Supporting the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons

The EACTS Residents’ Committee continues to work towards its vision of improving resident experiences and education. Here, committee members, Nabil Hussein and Maroua Eid, discuss recent activity.

We have started preparing for the next Annual Meeting which will take place in the beautiful city of Milan in October. The Secretary General and Secretary General Elect at EACTS have challenged the Committee to propose fresh ideas and deliver the best possible sessions that reflect the energy and high quality of EACTS Residents’ members. We are very excited about the 36th EACTS Annual Meeting and wish to meet a great number of residents during this reunion.

Last month we launched our first virtual EACTS Case Corner with sessions on coronary artery disease and mitral valve repair. More than 60 participants attended these interactive sessions, in which a complex case is presented, and the best management strategy is discussed, backed with relevant evidence led by an expert panel. There will be further sessions over the coming months covering the spectrum of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery and fellow residents will be invited to submit their own cases to present. Join us to discuss high-quality cases and take part in interesting conversations on patient management.

Bringing Residents together

At the heart of the Residents’ Committee lies the motivation to enhance networking opportunities for residents across Europe, as we believe this is key to truly represent and support residents in cardiothoracic surgery. As part of this work, we have been liaising with national representatives from across Europe to arrange a gathering so we can share experiences and discuss how we can improve training experiences. If you are a cardiothoracic surgery national representative in your country, please get in touch with the committee at eacts-residents@eacts.co.uk so we can work together to achieve this.

The Residents’ Committee is well aware of the training disparities that exist across Europe, and we are currently working on a Position Paper to present our view on what training should be like. We believe that it is necessary to have validated, regulated training programmes to ensure uniformity and recognition Europe.

Finally, the Residents’ Committee believes in the importance of scholarships in developing the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons. With this in mind, we are delighted that, with the support of the Editors-in-Chief of both the European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery (EJCTS) and Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (ICVTS) journals, we will be launching a new “Residents’ Corner” section across both journals. This new ‘manuscript type’ section aims to promote the excellent research undertaken by residents and will contain papers relevant to residents. Submitted manuscripts will be peer-reviewed with accepted articles published in the same manner as existing articles to these journals. We hope to launch this section with our Position Paper as well as our recently published editorial: “Is it time to incorporate hands-on simulation into the cardiothoracic surgery curriculum?” [doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivab347], where we discuss the importance of adopting simulation further into training programmes and how this can be achieved. Residents and researchers are also encouraged to submit their work for publication in this new section.

The EACTS Residents’ Committee is always open to new suggestions for future projects so please do not hesitate to contact us through the Residents’ page on the EACTS website and subscribe to the newsletter to stay up to date!