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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2006;132:747-752
© 2006 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Presidential Address 2003

Joel Cooper, MD*

Division of Thoracic Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

Received for publication June 5, 2006; accepted for publication June 7, 2006.

* Address for reprints: Joel Cooper, MD, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St, 6 Silverstein, Philadelphia, PA 19104. (Email: joel.cooper@uphs.upenn.edu).

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

I am truly grateful to the American Association for Thoracic Surgery for the opportunity to serve as your President. Working with the talented and dedicated officers, council and committee members, journal editors, and staff of our administrative organization, PRRI, all of whom work tirelessly for this organization, has made this past year very special for me. I wish also to thank my family and friends from Toronto, St Louis, and elsewhere who made a special effort to attend today's presentation.

Two events immediately preceded my preparation of this address: a delightful fishing trip to a remote part of Canada with 3 of our sons and the loss, too early in life, of a very dear cousin, a woman of great strength and compassion. As a result, my perspective when preparing these remarks was infused with an appreciation of life, of our particular careers and opportunities, and of our obligations to our profession, our predecessors, our society, and our successors.

My father, an orthodox Rabbi, named me Joel after a minor prophet of the Old Testament. Joel delivered a message of hope in a time of uncertainty and discouragement. He correctly prophesied an end to the crisis and a return to better days. My message, like his, is a simple one. It is a privilege and a responsibility to be a cardiothoracic surgeon at this point in history. We have at our disposal unprecedented resources that empower us as never before to perform miracles for our patients. We are obligated to inspire and encourage our successors.

We have a proud heritage: Hippocrates, the father of medicine, is credited with separating the art of healing from magic and superstition. The Roman Celsus noted 3 ways to treat a patient: "diet, medicine, and surgery, but only surgery works."1Go The 14th century English surgeon, . . . [Full Text of this Article]






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