b'2019 ISSUE THREEMessage from the PresidentElliott R. Haut, MD, PhD, FACSBetter Togethernews Professional organizations such as the A SD RV E Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma A EN R (EAST) continue to shape the landscape ACCIN of American medicine. EASTs drive to G S N improve the care of the injured patient has G E A S T E R N A S S O C IAT I O N DIC F O R T H E S U R G E RY IE O F T R AU M A IL not wavered in more than 30 years. However, N UCB the way in which we approach our mission is E S FO IP reengineered, reconsidered, and reevaluated STERINGNSHRELA nearly every day. EASTs path forward has TIOalways focused on the young and early career surgeon as a key variable in the outcomes of trauma patients. Many EAST programs In This Issue fall exclusively under the sole purview of EAST and aim directly at these Presidents Message young surgeons. For example, our leadership development workshop and Annual Scientific mentoring program are signature EAST items.Assembly Preview However, some endeavors we undertake rely on collaboration with otherMembership Renewal organizations to achieve our mission. We do not exist in a vacuum. EAST DevelopmentThere are dozens of professional societies whose work might overlap Fund with EASTs. To truly change the world we need to work together under the overarching umbrella of trauma surgeryrather than splintering off Scholarship Deadlines into the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST), the Dates to Remember American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT), or the Western Trauma Association (WTA). We must not see these groups as direct competitors. We are working to change that landscape. The most Strategic Goals vivid analogy I can provide is to the world of board games. Theres a new LEADERSHIP style of non-competitive, cooperative games such as Forbidden Desert Prepare young surgeonsand Pandemic where the players dont try to beat each other but they try to work together to collectively beat the game. The National Trauma to become leadersDEVELOPMENTInstitute (NTI) and Coalition of National Trauma Research (CNTR) are ideal examples of this type of collaboration. A single individual trauma Promote unique organization could never have done what we have been able to do together; programs for the careerby using one collective voice we convinced the federal government to development of young provide tens of millions of dollars for trauma research. Next up, a dedicated surgical leaders trauma research institute in the National Institute of Health (NIH). SCHOLARSHIPProvide education andOur ongoing decade-long relationship with the Society of Traumatraining across the con- Nurses (STN) reemphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of trauma tinuum of acute care. We collaborate with nurses every day in the trauma bay, ICU, and surgical care operating room. Why wouldnt this relationship flow over to our respective FELLOWSHIP professional organizations? We continue to build alliances and create Encourage a sense ofpractice management guidelines in collaboration with sister organizationscommunity for personalsuch as the Pediatric Trauma Society (PTS), the Chest Wall Injury professional growth Society (CWIS), the Trauma Anesthesiology Society (TAS) and the COLLABORATION Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Most recently we have beenWork with our stakehold-ers to advance patient care and trauma systems (continues on page 2)'