General Session

TSDA General Session in Conjunction with the Annual STS Meeting
January 24 - 28, 2003
San Antonio, TX

SUMMARY:

Synopsis of TSDA-STS Meeting
January 24, 2004
San Antonio, Texas

John Benfield reminded everyone of the opportunity for funding through the Foundation for young investigators in cardiothoracic surgery. This is a joint effort with the NIH and promises to be an important source of funding in the future. Details can be found on the TSDA web page.

A report was given from the organization “Women in Thoracic Surgery.” As we seek to interest more women in cardiothoracic surgery, the TSDA needs to support the efforts of this organization. It has a mentoring program that will be very important.

A roundtable discussion was held regarding work hours amongst those programs that had received an 8-hour exemption. It was stressed how important it was to be in compliance since one CT program has been reported to the ACGME for violations. We reviewed the process to request the 8-hour exemption from the ACGME. This can be found on the ACGME web site.

Bill Baumgartner reported on the recent activities from the Joint Council for Thoracic Surgery Education. The main focus has been around e-learning and tracking within the residencies. Tracking was deemed very important for Congenital Heart Surgery and General Thoracic Surgery.

Irv Kron and Tim Gardner reported on the recent deliberations with the American Board of Surgery regarding a joint program between the ABS and the ABTS leading to certification in both specialties. The essence of this proposal would be a 7 year program with the first 4 years under general surgery, the last 2 under cardiothoracic surgery and the 5th year being a transition with the possibility of more overall time in cardiothoracic surgery than is currently allowed in general surgery. There is the possibility of earlier examination in general surgery. Keith Naunheim showed examples of a proposed curriculum. This presentation is available on the TSDA website. There will be more to come on this topic in Toronto.

There was a formal vote taken on a dues increase. The rationale for a $1,000 per program was given. A fter some discussion, it was unanimously approved.

The Resident Paper Award was presented to Dr. Adusimilli for his work with Valerie Rusch from Memorial Sloan Kettering. This aware is sponsored by Medtronic. We are all indebted to Medtronic for their continued support. All program directors are encouraged to write to:

Mr. Arthur Collins, CEO/Chairman
Medtronic
710 Medtronic Parkway
Minneapolis, MN 55432
to express our appreciation.

A further update was given on the Requisite Curriculum by Richard Shemin. We are aiming for new completion of this important project by the Toronto meeting. There has been much work done and more remains, but we are getting close.

Ross Ungerleider presented some work of potential interest to us on a tool to address the ACGME competencies. A prototype was presented. As more progress is made with this project, we will be updated.

The Blue Book TSDA curriculum guide is ready for updating. John Calhoon has undertaken the responsibility along with a small group of “volunteers” from the TSDAQ. This project will be completed by the Toronto meeting.

To help residents and program directors better plan interviews, we have developed a calendar for posting when institutions are planning interviews. This, hopefully, will avoid conflicting dates and allow both residents and programs to interview more efficiently. All program directors are encouraged to look at the TSDA website, post interview dates, and avoid major conflicts whenever possible. A brief survey of resident experiences with the interview process identified expense and conflicts of interview times as being the most important problems encountered by the residents. All program directors are encouraged to be as flexible as possible when conflicts arise to allow interested resident applicants to visit all programs that they can.

Finally, Bill Begg and Jeff Gold held an informal session demonstrating all of the tools available through the TSDA. This very valuable instructional session will be available on the TSDA website.

Proposed Program for TSDA Meeting
Room 202 A/B
San Antonio Convention Center
January 24, 2004

1. 2:00 – 2:05 :: Opening remarks -- Douglas Mathisen
   
2. 2:05 – 2:40 :: Work hours round table -- David Fullerton, John Byrne, Alec Patterson, Morton Bolman, Irv Kron, Bill Baumgartner, Larry Kaiser
   
3. 2:40 - 2:50
   • Resident job survey -- Jorge Salazar
   • TSDA/STS job posting -- Douglas Mathisen/Bill Begg
4. 2:50 – 3:00 :: Joint Council report -- Bill Baumgartner
   
5. 3:00 – 3:10 :: ABS/ABTS joint training update -- Irv Kron
   
6. 3:10 – 3:25 :: Update integrated curriculum -- Bill Baumgartner, Eric Rose
   
7. 3:25 – 3:40 :: Dues increase -- Jeff Gold, John Calhoon
   
8. 3:40 – 3:50 :: STS Resident Paper Award -- Doug Mathisen
   
9. 3:50 – 4:10 :: Update requisite curriculum -- Richard Shemin, Bill Begg
   
10. 4:10 – 4:25 :: Update interview coordination -- John Calhoon
    
11. 4:25 – 4:40 :: Competency tool -- Ross Ungerleider
    
12. 4:40 – 4:55 :: Blue Book curriculum update -- John Calhoon
    
13. Discussion from floor
    
14. 5:00 :: Adjourn
    

All Meeting Sessions:

Content (from slide presentations):

General Thoracic v. Cardiac Work Hours
  Douglas Mathisen, MD
 
4/3 Joint Training Proposal
  Keith Naunheim, MD
 
Washington University Work Hours
  Joel Cooper, MD
 
Resident Job Survey
  Jorge Salazar, MD
 
Actions of the ABS
  Irv Kron, MD
 
TSDA Financials
  John Calhoon, MD
 
TSDA By-laws Change -- Dues Increase
  Jeffrey Gold, MD
 
Curriculum Update
  John Calhoon, MD
 
TSDA Technology Session
  Jeffrey Gold, MD
 
ERAS Proposal
  John Calhoon, MD