Comments*

 

  • Message From the President, Andrew B. Peitzman, MD

    This letter greets you after an outstanding program of the AAST in Pittsburgh. We had over 800 in attendance at the meeting, a clear sign of the growth and mission of the AAST. It is a distinct honor to serve as the President of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.

    The AAST remains the leading scientific trauma society in the world. Remarkable change and progress has occurred within the AAST over the past several years. It is important that we mature and maintain the goals that our recent presidents have initiated.  These projects include Acute Care Surgery, strengthening and support of our military liaisons, the Senior Visiting Surgeon program, partnering with our sister trauma organizations, research fellowships, more structured research structure and funding within the AAST, follow-up of the AAST BOM retreat, and making the AAST a more inclusive organization.

    Support of scholarship remains strong with the ACS/AAST/NIGMS awards, the AAST/Ethicon award, the AAST/KCI award, the AAST/Research and Education Foundation award, and the CIMIT award.   The multi-institutional trials committee is evolving to a committee more broadly focused on research endeavors, including funding from the National Trauma Institute, and development of a web-based data collection tool. We plan to continue to work closely with and support the NTI.

    We encourage applicants from the academic trauma centers, as well as from surgeons from community hospitals who are leaders in their communities and regions. In addition, the AAST is becoming more involved internationally and we encourage surgeons who provide trauma care in all countries to become active in our society. 

    Acute Care Surgery had verified five training programs with many more in the cue. The mock exam in Acute Care Surgery at the AAST meeting had over 200 participants, providing an important baseline for the organization. 

    A major task this year will be the search for the next editor of THE JOURNAL OF TRAUMA.  As we embark on this mission, we owe a great deal to Dr. Pruitt for his efforts on behalf of the JOT and our society.

    Just to remind you, the AAST meeting in Boston starts on Wednesday afternoon, thus a half day longer. We will have three more papers presented, in addition to starting a Master Surgeon Lecture series and panel discussions with international representation.  This is an exciting time for the AAST and I look forward to working with you all this year.