NEWSLETTER
December 2004
Report from the Secretary General
As the end of the year approaches the organisation contemplates a successful year with an eye to the future.
Over the last year we have seen some significant positive developments in the face of a changing specialty. Cardiac surgery is evolving with less of an emphasis on coronary surgery and a greater interest in minimally invasive techniques. The reduction in demand for coronary surgery prompted a meeting in Frankfurt hosted by EACTS to consider the future of cardiac surgery and these deliberations are published as a supplement in the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
The changing face of cardiac surgery is prompting many younger surgeons to develop more diverse interests with particular emphasis on a mixed cardiac and thoracic practice. This shift emphasises the benefit of the joint EACTS / ESTS meetings where educational opportunities abound in both areas. Indeed, these meetings have been so successful that it has been agreed that ESTS will take the lead role in developing the thoracic surgical programme. This has opened the way for even closer relationships which are currently under consideration by both councils. Improving collaboration makes obvious sense given that both organisations are keen to maximise educational, scientific and political exposure whilst at the same time reducing duplication of effort and costs, not just for the organisations but also for their respective members.
There have been some changes to the committee structure. The most notable is the merging of the Junior Committee and the Education and Manpower Committee to form a new a new Surgical Training and Manpower Committee. The argument behind this is that surgical training and manpower requirements should be closely linked and no one will have a greater interest in evolving manpower issues than our trainee surgeons. Trainee surgeons (I don’t like the term “Juniors”) will still have a unique forum through their own resource group.
Finally as the year closes it is important that we recognise the huge amount of work undertaken by many members of EACTS to keep the wheels turning. To give as many people as possible a chance to become involved most committee memberships are limited for 3 years. Below you will see a list of people whose term has come to an end. We need to thank them. At the same time this provides opportunities for new people with new ideas. So if you are interested in any committee, please send an email to Secretary@eacts.norrnod.se
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a profitable and interesting new year.
Sir Bruce Keogh, KBE, MD, FRCS
Secretary General EACTS
Special thanks to the following members whose term has come to an end:
Council: Leo Bockeria, Walter Klepetko, Francois Lacour-Gayet, Erino Rendina, Marko Turina, and William Walker
Programme Committee: Manuel Antunes, Dietrich Birnbaum, Victor Tsang and Jarle Vaage
Membership Committee: Jean Bachet, Aart Brutel de la Rivière, Peter Goldstraw, Alberto Juffe, Michel Polonius, Yuri Schneider and George Stavropoulos.
Nominating Committee: David Wheatley
Congenital Heart Disease Committee: Sabine Daebritz and Leslie Hamilton
Postgraduate Education Committee: Rimantas Benetis, Gino Gerosa, Timothy Graham and Patrick Perier
Journal Committee: Jean Bachet, Robert Dion, Jay Jeyasingham, Keyvan Moghissi and Pascal Vouhé
Education and Manpower Committee: Rolf Ekroth, Brigitte Osswald and Jose Pomar
Junior Committee: Deirdre Watson
Committee on the Constitution: Keyvan Moghissi and Jan Pirk
Some committees have not finalised their membership for 2005 yet and might not be listed above.
