariat of the Philippine Heart Association, Suite 1108, 11th Floor East Tower, PSE Centre, Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City or at the business office of the chapter in which the candidate’s practice is located. Applications for initial membership or advancement shall be addressed to the Membership Committee of the Philippine Heart Association or to the corresponding committee of the chapter in the applicant’s practice venue. Applications from areas covered by chapters must be coursed through that chapter. If not in practice, teaching or research at the time of application, and planning to locate or relocate before the deadline for the submission of applications, to an area where a chapter exists, the application must be coursed through the chapter.

The chapters are as follows:

1) Northern Luzon ; 2) Southern Tagalog ; 3) Central Luzon ; 4) Bicol ; 5) Cebu ;
6) Western Visayas-Panay ; 7) Davao-Southern Mindanao ; 8) Northwestern Mindanao

Any problem on territorial justification of a chapter or of a member identifying with a particular chapter may referred to the PHA Board of Directors for resolution on a case-to-case basis.

Documents and Fees

The accomplished form shall include the pertinent documents and a check or money order drawn in favor of the Philippine Heart Association for payment of a processing fee of Five Hundred Pesos (P 500.00). Regardless of the fate of the application, this fee is not refundable. Two sponsoring fellows shall write separate sponsorship letters addressed to the Membership Committee. Applications from chapters shall be endorsed to the parent organization with the chapter’s recommendation.

Deadlines

The deadline for the submission of applications shall be May 31 and the notices of acceptance or rejection shall be out by March of the following year. The chapters shall announce their own earlier deadlines for submission of applications to give them ample time to process applications and submit their recommendations to the parent organization on time to meet the latter’s deadline. Where a chapter exists, the candidate shall be notified of the action on their applications through the chapter. Candidates not notified of the action taken should contact the Secretariat or the business office of the chapter before March 31. A letter of acceptance shall be expected of a candidate only if he is accepted to a category lower than that he has applied for and this should be with the Secretariat on or before April 1. Late responses may result in failure of inclusion of the candidate’s name in the final program for the annual convention.

Evaluation of Candidates

As the Membership Committee of the parent organization reviews the professional and personal qualifications of the candidates, their names are submitted to all the Fellows for their evaluation, favorable or otherwise, which shall be held in strict confidence. These comments are intended to aid the Committee and the Board in the review process. Should there be derogatory comments regarding the professional or personal qualifications of a candidate which may be a ground for rejection, the Committee shall make the necessary discreet investigation regarding the matter. But in the event of rejection or election to a category lower than that applied for, no reason need be given the applicant. In every case the confidentiality of the comments regarding any applicant shall be strictly and unconditionally upheld. The Committee makes its recommendations to the Board of Directors who issues the final decision.

Induction

Successful candidates are required to attend the Annual Convention for their formal induction and inclusion in the rolls of the Philippine College of Cardiology. Only then shall the Fellow’s right to append the letters “FPCC” after his name be affirmed.

In the Fellow’s certificate, the name of the subspecialty, that is, adult cardiology, pediatric cardiology or cardiovascular surgery, shall be appended.

(Adopted by the Board of Directors, August 16, 1986; revised November 24, 1989)

Kindly submit the following requirements as well:

2pcs. 2x2 photo

Endorsement letters from two PHA Fellows

Letter of Intent

Address further inquiries to:

The Secretariat

Philippine Heart Association, Inc.
Suite 1108, 11th Flr. East Tower, PSE Centre
Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Tel. # 470-5525, 470-5528 and Fax # 687-7797
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.