Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10EAST news | 2016 Issue 3 2 EAST Mission Statement EAST is a scientific organization providing lead- ership and development for young surgeons active in the care of the injured patient through interdisciplinary collaboration, scholarship, and fellowship. EAST Vision Statement EAST seeks to improve care of the injured by provid- ing a forum for the exchange of knowledge in the prac- tice of trauma surgery; to promote trauma prevention, research, and improved trauma systems design; to encourage investigation and teaching of the methods of preventing and treating trauma; and to stimulate future generations of sur- geons to meet the challenge. combat as well as every civilian. This is a herculean task that will help steer the development of our trauma system for many years to come. “It always seems impossible until its done.” – Nelson Mandela As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.” All current EAST Board and the EAST Executive Committee members started our journey with EAST through volunteer service in EAST. My personal EAST journey began as a member of the then Careers in Trauma Committee (Past President Stan Kurek was the committee chair at the time). It provided me with the opportunity to design and run workshops and develop curricula. It was pretty intimidating as a young trauma surgeon to contact leaders in our field to ask if they would participate in an educational work- shop. Not a single person said no if they were able to accommodate it in their schedule. My next assignment through the call for volun- teers was on the Program Committee, where I had the opportunity to work with past president Jeff Salomone and many other enthusiastic EAST members. I absolutely adored looking at the meeting and how to improve it like tracking the sunrise sessions, papers that should have changed your practice, etc…During that time, I also worked on our practice management guideline committee and our research and scholarship committee. That experience enabled me to ascend to serving as the Chair of the Careers in Trauma Committee, leading me to my current role as EAST President. Everything started by taking a leap of faith and filling out a call for volunteers a decade or so ago, it was truly one of the best things I have done. The Call for Volunteers for the 2017 volunteer year closed on September 9, 2016. If you did not make the deadline to volunteer; I encourage you to volunteer for the 2018 service year. In addition to serving on an EAST Section, you may also volunteer your time and talent in other ways such as partici- pating in a Practice Management Guideline Working Group or suggest and participate in an EAST Careercast or Traumacast interview. In closing, in less than six months we will meet again in Hollywood, Florida for our 2017 Annual Assembly. I challenge each and every EAST member between now and then, to continue to “Pay it For- ward” to our organization, our specialty, our families, our patients, our partners, ourselves and our communities. Taking the advice of Walt Disney, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Nicole A. Stassen, MD, FACS, FCCM EAST President Message from the President (continued from page 1)