The dissemination of new knowledge about cardiothoracic medicine and providing surgeons with the capability to implement this new knowledge and skills is a critical element to the progress of our specialty. TSFRE enables surgeons to constantly refine and improve their skills as physicians, surgeons and leaders in medicine.

TSFRE offers a variety of educational programming. Most notably, the Health Policy Leadership Program offered in the past in partnership with Harvard University and more recently with Brandeis University. This initiative provides a comprehensive, weeklong program that focuses on the changing nature of the nation’s health care system, its management and how physicians can impact that system.

Recently, the TSFRE Education Committee analyzed the present and future needs of cardiothoracic surgeons and the cardiothoracic community in an effort to identify future initiatives and expand our educational focus. The Education Committee envisioned how thoracic surgery education is likely to evolve over the next 10 to 15 years and beyond, and developed a comprehensive plan for ensuring that the specialty has in place the educational infrastructure and resources needed to best serve patients as the art and practice of the specialty advance over time.

The study had two overarching priority recommendations: (1) initiatives that advanced the use of simulation as an essential and integral platform for education, certification, and new technology adoption within the specialty; (2) the development of programs that will allow thoracic surgeons to acquire new “transdisciplinary” skills necessary for surgery in the future.

SIMULATION EDUCATION WITHIN THORACIC SURGERY

The TSFRE believes that cardiothoracic surgery is an ideal specialty to demonstrate and evaluate the use of advanced simulation and other innovative approaches to quality and safety as a model for other highly technical medical specialties. Simulation has had a tremendously positive impact on education and certification in other areas of human activity where teams interact with technology in high risk environments, the best known of which is aviation. The advantages of simulation include the ability to compress in a short but intense period of training a range of education and certification experiences, and to achieve this benefit at lower cost than with other training processes with no risk to patients. In addition to facilitating the acquisition of cognitive and technical skills related directly to technical procedures, the simulator is also the place where human factors and teamwork skills are taught, practiced and evaluated.

TSFRE will host a Visioning Simulation Conference to bring together leaders of the specialty with invited simulation experts and others who would be interested in helping to create a strategic plan for the initiative. The conference will be held at the Center for Simulation in Cambridge, Massachusetts in early 2007. Invited participants will include an array of leaders from thoracic surgery societies and associations, interested government agencies, potential funders from the private foundation community, leaders in simulation education and others. The conference will provide a forum for interested parties to allow for a shared vision regarding the development and use of simulation in thoracic surgical education and certification.

“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.”

– Theodore C. Koutlas, MD

“How does the entire profession keep pace with high-speed changes in technology while retraining ourselves to be current? How do we provide for specialized continuing education? We do so by investing our energy and dollars in the future of our specialty now.”

– Lawrence H. Cohn, MD