Letter from the President
Dear Friends,
At the end of my term as your second President, I would like to invite you to the 4th Congress on Cardio-thoracic Surgery organized by our Association that will take place on Saterday, November 6, 1999 from 10.00 to 17.00 hours at the Sodehotel-Woluwe, Avenue Mounier 5, B-1200 Brussels. This meeting is open to members and non-members. Please encourage your co-workers and junior colleagues to attend our annual meeting.
You will receive this year's programme through a separate mailing by Medicongress, the organizing company of the meeting. You can also find more information on the programme, abstracts and registration through our website at "http://www.bacts.org".
The Programme Committee and his Chairman, Prof Dr G. Van Nooten, have been faced with a record number of abstracts submitted. A anonymous selection of the best papers has been made guaranteeing a meeting with a high scientific value.
This year's invited speaker will be Prof Walter WEDER, thoracic surgeon at the University Hospital in Zürich, Switzerland. He will give a talk on "Surgical Options in the Treatment of Pulmonary Emphysema". His lecture will be of special interest to those who are involved in the field of lung transplantation and lung volume reduction surgery.
80 accreditation points can be obtained by attending the meeting!
(activity number: 2914 0275; category: 4; Units: 80; Organisor: S.150).
Finally, you and your partner are all invited to join us during the Annual Banquet that will take place in a famous Brussels restaurant starting at 20.00 hours. You will find more information on this social event in the programme book as well.
It is with considerable confidence that I look forward to a memorable meeting in Brussels and hope to see you there!
Pierre Rocmans, M.D.
President BVCTH/SBCCT 1998 - 1999
RIZIV/INAMI Accreditation
Information on the accreditation numbers of our National (BVCTH/SBCCT) and other International Cardio-thoracic Surgical meetings (AATS-EACTS-STS-ESCVS) is updated regularly through our website.
The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons
In 1996 the European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons (EBTCS) has been founded in order to establish common standards for thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Europe. The primary goal is the recognition by the European Union of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery as a monospeciality. This Board is lead by representatives of 3 European Societies: the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the European Society of Cardiovascular Surgery (ESCVS), and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS).
According to Article 19 of the Regulations, surgeons in established practice of at least five years at the time the Board was Founded, with independent responsability and meeting the other eligibility criteria, may be recognised without examinations. This option is available until 1 September 2001! I would therefore urge you all, who did not do so, to apply for fellowship under the so-called "grandfather clause". All other surgeons will have to undertake a formal examination in either general thoracic or cardiovascular surgery (or both) to become recognised in one of the two (or both) categories. This year's examinations were taken at the EACTS meeting in Glasgow in September for the Cardiovascular part and at the ESTS meeting in Nancy in October for the Thoracic part.
Surgeons accredited by the Board will receive a diploma recognizing them as Fellow of the Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons giving them the right to put the suffix FETCS behind their name.
Further information on the Regulations and application can be obtained from the following address: The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons, P.O. Box 2023, 1990 AA Velserbroek, The Netherlands (phone +31-255 520 950; fax: +31-255 523 353; e-mail: ebtcs@wxs.nl).
Dirk Van Raemdonck, M.D.
Secretary BVCTH/SBCCT 1998 - 2001