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Dear CSCS Members,
It is an honour to be writing my first message as the new President of the Canadian Society of Cardiac Surgeons (CSCS). It is an exciting time for CSCS as we continue to foster collaboration across the country that improves education, research, and patient care in our field. I would like to thank all CSCS members for their support and engagement. The strength of our Canadian cardiac surgery collective has never been as important as it is in 2025.
This past year was an exciting one for the CSCS. We hosted the 2024 Joint Spring Meeting of the CSCS, Canadian Society of Clinical Perfusion (CSCP), and Western Canada Cardiac Anesthesia Symposium (WCCAS), titled "Beyond Boundaries: A Cardiac Convergence of Surgeons, Anesthesia, and Perfusion" in Calgary. This dynamic meeting brought in 165 registrants across three disciplines, and included nine fully integrated sessions, our first ever shark tank competition, CSCS job fair, vendor reception and the annual Women in Cardiac Surgery Dinner, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Patricia Houston, University of Toronto.
The 10th annual CSCS PGY-1 bootcamp was hosted in Halifax through Dalhousie University division of cardiac surgery from July 26-29, 2024. Fourteen cardiac surgery residents from all the training programs attended. By popular demand, this was the first year extending the Bootcamp from 3 to 4 days.
At CCC 2024, our CSCS Scientific Program Chair, Dr. Subodh Verma, assembled an outstanding international line up of speakers who addressed important and contemporary issues in cardiac surgery. Our guests included Dr. Christopher Caldarone, Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy, Dr. Marc Gillinov, Dr. Harlan Krumholz, Dr. G. Alexander Patterson and Dr. John D. Puskas. Dr. David Adams was the Wilfred Bigelow Lecture speaker, and Dr. Amine Mazine from the University of Toronto was the Paul Cartier Award Recipient. We also hosted our 2nd annual CSCS President’s Dinner at the Lavantine Restaurant & Skybar. Thanks to Dr. Richard Cook and the organizing team, this was a truly world class event.
In 2024, we also honored Dr. Francois Dagenais, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, with the CSCS Achievement Award. And we remained committed to fostering the mandates of our Committees and Task Forces, including the CSCS EDI Taskforce, Wellness Taskforce, Aging Cardiac Surgeons Taskforce and the Workforce Committee.
The CSCS is looking forward to a busy 2025 as we host the joint CSCS/CSCP Beyond Boundaries 2025, in Montreal, QC from Thursday, May 22 to Saturday, May 24. New this year, the meeting will feature the Canadian Bigelow Resident Research Competition. We are also delighted to welcome keynote speakers: Dr. Joseph Bavaria, Dr. Francois Dagenais, and Dr. Nancy Poirier. Registration is now open! See below for more details. The CSCS is also excited to deliver and discuss cutting-edge research and advancements in cardiac surgery at CCC 2025, taking place October 23-26, 2025, in Quebec City. Above and beyond these events, we will remain highly committed to our trainees, and providing content that is truly specific to the evolving needs of our trainees.
As we look forward to this exciting year, we ask that you renew your commitment to the CCS and the CSCS. Your membership renewal invoice has been sent to you by email from membership@ccs.ca. It is our hope that you will renew your membership and encourage your colleagues to join the CSCS as well.
In summary I am looking forward to serving you and representing the interests of all CSCS members. Our strong sense of community and belonging to the society is beneficial to all of us. There is no other association in Canada that speaks on our behalf as cardiovascular surgeons. Please contact me directly if you have ideas to implement or wish to be more engaged with our society.
Respectfully,
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