American association for thoracic surgery

In 1913 Dr. Willy Meyer, director of surgery at the German Hospital in New York, presented a paper on "Extrathoracic and Intrathoracic Esophagoplasty . . ." at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting. Disappointed by the lack of interest in his topic, Meyer decided to create a venue devoted to exchanging ideas regarding the growing field of thoracic surgery. He began by inviting nineteen local colleagues to his home on February 20, 1917, and founding the New York Society for Thoracic Surgery. This was to be a society "for" thoracic surgery rather than "of" thoracic surgeons to encourage anyone with an interest in the field to participate. The original group of twenty men elected Meyer as permanent chairman and agreed to work toward forming a national organization.

The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) was formed at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting on June 7, 1917. It consisted of fifty founding members, including Meyer, Alexis Carrel, Armistead C. Crump, Nathan W. Green, Howard Lilienthal, Rudolph Matas, and Samuel Robinson. The first annual meeting of the AATS was held on June 10, 1918; the first constitution was adopted the following year. Meeting attendance grew slowly but steadily over the association's first two decades before expanding rapidly after WWII. Fifty years after its founding, AATS membership had grown to 685 and the annual meeting had expanded significantly.

As membership grew, the association developed mechanisms for carrying out educational and administrative functions. Papers presented at the annual meetings were published in the American Medical Association's Archives of Surgery before the AATS began publishing The Journal of Thoracic Surgery (now The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery) in October 1931 with Dr. Evarts Ambrose Graham as its first editor. In 1951 the AATS established the Evarts A. Graham Memorial Traveling Fellowship to bring foreign surgeons to North American medical facilities to train in cardiothoracic surgery. In 1970 the AATS engaged the firm of Professional Relations and Research Institute for the professional management of the association.

In 1913 Dr. Willy Meyer, director of surgery at the German Hospital in New York, presented a paper on "Extrathoracic and Intrathoracic Esophagoplasty . . ." at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting. Disappointed by the lack of interest in his topic, Meyer decided to create a venue devoted to exchanging ideas regarding the growing field of thoracic surgery. He began by inviting nineteen local colleagues to his home on February 20, 1917, and founding the New York Society for Thoracic Surgery. This was to be a society "for" thoracic surgery rather than "of" thoracic surgeons to encourage anyone with an interest in the field to participate. The original group of twenty men elected Meyer as permanent chairman and agreed to work toward forming a national organization.

The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) was formed at the American Medical Association Annual Meeting on June 7, 1917. It consisted of fifty founding members, including Meyer, Alexis Carrel, Armistead C. Crump, Nathan W. Green, Howard Lilienthal, Rudolph Matas, and Samuel Robinson. The first annual meeting of the AATS was held on June 10, 1918; the first constitution was adopted the following year. Meeting attendance grew slowly but steadily over the association's first two decades before expanding rapidly after WWII. Fifty years after its founding, AATS membership had grown to 685 and the annual meeting had expanded significantly.

As membership grew, the association developed mechanisms for carrying out educational and administrative functions. Papers presented at the annual meetings were published in the American Medical Association's Archives of Surgery before the AATS began publishing The Journal of Thoracic Surgery (now The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery ) in October 1931 with Dr. Evarts Ambrose Graham as its first editor. In 1951 the AATS established the Evarts A. Graham Memorial Traveling Fellowship to bring foreign surgeons to North American medical facilities to train in cardiothoracic surgery. In 1970 the AATS engaged the firm of Professional Relations and Research Institute for the professional management of the association.