Letter From the CTSNet Editor-in-Chief: Mark K. Ferguson, MD (December 2020)

From the Editor’s Desk
Mark K. Ferguson, MD
Editor-in-Chief, CTSNet.org

December 2020

Colleagues,

This is the first in a series of regular communications in my role as CTSNet Editor-in-Chief. As background, I’m a thoracic surgeon at the University of Chicago and have been involved in leadership and editorial work at CTSNet since 2005, serving as editor since 2012. Prior to that time, I served as associate editor for the Journal of Surgical Research for 17 years, associate or deputy editor of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery for 15 years, and as editor of Thoracic Surgery Clinics for 10 years.

CTSNet is a worldwide organization that was co-founded by AATS, EACTS, and STS. Its mission is to “connect the global cardiothoracic community.” This is accomplished by leveraging internet connectivity to facilitate communication, collaboration, education, and interaction amongst cardiothoracic surgeons and their teams across the globe.

Administered by a Board of Directors representing the three founding societies, CTSNet is comprised of an editorial group of surgeons and a professional editorial and marketing staff. Its content is wide-ranging, including webinars, broadcasts of conferences, interviews, clinical videos, case presentations, opinion pieces, technical step-by-step videos, and articles about serving the needs for medical care in low- and middle-income countries, to name a few.

The purpose of these regular communications is to update our audience on events within CTSNet and to highlight content and the contribution of individuals that have had an important impact on our profession. This communication will focus on the response of CTSNet to the COVID pandemic, which has been nothing short of remarkable. This was a result of the combined efforts of our professional staff, physicians in the editorial group, and other contributing physicians from around the world.

To refresh our memories, the first reports of a viral outbreak came out of Wuhan, China, in late November 2019, just over one year ago. Concerns about the need for public health actions arose in early January from the WHO. From a Western perspective, the first case in the United States was reported on January 15, 2020, and a large cluster of cases was reported in Italy in February 2020. The WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020, and subsequently declared a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020.

With the recognition that the COVID pandemic would have a substantial impact on healthcare resources and present risks to healthcare workers, CTSNet demonstrated its agility by rapidly assembling a team of physicians to create resources for our readership. Among the physician leaders of these efforts were Jo Chikwe, Amy Fiedler, Brian Mitzman, Mara Antonoff, Leanne Harling, and Tom Nguyen. The first moderated discussion took place on March 18, 2020, only a week after the pandemic declaration, and the COVID resource and discussion forum pages were launched the same week! In the subsequent 3 months, CTSNet created or posted 18 contributions specific to the COVID pandemic and has continued to develop COVID-specific content since that time.

There is no doubt that these materials were of immense assistance to physicians and other caregivers, particularly in the early days of COVID, during which there was tremendous uncertainty about patient outcomes and risks to healthcare workers. CTSNet was the perfect organization to respond in a quick and meaningful manner, having the ability to mobilize productive and insightful individuals and quickly make editorial decisions. The impact of these contributions can be measured in part by the usage of CTSNet during 2020. This year saw more than 2.9 million page views and more than 900,000 unique visitors!

Thank you for being a CTSNet reader. Look forward to additional updates periodically. Enjoy the upcoming holiday season. Wishing you good health. Please stay safe!

Mark K. Ferguson, MD