Humanitarian Cardiothoracic Surgery: How and Why I Do It

Filmed at the 2017 STS Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas, four cardiothoracic surgeons share why and how they have made humanitarian cardiothoracic surgery a part of their careers. Emily Farkas of the ThedaCare Appleton Heart Institute in Wisconsin, is joined by Kathleen Fenton of the William Novick Global Cardiac Alliance, Vinicius Nina of the Federal University of Maranh in Brazil, and Virginia Litle of the Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts. Each panelist shares how they began providing and teaching cardiothoracic surgery in underserved areas, and they discuss the challenges to and rewards of making humanitarian work part of one’s career. They also share different ways that practicing surgeons and trainees can incorporate surgical volunteerism into their career or their training.

More information on humanitarian surgical work can be found in CTSNet’s Surgical Volunteerism Portal.