Dear friends,

Time yet again for a pow vow. I am personally enjoying my stint as the Editor-in-Chief of IJTC and thank you yet again for reposing that faith in me. Your suggestions and critical comments have been very helpful. Please let them keep coming, as these help us and egg us forwards to new ideas and thought processes.

In a quest to give you something new and take the journal forwards, we have introduced three new sections in the journal. These are:

Young Surgeons Forum
In any fora, be it print or electronic, the seniors and the more affluent get their say but the budding ones & the juniors don’t get to express their ideas, thoughts, problems and frustrations. This is one of the main reasons for medicine in general, and cardiac surgery in specific, loosing its sheen lately. We therefore want to provide a platform for the junior members of the fraternity of cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons to express their view point as to how to make this speciality attractive and intellectually stimulating. Through this section, they will be given free and un-frettered right to express them selves and write on varied topics related to training, work hours, curricula, physician burn out etc. They may also work as roaming microphones for giving reports on various conferences and CME programmes that they attend ….. besides virtually anything & everything which incites and excites them in the speciality.

Pearls from the Masters
To keep pace with the challenges thrown by the interventional cardiologists, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery is evolving at a frenetic pace. Catheter based and Minimally Invasive Techniques, Robotics and such other new techniques are coming fast and furious. The junior members, as also busy practicing CTVS surgeons, find it difficult to keep pace and adapt. This section shall endeavour that the masters give ‘Pearls’ from their wisdom as to how to avoid blips and complications and how to improve the results of various surgical procedures, by penning down small tips which come from experience and wisdom, rather than from text books.

From the other side of the Moon
CTVS surgery has moved from a period of acrimonious competition and antagonism of 1990s and early 2000 with the interventional cardiologists to a more reconciliatory and complementary role. More and more surgical techniques and procedures are now becoming minimally invasive and catheter based and hybrid procedures are becoming the norm of the day. Its therefore very important for a cardiac surgeon to know the view point of his comrade in arms, the interventional cardiologist. This section will give a platform for the interventional cardiologists to interact with the cardiac surgeons and open a dialogue with the aim of cooperation, to take both these specialities forward.

I hope you would contribute to these sections and I make a fervent appeal to all our esteemed colleagues to put pen to the paper. I specifically wish to draw on the wisdom of our seniors for “Pearls” to be passed on to the budding surgeons in the spirit of ‘Guru Shishya Parampara’ and our junior colleagues to voice their thoughts freely and fearlessly – for that’s the only way, we can march forward.

….. Till next!

O.P.Yadava