Cardiothoracic Trainees Course 2011

ASCTS – ANNUAL CARDIOTHORACIC TRAINEES (CTS) COURSE: 24 - 26 February 2011

The Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons held its annual Cardiothoracic Trainees Course in February 2011.  The course maintained all of the previous components set out in the 2010 program, and was expanded to include the SET 1 and 2 trainees and to provide a range of new teaching activities – a number of Basic Science lectures for the SET 1 and 2 trainees, an expansion of the practise oral exams to also include a Pathology exam, and a number of simulation activities.   

The major addition included several simulation activities, intended to produce realistic or “high fidelity” training situations. These additions required more time and resources for the course:

• 3 days - one and a half days of lectures and presentations, and one and a half days of practical stations and exercises.
• Included all cardiothoracic trainees. Previous courses were only available to advanced trainees (SET 3-6).
• An increased number of Fellows to support the program.

The components of this course were held at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Melbourne and the Wetlab at Werribee Vet School.

Attached is the programme for the 2011 educational event. CARDIOTHORACIC TRAINEES COURSE  2011.

The educational event again was supported by our key sponsors, Johnson & Johnson, St Jude and Covidien. The ASCTS is again grateful for their continued sponsorship:

• The lecture based program  (24 and 25 February) was sponsored by St Jude and Covidien
• The educational grant of $5000 awarded to the best trainee presentation was sponsored by St Jude. The winner of the award was Sean Galvin.
• The Orpheus and By Pass simulator workshops were supported by Johnson & Johnson who also sponsored our international presenter Paul Ramphal.
• The Wetlab workshop at the Werribee Vet School was sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.

The CTS course was organised by our ASCTS member Andrew Cochrane who spent considerable time in preparing a stimulating program. The ASCTS Executive extends their thanks for his efforts.

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Refer to an article from the Royal Australsian Colleges of Surgeon's Surgical News Publication relating to the course

CTS_Article_RACS_Surgical_News_May_2011.pdf