To the motto of our Association, «Prevention is our goal», a second mandate could be added: «Medical education is our mission.» Both duties are parallel and complementary to the extent that the prevention path is paved by information and awareness. With the technological and scientific wealth on which modern cardiology is founded, and above the fine art of diagnosing and healing cardiovascular diseases (one of the scourges of contemporary humanity), prevention is the hallmark of today’s medicine and tomorrow.

We are witnessing a renaissance of the old art of disease prevention, in our times solidly based on experimental basic and applied science, molecular biology, general and cellular physiology, pharmacology, and other disciplines. The technological and scientific spiral has, however, costly consequences. Rapid technological progress condemns many expensive machines to obsolescence quickly, impacting the health economy, mainly in poor or medium-developed countries like ours. On the other hand, the fast development of scientific knowledge demands a continuous reshaping of the diaphanous understanding of diseases and our clinical and therapeutic abilities. Therefore, all of us, the specialists and scientists positioned at the highest point of the professional pyramid, up to the base of it, made up of our esteemed colleagues, the family, and general and community physicians, must every day be depositories of continuous medical education.

Consequently, reinforcing our educational activities at all levels will be one of the primary purposes of the present presidency, through every known teaching strategy like thematic courses and conferences, workshops, symposia, web seminars, and educational materials aimed at raising and improving the knowledge and diagnostic, preventive, and curative skills of all levels of the cardiovascular care pyramid. The above, without letting aside a vast support and encouragement plan for clinical research based on the scientific method and the learning of those fundamental tools, biostatistics, and the fine art of writing a scientific article. Our Casa del Corazón (the Heart House) should be a valuable space to fulfill this ambitious plan. The sober but elegant and modern facilities, its location with easy access, and the capacity of its main auditorium make our Casa del Corazón the ideal place to organize, most of the year, all these cardiovascular and scientific education efforts. Of course, our regional meetings and the national congress will continue to be, as they are now, the forums for the timely review of the most critical issues in cardiology, as well as the form of personal bonding and the strengthening of the friendship that unites us.

I fraternally summon to those who accompany me on the Directive Board, to the colleagues’ members of the Advisory Council and the Editorial Committee of our Journal, and to everyone in our Association to help to carry out this educational effort.

ANCAM has always been a democratic institution that is apolitical but open to all ideas, inclusive and humanist, punctually nationalist, but at the same time (and not paradoxically) universal. In this context, we fraternally extend our hand to all other institutions and cardiovascular organizations so that with absolute equality, we form a single front that will help the Mexican State to confront decisively and head-on the cardiovascular and cardiometabolic flagella, the principal cause of death and disability in our country.

We can put in the intelligence, wisdom, will, enthusiasm, and time to carry out the preventive and educational tasks required by cardiovascular and cardiometabolic epidemics. Nevertheless, the three State branches (Executive, Judiciary, and Legislative), and the three levels of the Executive branch (federal, state, and municipal), must develop and execute the appropriate public policies to halt or ameliorate, at least, the epidemic impact of these terrible diseases. Only in this way will we lighten the disease burden of these maladies, one of whose etiopathogenic roots are unhealthy lifestyle habits.

Our Association, proudly, in an abridged length of time, has established itself as one of our nation’s most comprehensive, representative, and potent medical congregations. I inherited a history of successes and achievements from those who preceded me in office. We need all of you to continue this impetuous march.