The AATS Academy: Development of a unique concept in medical education

Abstract

At its December 2007 meeting, the Council of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) voted to develop an AATS Academy for aspiring division chiefs as a part of its mission of ‘‘promoting scholarship in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery.’’ This measurewas taken in recognition of the lack of any formal educational process to prepare individuals for the administrative role of a division chief. A committee was appointed, consisting of Bartley Griffith, Irving Kron, Thoralf Sundt, and Fred Crawford as chairman. After a series of conference calls and faceto-face meetings, a tentative program was developed. Letters were sent to current division chiefs and department chairs requesting nominations of individuals who should be considered as participants in this program. Forty-five cardiothoracic surgeons were nominated, and ultimately 19 were selected. Candidates were selected on the basis of accomplishments documented in their curricula vitae, letters of recommendation, and personal knowledge by the Academy committee. Faculty members were selected on the basis of expertise in particular areas, experience as a division chief or department chair, and service in national organizations and on various regulatory bodies, such as the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the Thoracic Surgery Residency Review Committee. A secondary but important goal of the Academy was to promote extensive interaction between faculty members and participants so that personal relationships could be developed to foster future mentoring. To that end, the faculty member to student ratio was approximately 1:1, and the faculty members were required to agree that they would be present for all aspects of the entire program. In otherwords, brief guest appearances to give a talk and leavewere strongly discouraged. Themeeting room was set up in an informal classroom style, with assigned seating so that 2 faculty members and 2 participants were at each table, again to promote interaction. The initial Academy took place just before the 2009 AATS meeting in Boston and began with a brief introduc-