The Society's podcast, Surgical Hot Topics, features leaders in cardiothoracic surgery discussing important issues in the field. Please note: The comments included in these episodes are that of the individuals involved and not necessarily that of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
Find episodes here, or subscribe via the links below:
More than 100,000 people in the United States currently are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, including 5,000 people on the transplant list for a heart and/or lungs, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Understanding a patient’s frailty index is an important part of assessing the risks and benefits of a surgical procedure for a cardiothoracic surgery patient.
Cardiothoracic surgeons are at significant risk of burnout because of long work hours, delayed career gratification, complex health care, intense personality, and poor work-life balance. In fact, recent data show that more than half of cardiothoracic surgeons reported feeling burned out. In this important roundtable discussion, Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS, gathers tips to avoid burnout from Oliver S. Chow, MD, Michal Hubka, MD, and Susan D. Moffatt-Bruce, MD, PhD, MBA.
The biggest threat to lung health in the current era is vaping. Shanda H. Blackmon, MD, MPH, moderates a discussion about the changing landscape of tobacco use, which includes vaping as the new gateway to smoking.
More than 2 years in the making, the first phase of the next generation STS National Database launched during the STS Annual Meeting in New Orleans (January 2020). The phase 1 rollout includes a data uploader, missing variable report, interactive dashboard, and a data quality report that will provide feedback within minutes after upload. Vinay Badhwar, MD, leads a discussion about what this innovative new clinical data registry means for cardiothoracic surgeons, their data managers, hospitals, and patients. He is joined by Joseph A. Dearani, MD, Felix G.
In the latest episode, Dr. Felix Fernandez joins Dr. Varghese to reflect on the accomplishments of the STS National Database over the last 30 years and discuss the early 2020 transition to a user-friendly, cloud-based, real-time platform that will accelerate practice improvement and lead to better patient outcomes.
The numerous professional and personal stressors experienced by cardiothoracic surgeons can—if not well managed—lead to errors in clinical judgment, burnout, early departure from practice, health issues, and substance abuse.
Dr. John Ikonomidis is the lead author of a new paper that explores the decline of surgeons who are applying for and receiving grants, publishing less, and feeling that research is not a part of their role.
In the latest episode, Drs. Robert Kormos and David Morales join host Dr. Thomas K. Varghese Jr. to explore the motivation for developing registries that examine clinical outcomes and quality-of-life metrics for patients who received FDA-approved durable mechanical circulatory support devices.
