Print this Article 
Send to a FriendClearly there are many challenges that all of us who practice cardiothoracic surgery face every day. We must contend with declining reimbursement for our services as well as rising practice expenses, including malpractice insurance. Many surgeons have experienced a decline in case volume. Our patients tend to be older and present with far advanced disease and multiple co-morbidities. The degree of interest that young persons have for entering our specialty appears to be at an all time low ebb.
While there is much to concern us there is also much to celebrate. New techniques are constantly being introduced that extend our capabilities to impact positively on our patients’ lives. Opportunities for service and scholarship remain plentiful. Many capable and dedicated young learners continue to seek out cardiothoracic surgeons as teachers, mentors, and role models.
We have established “New Horizons” as a place for contributions from authors to address the issues facing us and to propose solutions that might help propel us into the future. The contributions are in a free-flowing editorial style, and the content can be wide-ranging. As a general rule the pieces we publish should be between 500 and 2000 words. This new section of CTSNet was established under the auspices of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on Graduate Medical Education.
A number of individuals have been solicited to write articles specifically to be included in this section. However, it is important to emphasize that “New Horizons” properly belongs to all past, present and future practicing cardiothoracic surgeons, and we encourage you to write a column that can be included in the future.
Each new contribution will be posted and highlighted for approximately six weeks, and a complete archive of prior postings will be maintained. We encourage you to read each article and to give them all your thoughtful consideration. More importantly, we encourage you to send your own contribution to be included. Surely your ideas and thoughts are important and can help address the issues that concern us all.