European Society of Thoracic Surgeons Presidential Address 2024. Adapting to change: embracing lifelong learning curves

Dear guests, members, friends, and my family, Now that you have been introduced to, the formal aspects of my life allow me to share the feelings I have gathered over the past year.Nonetheless, 1st, let us go back a few years to a tradition in our city-a serenade.After the final semester, students serenade their teachers.Just as we did in my time.When the anatomy professor realized that only a few words could truly stay with us in that special light-hearted moment, he left us with a life quote:Assess yourself on a global scale.Years later, when I fully grasped the meaning of that sentence, I realized that ESTS was my gateway to the world.It was an easy recognition, as I had no other options because my boss (Imre Troj an) and one of my colleagues (L aszl o Kecsk es) were the founders of the ESTS.I began working with ESTS and, finally, in the last year, with your trust and confidence, I was privileged to represent the Society on the global stage.Words cannot express how honoured and grateful I am for this prestigious role.During my presidency, I attended many meetings and met many trainees and experts.I engaged in countless discussions about our speciality, science, surgical techniques, theoretical background and colleague relationships.The vital topics of these conversations included: (i) the new robotic techniques in thoracic surgery, (ii) new surgical procedures for sublobar resections, (iii) new oncological drugs that changed our previous protocols in lung cancer treatment, (iv) new concepts in transplantation, (v) sustainability, (vi) presence of artificial intelligence in our work, (vii) training of residents and (viii) position of women in thoracic surgery.These topics reflect that we live in a revolutionary period and are tasked with using these new methods to offer better patient services.