Welcome Address

Holland is more than tulips, windmills or wooden shoes, and The Hague proves this.
In this city the parliament resides, the King has his working palace but also the embassies, the International Court of Justice and the Criminal Court are located here.
The third largest city of Holland has the largest coastline: more than 11 km beach and two seaside resorts: Scheveningen and Kijkduin.
It  has the grandeur of a royal residence and the friendliness of a small town in a multicultural and international setting.

Art, architecture, nature, canals and simple but also exquisite  international food can be found in this beautiful city.

In 2020 the ESTS annual meeting will take place in The Hague; the city and this meeting match perfectly:
The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons is about International collaboration, learning together and sharing experience and knowledge but also preparing the future generation in a rapidly changing surgical world.  Equally important are the friendships, networks and a perfect environment to get in touch with the Industry.
The ESTS meeting is the place were members and many other colleagues meet and we would like you to be part of this. Please also bring your team members: (specialized) nurses, OR team members: we can only perform as a team.
Join the plenary sessions, come to the breakfast meetings and social events, learn from colleagues, tell us about your own expertise and experience.  
Learn about new techniques, new instruments, and new possibilities within our profession and about disease management, let’s talk about new topics; how to get the patient fit for surgery (prehabilitation) and how can we stay fit to perform. Meet old and make new friends.

The world is changing rapidly and thoracic surgery and present and future surgeons have to move along.
In other words: learn, share, teach and enjoy

We can do this together in The Hague 2020 where we all wholeheartedly welcome you
 

Dr. Willem Steup
Chair of LOC

Dear friends, members and guests,
It is my great pleasure to invite you, on behalf of the ESTS Council and the ESTS Program Committee,  to the 28th ESTS Annual Conference in The Hague, Holland.

The last editions of the ESTS conferences have confirmed the leadership position of ESTS in the field of general thoracic surgery. Since its foundation in 1993, ESTS has constantly grown to become the reference society in our field. Its membership has dramatically increased, including not only European countries, but expanding to countries from all over the world. ESTS conferences are now an extraordinary meeting opportunity for thoracic surgeons and allied health professionals from every corner of the world.

The mission of ESTS remains, as written in the Constitution, “the advancement of education, research and patient care by the study and practice of thoracic surgery and related medical subjects” and for this reason the annual meeting represents the most important educational event of the Society. Every year a group of enthusiastic, committed and motivated people starts working in September through constant email correspondence, teleconferences and face-to-face meetings to provide the most up-to-date, educational, entertaining and social conference in our field. This is a huge work, done by people on a voluntary basis, very often during weekends, holidays and nights. The huge amount of work behind the preparation of the annual conference involve hundreds of committed people, from the abstract reviewers to the administrative personnel, to the local organizing committee and the Conference Organizers (PCO), under the active and engaged supervision of the Program Committee. To all of them we all owe our gratitude, and I am particularly proud and honored to collaborate and work with them.

The result of this extraordinary and collaborative effort materializes every June when the ESTS conference opens and when you can see people from all over the world coming to the congress venue and start attending the sessions, asking questions, networking each other, relaxing and having fun in the amazing cities that kindly accommodate our delegates and offer them the hospitality, the cultural, gastronomical and leisure activities which make all European cities so attractive in the world.

The scientific program offers a complete and top-quality overview of all aspects of our beautiful specialty, taking into account its constant technological and scientific innovation. We have the privilege to benefit from the collaboration with other sister societies which kindly offer their expertise in high-quality joint sessions. A particular attention is paid to some of the most innovative paradigm shifts in our field, including the interaction with other disciplines (medical and radiation oncology, pathology, pulmonology), the patient-centered approach to the diseases, the fundamental role of the allied health professionals (nurses, physiotherapists, allied personnel), which can benefit from a dedicated symposium.
A special thank should be reserved to our Industry partners which enthusiastically offer their resources and financial support to our annual meeting.
A final word is for our junior colleagues, trainees and residents: the program has been primarily created and tailored to them, and every year we try to get them more involved in greater responsible roles, because they will be what we are now, and it is our duty to get them motivated, enthusiastic and committed as our mentors taught us to be years ago..

I am sure that the meeting in The Hague will be an unprecedented opportunity for all of you to acquire scientific and technical skills, to network, to have fun and most of all to find friends who share with you the passion and love for this amazing discipline.

I look forward to seeing you in The Hague.  

Prof. Enrico Ruffini
ESTS President