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Ann Thorac Surg 2003;75:1685-1692
© 2003 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Presidential address

Cardiothoracic surgery: a specialty in transition—good to great?

^a Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

^* Address reprint requests to Dr Baumgartner, Division of Cardiac Surgery, John Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wolfe Street, Blalock 618, Baltimore, MD21287-4618, USA
e-mail: wbaumgar@csurg.jhmi.jhu.edu

Presented at the Thirty-ninth Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, San Diego, CA, Jan 31–Feb 2, 2003.

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

	Introduction

 

During Dr Alfred Blalock’s speech accepting the Presidency of the American Surgical Association, he said, "It’s a long way to this podium from Culloden, Georgia." For me, it is an even longer way from Fort Thomas, Kentucky. It has been a real honor to serve you and this organization. This past year I have been blessed working with such energetic and dedicated members of our Board and various workforces throughout the organization. Anything that I have achieved is directly due to these individuals.

I would like to especially thank my faculty and residents who have supported me in all my endeavors. I am particularly proud to have them as my colleagues and friends. I have been particularly fortunate to have such wonderful mentors and friends during my career. These include my physician-brother Raymond who provided my initial inspiration to go into medicine; Dr Ward O. Griffin, who as Chairman of Surgery at the University of Kentucky, was a wonderful role model; Dr Norman Shumway, former Chairman of Cardiovascular Surgery at Stanford University a humble, charismatic person who provided the excitement for me for cardiac surgery; Dr Bruce Reitz, my best friend and former Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Johns Hopkins; and Dr Vincent Gott, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Johns Hopkins, for 17 years who remains a supportive friend and mentor to me. I would like to particularly thank my wife and best friend Betsy and my three children, Bill, Jr., Amy, and Mark for their understanding and support of me over these many years.

Cardiothoracic Surgery will continue to progress in its leadership prominence in patient care, innovation and discovery, and residency education at local and national levels. I hope to reinforce this message to you, that although there are many important issues facing us today, we are a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. L. Gott, N. D. Patel, S. C. Yang, and W. A. Baumgartner Attracting outstanding students (premedical and medical) to a career in cardiothoracic surgery. Ann. Thorac. Surg., July 1, 2006; 82(1): 1 - 3. [Full Text] [PDF]