2015 JCTSE Jeopardy and Top Gun Competitions

2015 JCTSE Jeopardy and Top Gun Competitions to be held in conjunction with the AATS 95th Annual Meeting in Seattle

The Joint Council on Thoracic Surgery Education, Inc. (JCTSE) will be holding the 3rd Annual Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident “Top Gun” Competition in conjunction with the 2015 AATS Annual Meeting (April 25-29, 2015). First-year residents enrolled in traditional 2- or 3-year cardiothoracic surgery residency programs, 4th-year I-6 residents, and 4th-year fast-track 4/3 residents are invited to participate by submitting two videos of an end-to-side anastomosis of 4 mm plastic vessels. The first video must be submitted by January 14, 2015. Residents will then be encouraged to engage in efforts to improve their skills. A second video should then be sent in by Wednesday, February 18, 2015. Video submissions will be reviewed and scored anonymously by three senior cardiothoracic surgeons. The top five performers will be invited to perform a live demonstration of their skills at the AATS 95th Annual Meeting on Sunday, April 26, 2015. The resident with the best overall score will be designated the “JCTSE Resident Top Gun.” All five finalists will receive a plaque and a monetary award.

JCTSE will also hold the inaugural Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident “Jeopardy” Competition at the AATS 95th Annual Meeting. All residents enrolled in an ACGME-approved thoracic surgery residency are eligible to participate. Interested residents must choose a partner enrolled in the same program and plan to individually take the online screening exam on the TSC website, available from February 4- 11, 2015. The two individual scores will be combined and the top six two-member teams will be invited to participate in the live Jeopardy competition. In addition to having their travel, hotel, and meal expenses paid for by JCTSE, all participants will receive a plaque. Each member of the winning team and the runner-up team will receive a monetary award.

These competitions are supported in part by the AATS Graham Foundation. Questions may be directed to Rebecca J. Mark, JCTSE Administration and Education Manager.