Letter of Secretary General 2006

   The Scandinavian Association for Thoracic Surgery has traditionally been a bridge connecting thoracic surgeons of all Nordic countries. As the secretary general of the society since August last year I would like to tell you some facts from past, present and future of the society. But first things first; it is me a great pleasure to thank the past Secretary General Leidulf Segadal for the great job he did during years for SATS.

  The most important task of the association has always been the annual meeting organized together with the perfusionists. The meetings have been not only the forum to present the latest scientific papers of thoracic surgery but also an opportunity to meet Scandinavian colleagues and spend a couple of relaxing days with them in wonderful social events. Of course we have today the European Union but the Nordic connection has not lost its importance. Our meeting is not just one meeting among the others; it has a special charm bringing us together year after year.

  There have been, however, some clouds shadowing the future of the Association. The declining numbers of the attendants alarmed us to think over the way we organized the meetings. There was a group of young surgeons from each country and also representatives of the industry, which has suggested some guidelines for the coming meetings. It was decided to have the meeting on annual basis so far but they will be organized only in Nordic capitals, this year as you all know in Reykjavik and then 2007 in Helsinki and so on. These decisions were made three years ago after the meeting in Turku. The meetings in Gothenburg 2004 and in Bergen 2005 have been more successful and the Reykjavik meeting looks very good in advance; the number of abstracts sent for is highest in many years.

  The activities of the society could be more versatile. It has been discussed about the possibility to build up a system for resident exchange between Nordic thoracic centres; also some multicenter studies in the field of cardiac or general thoracic surgery could be introduced by SATS. We also should be very opening minded for the suggested cooperation with the new Baltic countries. The national societies in those countries are young, but the cooperation could be very fruitful for both sides. I would like to hear your suggestions how to proceed.

  It has been rather difficult to keep the list of the members up to date. Therefore it is great pleasure to notice that all members of the national societies in Norway and Sweden are also members of SATS. It makes everything much easier. I hope that Denmark and Finland could follow this excellent example. The membership fee is not really that high.

  As you surely have noticed our websites have been remodelled after the CTSNet format. We are trying to make them active and well functioning but it takes time. You can help us by giving suggestions and discussing in our sites when we are so far. I have been told by many parts that the address of our websites is difficult to find and is not logic. However, for instance www.sats.org is already in use and to search with mere sats gives too many options.  I think and hope that with more information spread by each of us the present address (www.scandinavian-ats.org) will work well enough. Our new webmaster Keijo Leivo is a very active guy and will do his best to make the sites attractive.

  The future of SATS looks better than in years and with our common efforts we can do it still better. Especially the younger colleagues with fresh ideas are welcome to work in the society.

Yours sincerely

Timo Savunen

Secretary General