Surgical Hot Topics

Among the proactive steps that the Society is taking to help its members and other health care professionals deal with the evolving COVID-19 pandemic it is developing guidance documents—one for each discipline. In the latest episode of "Beyond the Abstract," Dr. Daniel Boffa joins Dr. Tom Varghese to talk about the guidance provided by representatives from multiple cancer, surgical, and research organizations for triaging patients with thoracic malignancies.

More than 100,000 people in the United States currently are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, including 5,000 people on the transplant list for a heart and/or lungs, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Although some will die before they receive a transplant, surgeons and research teams are making great strides in expanding the pool of viable organs. Zachary N. Kon, MD, moderates a discussion with Ashish S. Shah, MD, Matthew G. Hartwig, MD, and Varun Puri, MD, MSCI, about new ways to assess organ quality, technologies to increase their viability, and ways to better match donors and recipients.

In this episode, Dr. Michael Maddaus interviews Christopher M. Barnes, PhD, professor of organizational behavior at the University of Washington and expert in the impact of sleep deprivation. Dr. Barnes takes a deep dive into the impact of sleep deprivation on leadership performance and behavior, as well as its effects on interpersonal relationships. “When you sleep better, everything in your life will get better—your health, your work, your relationships, your general happiness,” he said. Dr. Barnes examines how important sleep is to overall health and mental wellness. Lack of sleep in some careers—cardiothoracic surgery in particular—often is worn as a badge of honor. But there are serious health consequences that have been linked to not getting enough sleep, including heart attacks, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, weight gain, diabetes, depression, and anxiety. Dr. Barnes explains that when it comes to sleep, the path to success involves both quantity and quality. Listeners also will learn about the concept of “social jetlag” and hear a “menu” of steps to take that will help achieve good sleep hygiene. Dr. Barnes cautions against turning your bed into a home theater (watching tv), a library (reading a book), and/or a lounge (talking on the phone), and recommends banishing all of those activities from your bed, which in turn, will “preserve and strengthen” the important link between bed and sleep. “The Resilient Surgeon” is a program from the Society designed to inspire cardiothoracic surgeons to be their best selves, in and out of the OR, using scientifically proven tools and recovery strategies of the world’s top performers.

Dr. Barnes can be reached on Twitter @chris24barnes.

View his TED Talk, “Sleep and Work.”

Learn more about STS wellness efforts at sts.org/wellness.

The job market for cardiothoracic surgeons is more promising now than it has been in decades. So how can residents and fellows be successful in finding that first job? Vinay Badhwar, MD asks seasoned and early career colleagues for tips on making a good impression during an interview, making sure that the job is a great fit, how to find the best career resources, and how to engage and maintain good mentors.

The Society is offering a new opportunity for self-assessment and quality improvement in cardiothoracic surgery—surgeon-specific outcomes reports from the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD). For those who affirmatively opt in, these feedback reports will be available beginning in fall 2019 and will include data on coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), aortic valve replacement (AVR), CABG+AVR, mitral valve repair and replacement (MVRR), and CABG+MVRR. Four STS leaders, Drs. Richard Prager, David M. Shahian, Alan M. Speir, and Domenico Pagano, recently discussed the importance of this initiative and how it will lead to better patient care.