Funds at Work

Theodore C. Koutlas, M.D.
Associate Professor of Surgery
Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University

As one of the 137 recipients of the Alley-Sheridan Award, I had the privilege of attending the course on Health Care Finance and Policy given at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. This course, organized by thoracic surgeons, has given many of us the skills and knowledge to assume leadership roles in the delivery of health care within our practices, communities, and even on a national level. As our specialty faces a particularly disconcerted future, we have the comfort of this experience to help keep thoracic surgery at the leading edge of health care in this country.

The Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education funds a variety of programs and scholarships which benefit surgeons from all areas of our specialty, at all stages of their career. The TSFRE relies directly on the generosity from within our specialty to accomplish its lofty goals, and a donation to the Foundation gives you the unique opportunity to impact both the present and future of thoracic surgery. The many advancements in research and education funded by the TSFRE help assure that the best and brightest young physicians will continue to choose a career in thoracic surgery.