Francis Fontan Fund Fellowships: Open for Applications Now

Francis Fontan Fund Fellowships: Open for Applications Now until mid-end Sep 2021

Fellowship scheme
EACTS members can now apply for a prestigious Francis Fontan Fund Fellowship. A wide variety of Fellowship schemes are available to members around the world with the aim of supporting surgical education, fostering professional development and strengthening the global cardiothoracic community through increased knowledge share.

The Fellowship programme offers unique career opportunities across a range of cardio and thoracic surgical experiences, with access to world-class courses, residential training in both European and American centres of excellence and clinical proctorship with surgical leaders. The Fund represents a vital part of the EACTS’ educational offering.

Professor Rafael Sádaba, EACTS Secretary General & Chairman of the Francis Fontan Fund, says: “The Fund’s mission is to create a global community sharing and learning from the highest standards of cardiothoracic care. Our Fellows are given the tools to establish life-saving new techniques in their institution and to emerge with skills, techniques and supportive professional networks that they could not have gained in any other way.”

The Fund offers three categories of Fellowship: Research, Leadership and Education. Research Fellowships offer experienced cardiothoracic surgeons a placement in cardiothoracic research, whilst Leadership Fellowships enable candidates to attend specialist courses and a placement in a clinic specialised in a specific area of cardiothoracic surgery. Education Fellowships offer candidates early in their surgical career foundation knowledge in a specific aspect of cardiothoracic surgery.

There are four Fellowship programmes that are now open for EACTS member to apply. Please note the application deadlines below, it is essential that you do not submit a late submission.

1. TSF/FFF International Travelling Fellowship 2022

Application Deadline: 15 Sep 2021

The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons have collaborated to offer the TSF/FFF International Travelling Fellowship. This new Fellowship offers young faculty surgeons an exciting opportunity to travelto America and learn from surgeons dedicated to the highest standards of cardiothoracic care.

Click here for further information and to apply.

2. EACTS-MSTCVS Quality and Outcomes Fellowship 2022

Application Deadline: 29 Sep 2021

This Fellowship provides an in-depth understanding of cardiothoracic surgical outcomes with one of the world’s leading quality improvement teams, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Click here for further information and to apply.

3. Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Fellowship 2022

Application Deadline: 29 Sep 2021

Available to newly graduated cardiothoracic surgeons from around the world, this Fellowship offers an educational opportunity to enhance clinical understanding and acquire theoretical and practical knowledge in the surgical management of patients with coronary artery disease.

Click here for further information and to apply

4. Advanced Intensive Postoperative Care 2022

Application Deadline: 29 Sep 2021

This Fellowships offers an opportunity to gain experience in the postoperative management in adult cardiovascular surgery, as well as a wide exposure to minimally invasive and other advanced techniques in cardiovascular surgery.

Click here for further information and to apply.

EACTS is saddened by the loss of Hans Huysmans on 25 August 2021.

Hans Huysmans (1933-2021) 

EACTS is saddened by the loss of Hans Huysmans on 25 August 2021. Professor Hans Huysmans was one of the founding fathers of our Association. 

Hans was born into a family of doctors and started his career in general surgery. As a general surgeon he performed thoracic and also some cardiac procedures. He was then appointed as a professor of cardiothoracic surgery in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This was in the early days of heart surgery and our specialty was struggling to become a discipline that was independent of general surgery. In 1979 Hans switched to Leiden University where he was appointed as Gerard Brom’s successor. Professor Huysmans remained head of the department of cardiothoracic surgery in Leiden until 1998. 

Hans Huysmans has contributed much of his energy to the development of cardiothoracic surgery as an independent specialty, not only in his home country but also at a European level. Apart from being one of the founding members he was EACTS president from 1989-1990. Hans worked particularly hard to create a robust training programme for EACTS. The European Board of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (EBTCS) was founded in 1995 and is now a well-respected training programme with examinations in all different subspecialties of cardiothoracic surgery. 

Personally, I was accepted by him as a trainee in cardiothoracic surgery in Leiden, something that I have never regretted. Hans Huysmans was a technically gifted and universal surgeon with an endless patience for his residents. He supported his trainees as much as he could and was always friendly. Until the very end Hans continued to show a keen interest in our specialty. We will miss him and wish Anne-Marie and his family our sincere condolences and best wishes. 

Mark Hazekamp, President, EACTS