Dr. Lokeswara Rao Sajja

Dear Friends,

This year, we hope to exclusively conduct our CMEs and the annual meeting in the in-person format. Following a successful 69th Annual Meeting, IACTS SCORE 2023 held on the first weekend of March was excellent with many interactive sessions between the faculty and residents. Young surgeons and residents have yet another excellent opportunity coming up at the Technocollege CME to be held in the last week of April in Ahmedabad. It promises to be an enriching conclave with a back-to-school day and two days of all-around learning.

I would like to highlight the importance of our IACTS Database. During IACTSCON 2023, National Database Chairperson Dr. K.S. Iyer presented preliminary analytics that proved to be interesting and something all of us Indian surgeons can look forward to using in our research and presentations. I urge all institutions actively performing cardiac surgical procedures to enroll and start sharing their data. The National Database Committee, which monitors the overall activity of the Database, is happy to help facilitate the training and onboarding of new centres.

I encourage you to communicate any suggestions to take our Association forward to the IACTS Secretariat.

I wish everyone good health, happiness, and success in all your endeavours.

Regards,
Lokeswara Rao Sajja
54th President IACTS

Dr. C.S. Hiremath

Dear Members,

With continued efforts over the last couple of decades, it is now that we fully see the impact of the association of cardiovascular thoracic surgeons that we are. It is time that we accelerate this growth and give together to bring into our fold many more younger surgeons with the talent, skill, and dedication to serve an exponentially increasing number of patients.

The fortnight starting mid-February was an educational one for all of us - with the vibrant annual meeting and the rigorous DNB/MCh. prep program. We also have the Technocollege CME to look forward to shortly, which is designed to make cardiac surgeons future ready. Also, early bird registrations to IACTSCON 2024 Bhubaneswar are open online and offline till June 30th, 2023.

There is no doubt that our early surgeons and residents get institutional support to accomplish their career goals. Nevertheless, having a mentor from the outside supplements overall learning and development. It is the Association’s endeavour to equip the less experienced surgeons with skills and confidence to deal with not just complex surgical cases but also nurture the individual within. Our initiative, Mentorship at Your Doorstep, is underway. Many such initiatives are taking shape to realise the ambition to inspire and evolve a robust surgical mindset in residents and surgeons. These can only see the light of day with your commitment in terms of sharing clinical practice, time, goodwill, and monetary support.

The IACTS National Database is rolling out nation-wide this year. Even in its beta stage, we could already see the value of having an indigenous registry of Indian cases. I appeal to members to mobilise your institutions to enrol in the database.

Look forward to your continued participation.

Regards,
Dr. C.S. Hiremath
Secretary
Indian Association of Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgeons