Safe Spaces and Cultural Norms: Our Sustainability Plan.

In this issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Hamilton and colleagues 1 Hamilton B.C.S. Nguyen D. Grondin S.C. et al. Global makeup of cardiothoracic surgeons as represented by our major societies and associations. Ann Thorac Surg. 2023; 115: 1052-1061 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (2) Google Scholar have identified a significant problem in our community. Simply stated, we do not know who we are as a surgical community and because of that we are unable to address the inequities that exist within our own sphere of influence. What we do with the data and how to measure the impact is imperative; this paper brings us awareness, but more than that, it is a call to action for us as individuals and leaders at all levels of education and health care. We must become an inclusive community if we are to be sustainable as a profession that is culturally safe and truly diverse. Global Makeup of Cardiothoracic Surgeons as Represented by Our Major Societies and AssociationsThe Annals of Thoracic SurgeryVol. 115Issue 4PreviewPrior efforts to capture the cardiothoracic surgery community rely on survey data with potentially biased or low response rates. Our goal is to better understand our community by assessing the membership directories from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), and Asian Society for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (ASCVTS). Full-Text PDF