September 21, 2017
3 min read

STS News, Fall 2016 -- Members now have more opportunities to fulfill their continuing medical education and maintenance of certification requirements through the Society, which has significantly increased its online educational resources as a result of its merger with the Joint Council on Thoracic Surgery Education (JCTSE).

“This merger will help enhance the education of not just our trainees, but also practicing cardiothoracic surgeons seeking to expand their knowledge base,” said Ara A. Vaporciyan, MD, Chair of the STS Workforce on Thoracic Surgery Resident Issues.

Many former Joint Council activities will fall under the new STS Workforce on E-Learning and Educational Innovation, chaired by STS Past President Mark S. Allen, MD. 

“Now that many of the JCTSE functions are within the STS structure, members will soon have new and innovative ways to learn within the CT surgery arena,” said Dr. Allen, who was the most recent Chair of the JCTSE Board of Directors.

"Now that many of the JCTSE functions are within the STS structure, members will soon have new and innovative ways to learn within the CT surgery arena."

Mark S. Allen, MD

Online Offerings

One of the most significant assets that STS acquired as a result of its merger with JCTSE is the Thoracic Surgery Curriculum hosted on a robust Learning Management System (LMS). The Curriculum currently is accessible only by cardiothoracic surgery residency program directors, coordinators, faculty, and residents, but access will be expanded to all STS members in the future.

The LMS houses a wealth of educational materials, including the entire Thoracic Surgical Curriculum and a variety of textbooks, videos, and case presentations. Program directors and coordinators easily can set up a 1-, 2-, or 3-year curriculum, as well as create customized assignments and offer National Benchmarked Quizzes for resident comparison across programs.

Access the Thoracic Surgical Curriculum, textbook chapters, case presentations, and more in the Library section of the new LMS.

“The core benefit of the LMS is the multitenant design of the system. Each program has access to all of the content, but the content can be organized and presented in a way that meets the specific needs of an individual program,” Dr. Vaporciyan said.

In the future, all of the Society’s online educational programs, including the STS Annual Meeting Online and webinars, will be housed in the LMS. “The Society now has an innovative education resource that will serve resident education, STS member education, and individual continuing medical education for years to come,” said Edward D. Verrier, MD, who served as JCTSE Surgical Director of Education and continues to fulfill this function for the Society.

In-Person Learning

One of the most popular in-person educational courses developed by JCTSE was the Jeopardy competition for residents. STS will continue organizing the event, with a North American championship competition at the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association Annual Meeting in November and a grand championship competition between the North American and European winners at the STS Annual Meeting in January.

For more information about the LMS, contact Amanda Wright.

New Features Added to the STS Learning Center

The STS Learning Center recently added two new features that allow for better tracking and completeness of your CME transcript. The first new feature allows you to add any and all CME credits that you have earned—including non-STS approved activities—to your personal transcript. Click “External Certificates” and upload or drag and drop certificates as PDFs or Word documents. The second new feature allows you to view and print your personal transcript by clicking "View Your Transcript.” You can pull from a specific year or time range or from specific certificates that align with certain credits. To check out these new features, visit learningcenter.sts.org, log in with your STS member username and password, and click “My Account” in the upper right corner. If you have any questions, contact Education.