Dear Members,
It is my real pleasure to address you as the sixth President of our society with now more than 130 members representing the Belgian Cardio-Thoracic Surgical Community in Belgium.
Our Association was founded in November 1995 and has been very successful so far under the leadership of Wim Daenen, Pierre Rocmans, Jean-Louis Le Clerc, Paul Van Schil, and Christiaan Van Kerrebroeck with the support of every member of the previous Board. The current Board members are trying very hard to continue the excellent work done by the founders of our Association.
During the last General Assembly on 16th November 2002, we have elected 6 members to represent the BACTS within the new College for Cardiac Surgery (Inez Rodrigus, Guido Van Nooten, Philippe Kolh, Christiaan Van Kerrebroeck, Frank Van Praet, Jean-Marie de Smet). So far, these members have not yet been appointed by the Minister and no official meetings of the College took place!
The BACTS has participated in the 4th Belgian Surgical Week in Ostend on 2nd May 2003 with a successful session on Cardiothoracic Transplantation. The Board has also agreed to participate in the upcoming symposium on "Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery at the onset of the XXIst Century", organized by the Princess Lilian Cardiology Foundation on Friday, 17th October 2003 at 14.00 hours in the Marble Hall of the "Palais des Académies" in Brussels.
I would like to remind you that the 8th Congress on Cardio-thoracic Surgery will take place on Saturday, 15th November 2003 preceeded by the annual General Assembly. You will receive the final programme of this meeting at the beginning of October.
I am looking forward to seeing you all at the annual meeting in November.
Philippe Noirhomme, M.D.
President BACTS 2002 - 2003
The Board and the Committees
During the last General Assembly of our Society held in Brussels on 16th November 2002, Philippe Noirhomme (Bruxelles) was elected as President (2002-2003), Francis Wellens (Aalst) as Vice-President (2002-2003), and Patrick Van Ruyssevelt (Jolimont) as second Vice-President (2002-2003). The current members of the Board will stay in function until november 2004: Matteo Cappello (Bruxelles), Jean-Olivier Defraigne (Liège), Jacques Goldstein (Brussel), Luc Haenen (Bonheiden), Bart Meyns (Leuven), Inez Rodrigus (Antwerpen), Yves Van Belleghem (Gent), and Dirk Van Raemdonck (Leuven). You can find the details on how to contact one of the Board members in the enclosed 2003 Membership Directory or online.
Our Society is composed of different working committees: Accreditation (chair: Inez Rodrigus), Board of Directors (chair: Philippe Noirhomme), College for Cardiac Surgery (chair: I. Rodrigus), Database (chair: Jean-Marc Marnette), Membership (chair: Luc Haenen), Peer Review (chair: Philippe Noirhomme), Professional (chair: Francis Wellens), and Scientific (chair: Yves Van Belleghem). You can find more information on the activities and the complete roster of the different committees in the enclosed 2003 Membership Directory or online at www.bacts.org/committee/BACTS.
Members and application for membership
We welcome the following new members whose application has been approved during the 7th General Assembly on 16th November 2002 in the following categories: Honorary: Francis Fontan (Bordeaux), Rudy Vanmaele (Edegem); Cardio-Thoracic: Kees Prenger (Genk); Cardiac: Frank Caes (Genk), Thami Guennaoui (Jolimont), Jan Remes (Jette); Thoracic: Herman Ceuppens (Kortrijk), Max-Eric Verstraeten (Jolimont); Junior: Edo Wijtenburg (Gilly). Our Society is now having a total of 132 members (16 honorary members, 105 active members, and 11 junior members). A complete listing of all members can be viewed in the enclosed 2003 Membership Directory or online. The membership fee is fixed to 50,00 euro for active members and 25,00 euro for junior members.
Colleagues working in the field of cardiovascular or thoracic surgery (as well as fellows in training) are invited to become (junior) members of our Society. An application form for membership will be mailed to the candidate upon request to the secretariat (Bea Libert, BACTS Secretariat, Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven; phone +32-16-34 68 22, fax: +32-16-34 68 21; E-mail: bea.libert@uzleuven.be) or you can print this form directly. The completed application form should be sent to Dr L. Haenen, Chairman Membership Committee BACTS, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Imelda Hospital, Imeldalaan 9, B-2820 Bonheiden. The deadline for receipt is fixed on 1 September 2003 for approval during the next General Assembly on 15 November 2003.
Websites
Our Association is participating in two website initiatives:
Information on our Association is updated regularly on the website www.bacts.org. This website is part of the larger worldwide Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Network (www.ctsnet.org). This is the place to visit whenever you are looking for information on cardio-thoracic surgery worldwide. You can see a list of all participating organizations, the online journals (EJCTS, ATS, JTCVS), international meetings or you can look up information on any cardio-thoracic surgeon around the world.
The BACTS is also participating in the Belgian Surgical Website project (BELSURG), a joint initiative of 12 Belgian surgical organizations. This is the place to visit (www.belsurg.org) whenever you are looking for information on surgery in Belgium. You can see a list of all participating organizations, the full content of papers published in the Acta Chirurgica Belgica, national surgical meetings or you can look up information on any surgeon in Belgium.
For BACTS members, User ID and Password are identical for both websites. I would like to urge you to update your personal information online in both websites whenever necessary. For CTSnet you have to go to: "www.ctsnet.org/members/index.cfm" and login. For the BELSURG website go to : www.belsurg.org/belsurg.html", login and click on "Change Personal Data". You are invited to also complete private data that will be visible only to other surgical colleagues with a BELSURG user ID and login or you can choose to make this information available to the public. If you do not already have your ID picture on your homepages, you are welcome to send or mail (carine.vandeweyer@bacts.org) us a recent (digital) photograph that will be scanned into your personal homepage. If you are planning to attend one of the International meetings (AATS, EACTS, STS), you can also visit the CTSnet booth to have your digital picture taken directly.
In case you have any difficulties in accessing your homepage, please contact our BACTS web editorial officer, Carine Vandeweyer, Nachtegaalstraat 24, B-3560 Meldert(e-mail carine.vandeweyer@bacts.org).
Partnership with Royal Belgian Society for Surgery
During the 35th Board meeting on 3 December 2002, the Board has signed a partnership with the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery (RBSS/KBGH/SRBC). The BACTS is thereby recognized as the only scientific and professional organization representing cardiac and thoracic surgery in Belgium. One representative will be invited to the meetings of each others Board and Committees. The Acta Chirurgica Belgica has become the official journal of the BACTS. In this way, BACTS anouncements will be published in the journal for no charge. Peer reviewed abstracts of our yearly Congress on Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and invited papers by BACTS members will be published in this journal.
8th Congress on Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
The 8th Congress on Cardio-Thoracic Surgery will take place on Saturday, 15th November 2003 at the Sodehotel-Woluwe, Avenue Mounier 5, B-1200 Bruxelles. This meeting is open to members and non-members. The scientific programme this year includes featured abstracts and a state of the art lecture by our invited speaker. The Scientific Committee under the leadership of Dr Y. Van Belleghem is working hard to put up an interesting scientific programme. This year's invited speaker will be Prof. Ph. Dartevelle (Marie Lannelongue Hospital, Le Plessis Robinson, France) who will give a talk on "Surgery for Pulmonary Hypertension".
Accreditation by the RIZIV/INAMI
Information on Accreditation by the RIZIV/INAMI of National (BACTS) and other International Cardio-Thoracic Surgical meetings (EACTS-ESTS-AATS-STS-ESCVS-ISHLT) has been updated and is available online. You will find a copy of this document enclosed in this mailing.
The Board of BACTS has decided to centralize any request for Accreditation. We therefore would like to ask you to send all necessary information (date - title - programme) on international cardio-thoracic meetings that you have attended directly to Dr Y. Van Belleghem, Chairman of the Scientific Committee BACTS (yves.vanbelleghem@rug.ac.be). He will then forward your request for Accreditation to the RIZIV/INAMI.
Other European Cardiovascular and Thoracic Organizations
Members of BACTS are invited to become member of European Societies dealing with Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery: the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the European Society for CardioVascular Surgery (ESCVS), and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS). Application forms for all 3 societies are enclosed in this Newsletter.
The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons
The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons (EBTCS) was founded on the 4th October 1996 by three societies: the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), the European Society for CardioVascular Surgery (ESCVS), and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS). The primary goal of the Board is to create a common high standard for the quality of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in all European countries. The European Board was set up to establish a standard for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery that can be recognized across Europe. This should also allow for mutual recognition between European Countries. The current Board (chair: Prof Dr T. Lerut) consists of 9 members, 2 members are proposed by each of the 3 participating scientific societies and 3 co-opted members. The Board is in the process of becoming part of the specialist Section of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (President Prof H. Huysmans) within the UEMS. New Statutes are being drawn up for both the Section and the Board. This process is expected to be complete in September 2003 and at this point there will be election of new officers for both the Section and the Board. More information on the EBTCS is available online at www.ebtcs.org.
The BACTS has previously elected Dr F. Wellens (Cardiac) and Prof Dr T. Lerut (thoracic) as Belgian UEMS representatives in the Section of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and in the Division of Thoracic Surgery within the Section of Surgery.
Candidates applying for certification by the EBTCS must pass an examination in Thoracic or Cardiovascular Surgery or both. This year's examinations will take place in Vienna on 15th and 16th October 2003, following the annual EACTS-ESTS meeting. The deadline for application this year was fixed on 1st July 2003.
Surgeons accredited by the Board will receive a certificate recognizing them as Fellow of EBTCS giving them the right to put the suffix FETCS behind their name. More information on the regulations as well as the application form is available online at www.ebtcs.org or can be requested from the following address: EBTCS secretariat, 3 Park Street, Windsor, SL4 1LU, UK (phone +44-1753 832 166; fax: +44-1753 620 407; e-mail: info@ebtcs.co.uk).
The European School for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) have now created the European School for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (ESCTS) to provide teaching on the curriculum necessary to pass the Board Examinations.
The tuition is arranged in one-week courses taking place in Villa Elios, Bergamo, Italy. Successive courses with levels 1-3 will be given over 4 years (cardiac) and 3 years (thoracic). More information is available online at www.eacts.org/doc/6898.
All cardio-thoracic colleagues, chiefs of departments and those responsible for the development of new colleagues are therefore encouraged to send their juniors to this School. Likewise, all senior colleagues are also invited to participate in an exciting teaching programme!
Dirk Van Raemdonck, M.D.
Secretary BACTS 2001 - 2004