Women in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Mission statement
It is our mission to guide the Association in its efforts to champion the role of women throughout the organisation, identifying opportunities and making recommendations for EACTS to create a fair, equitable, diverse and inclusive culture in which women have equal opportunities in training, research and leadership. The WiCTS Committee aims to spread awareness of gender disparity and provide assistance to women in cardiothoracic surgery through research, training and mentorship.
The WiCTS Committee is a standing committee of the EACTS Council and reports and recommends directly to the Council via the Committee Chair through the Secretary General. The Chair of the WiCTS Committee is appointed by the EACTS Council for an initial term of 3 years, renewable for a second term of 3 years.
WiCTS WEBINAR SERIES – The Changing Face of Leadership: From Diversity to Inclusion
The WiCTS is delighted to announce the launch of the first Webinar Series: the Changing Face of Leadership: From Diversity to Inclusion.
The eight-part series will blend theory with practical information from experts and guest speakers, creating a community of like-minded peers to discuss and enhance understanding of women’s challenges and roles in the current landscape. The webinar series covers a wide-range of topics and tools for surgeons to develop leadership skills and realise their ambitions as leaders in the field.
Open to all EACTS members (free) and non members (for a small fee) who support the advancement of inclusion and diversity in cardiothoracic surgery, the series kicked off on Thursday 15th September, diving straight into the heart of the gender debate ‘Medicine is not gender-neutral – She is male’, hosted by Jolanda Kluin, Chair of the Women in Cardiothoracic Surgery committee. The webinar takes place on the first Thursday of every month, ending until 11 May 2023.
Please see the Programme below. Registration is now open!
WOMEN IN CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
COMMITTEE NEWS:
- WiCTS and ESTS conducted a survey administered electronically to surgeon members of the EACTS (8339 members/non-members) and ESTS (1422 members) from December 2020 through January 2021.
- Read the “The impact of gender bias in cardiothoracic surgery in Europe: a European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery survey” available in the Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezac034
- The Committee is organising a number of activities at the EACTS Annual Meeting in October 2022, Milan, Italy. It will be a great opportunity to enjoy and network!
Chair – Dr Jolanda Kluin (Professor, MD, PhD, FESC, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Professor Translational Cardiothoracic Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Member – Miss Indu Deglurkar (MBBS, FRCS, FRCS(CTh), Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK)
Member – Dr Anna Lena Emrich (MD, Research Fellow Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA; Junior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Mainz, Germany)
Member – Dr Francesca D’Auria (MD, PhD, MBA, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Maggiore della Carità University Hospital, Novara, Italy – Research Fellow, Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Heart&Vascular Centre, Maastricht University Centre, Maastricht, The Netherland – 2021-2022 Awardee American Association for Thoracic Surgery Evarts A. Graham Memorial Traveling Fellowship)
Member – Dr Julie Cleuziou (MD, PhD, MBA, Consultant Congenital Cardiac Surgeon, Deputy Director, Department of Congenital and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, German Heart Center Munich, Germany)
Member – Dr Maroua Eid (Resident in Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital of Angers, France)
Member – Dr Miia Lehtinen (Resident in Cardiothoracic Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Finland)
Goals:
It is our purpose to identify those areas where EACTS can play a leading role to inspire more women to fulfill their surgical career ambitions. We want to promote diversity and equality within our association and spread awareness of gender disparity. Through research, training and mentorship we hope to grant assistance to women in cardiothoracic surgery.
Our goal is to provide mentorship for female cardiothoracic surgeons (in training) for career development, subspecialty training, research and academia impartial of religion, race or ethnicity. We want to actively encourage women to participate in cardiothoracic surgery by enhancing women’s educational and career development opportunities through the EACTS Annual Meeting, EACTS Academy, research opportunities, and fellowships.
Collaborations with stakeholders and other organisations will play an incremental role in promoting gender equality. It is important to identify and promote professional opportunities for women in both training and leadership roles and ensure representation of women in scientific sessions at the annual meeting and on different organisational levels and domains within the EACTS.
Additionally, we would like to provide advice on achieving work-life balance, flexible working times and return to work after maternity.
For more information please send an email to [email protected].
