Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10EAST news | 2016 Issue 3 6 Seniority EAST was conceived by our founding members as a forum to develop and nurture young surgeons who had aspirations for a career in trauma/surgical critical care. In their eyes, the membership would be inclusive, and “active” members would have to be young (less than 50 years of age) to meet the needs and expectations of young surgeons, and to avoid some of the challenges that were seen in more restrictive organizations at that time. Currently more than 600 members from the entire EAST membership of 1800+ members are now Seniors, many having “grown up” with EAST. Although our current Bylaws state that the only limitation for Senior members is that they may not be elected or appointed to an office, the role of Senior members within the organization is unclear. Without a well-defined role for Senior involvement, members tend to disengage from EAST when they turn 50 years-old, leading to a loss of their collective experience and wisdom. Many Senior members have been very active. According to Kirby Gross, MD (EAST Mentoring Short-term Task Force Leader and Senior member), Senior members have been faithful participants in the Mentoring Program since its inception. Mentors have been Senior members for 37 mentor- mentee pairs, with several Senior members serving multiple years: Drs. Ronald Gross (three), Stephen Cohn (two), Kimberly Davis (two), Samir Fakhry (two), Kirby Gross (two), Jay Yelon (two). Samir Fakhry, MD (Past Chair, Seniors Section and EAST Foundation) had led substantial discussions with the Seniors Committee regarding the role of Senior members in EAST. Many spirited debates were produced, rarely were they easily settled. Many questions were raised including: 1.  What was the EAST Founding members vision regarding Seniors? 2.  Should Seniors have a small or large role in EAST? 3.  Should Seniors participate in EAST Sections/Committees? 4.  Should Seniors be limited to mentoring and philanthropy? 5.  Should there be programs for Seniors at the Annual Scientific Assembly? 6.  What does EAST contribute to Seniors? 7.  How does EAST retain Seniors? Shahid Shafi, MD (Past Chair, ICVP Committee and current Seniors Section member) proposed that a plan for the future direction of the role of Senior members in EAST be developed. With this in mind, the Seniors Section has planned a strategic retreat to discuss re-defining the role of Senior members in EAST. This discussion will be held on Tuesday January 10, 2017, at the EAST Annual Scientific Assembly in Hollywood, Florida. If you have any questions, comments, ideas, or are interested in participating in the retreat, please contact Christine Eme, EAST Executive Director (ceme@east.org), or William Chiu, EAST Seniors Section Chair (wchiu@umm.edu). By William C. Chiu, MD, Chair, Seniors Section, and Nicole A. Stassen, MD, President, EAST