The challenge of integrating Ibero-America through research and scientific publications

Undertaking the project REC: Interventional Cardiology, a bilingual journal published in English and Spanish and devoted to interventional cardiology seems a gigantic task to implement, which is why we wish to thank the editors for their entrepreneurial spirit and also Revista Española de Cardiología for making space for this new project. A unique opportunity for developing agreements and team work for the entire Spanish-speaking cardiological community that often feels the imposing presence of English-speaking scientific journals.

Combining the organizational and academic trajectory and leadership of the Spanish Society of Cardiology and the vitality, thrust, and enthusiasm of the Latin American interventional cardiology community may be the beginning of a huge agreement of productivity and novelty. This may, in turn, help the communication network between the Spanish vision planted at the very heart of Europe and the Latin American one that influences over 600 million people, thereby exponentially increasing the opportunities of communication for members of scientific societies and the possibilities of providing relevant scientific information. Talent is universal, opportunities are not.

Although European and American clinical practice guidelines on evidence-based medicine have tremendous exposure and each country publishes its own guidelines, we have been unable to integrate these concepts in regional or intersociety guidelines or approved documents. Yet at the Latin American Society of Interventional Cardiology (Sociedad Latinoamericana de Cardiología Intervencionista, SOLACI) we have tried to integrate the interventional guidelines established by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the American College of Cardiology. REC: Interventional Cardiology could well serve as a forum for all interventional cardiology guidelines and consensus documents of our region.

We should also mention that several clinical trials, series, and clinical cases studied in Latin America, especially those including international collaborations or inter-society agreements, should be published in this journal.

Although most multicentric randomized evidence-based clinical trials that are conducted in the United States and Europe are published in English, many significant advances made in cardiovascular medicine such as saphenous vein grafts used in coronary artery bypass graft surgery, stents, and stent-grafts have come from doctors within our region, such as R.G. Favaloro, J. Palmaz, and J.C. Parodi. However, even though these advances may speak Spanish, they have been implemented by English-speaking countries, which is the main reason why cooperation and integration should be our guiding spirit. The goal of this journal is to contribute, not to compete.

Needless to say that the success of this project depends entirely on us; all interventional cardiologists in Ibero-America should convince ourselves that we are capable of producing quality educational material that is attractive, not only to us, but also to our colleagues in other specialties, both in Latin America and the rest of the world. We are convinced that this will be so.

80% of the teachers predict that by 2026 digital content will replace print. In this sense, the educational resources that turn learning into a videogame, such as virtual reality or gaming, and that are patrimony of the digital world1, will make learning a more interactive experience. The digital format of REC: Interventional Cardiology, with its tremendously dynamic character and adaptability to the user, will help amplify its educational purpose, making it an addictive yet healthy experience.

In the battle to conquer everyone’s attention, sensationalist tabloid-style material seems to have replaced academic writing. The focus should be on getting the attention of the specialists through an updated informative model that never loses its primary educational purpose.

Sitting talent and different visions at the same table multiplies the options of creativity. REC: Interventional Cardiology is a golden opportunity for generating knowledge, healthy controversy, and pushing the Latin American interventional medical practice to the limit, under the mentoring of Revista Española de Cardiología in an effort to make a useful and enriching difference in the final result published.

This will be a privileged stage for exchange and academic contribution for the Ibero-American interventional cardiology communities. Congratulations and best wishes!

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The authors declared no conflicts of interest whatsoever regarding this manuscript.

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