Surgeon

An important element of building and maintaining a successful cardiothoracic surgery practice is the relationship with referring physicians such as cardiologists and primary care physicians. V.

The Thoracic Surgery Foundation offered its first International Medical Volunteer Scholarship to cardiothoracic surgery resident Kellianne Kleeman, MD, from the University of Michigan, so that she could participate in a charitable medical mission to an underserved region of the world. Dr. Kleeman recently traveled to Nepal, with Fred Grover, MD, and his team on their annual trip to help people in South Asia.

Four cardiothoracic surgeons discuss the opioid epidemic in the United States, the scope of the problem among lung cancer patients, how else the epidemic is affecting the cardiothoracic surgery community, and what cardiothoracic surgeons are doing to stem the crisis.

Keith S. Naunheim, MD (Saint Louis University) - moderator
David T. Cooke, MD (UC Davis, Sacramento)
James D. Luketich, MD (University of Pittsburgh)
Alexander A. Brescia, MD (University of Michigan)

New technologies and innovative treatments are making it easier to successfully diagnose and treat patients with lung cancer. Douglas E. Wood, MD (University of Washington) moderates a discussion with Leah Backhus, MD, MPH (Stanford University), Elizabeth David, MD (UC Davis), and Moishe Liberman, MD, PhD (University of Montreal) about how low-dose computed tomography, wearable devices, energy-sealing devices, and robots are changing patient outcomes and experiences.