The 2025 Society of Thoracic Surgeon Annual Meeting was an incredible experience. Los Angeles was a beautiful host city and it was great to see the resilience of the community after the tragic wildfires that caused unfathomable loss of life and property.
The hotels and restaurants were filled with first responders and firefighters from across the world, which served as a reminder of life’s priorities of health, happiness, and safety. For us, the STS Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to gain inspiration, learn practice-changing information, and enjoy the friendship of fellow surgeons.
Inspiration was a key takeaway from the STS annual meeting. Keynote speakers, included STS Past President Dr. Jennifer C. Romano, who shared a very personal perspective on the importance of expressing vulnerability, building resilience, and "extending grace to others and ourselves," and Nobel Prize Laureate Jennifer Doudna, PhD, who talked about the transformative impact of scientific innovation on the future of medicine.
We also were inspired by the vibrant community of students, residents, fellows, and early career surgeons who participated in The Hub. Seeing a packed auditorium of the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons for a TRSA breakfast session was exciting and the future of cardiothoracic surgery looks bright.
Highlights from The Hub include Dr. Jim Dahle, the White Coat Investor; mock oral exams; and mock job interviews. It was an awesome demonstration of the continued development and iterative growth of the meeting, especially the contributions of the Workforce on Career Development.
Learning new information that will improve patient care was another impactful feature of the STS Annual Meeting. We returned home with new information about surgical techniques and perioperative care that will allow us to continue to advance our skillsets as cardiothoracic surgeons.
Sessions featured speakers who are world experts on advancements in the field ranging from neoadjuvant immunotherapy trials for lung cancer to the latest in minimally invasive cardiac surgery techniques. We especially enjoyed the discussion among the panelists, moderators, and audience. These discussions allowed us to dive into the nuances of the topics and determine how to best implement these breakthroughs into our everyday clinical practice.
We also were pleased to hear the results of the second annual Compensation and practice survey that continues to provide unmatched feedback about our specialty, our work, and our value.
The fellowship of an in-person meeting is unmatched and the collegiality of the STS annual meeting is always a highlight. It is great to catch up with colleagues who have become close friends over the years. The conversations we have and the relationships we build are truly what bring people back year after year.
For me, connecting with surgeons I worked with during residency and fellowship – both co-residents and faculty, is so important. These connections are deep-rooted and it's great to hear how people's careers and personal lives are going.
The STS annual meeting is a great opportunity to make new connections as well. Taking current residents out to dinner is a high point – whether it's my trainees or students and residents from the Looking to the Future program.
The President’s Reception was another great opportunity to socialize with colleagues and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles provided a beautiful backdrop of dinosaur fossils!
Reflecting back on The Society of Thoracic Surgeon’s 2025 Annual Meeting there are many highlights. We are already looking forward to the 2026 Annual Meeting and can’t wait to experience inspiration, education, and fellowship with all of you next year in New Orleans!
Check out this video of Dr. Okusanya's tour of The Hub at STS 2025.