Prior efforts to capture the cardiothoracic surgery community rely on survey data with potentially biased or low response rates. Our goal is to better understand our community by assessing the membership directories from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS), and the Asian Society for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (ASCVTS).Membership data was obtained from membership directories. Data for STS and EACTS were supplemented by the associations from their internal databases. Inclusion criteria were active membership; trainees and wholly incomplete profiles were excluded.A total of 12,053 membership profiles were included (STS 6,365; EACTS 3,661; AATS 1,495; ASCVTS 532). Membership is 7% female overall (EACTS 9%; STS 6%; AATS 5%; ASCVTS 3%) with a median age of 57 (STS 60; EACTS 52). All societies included a broad scope of practice including members who practiced both adult cardiac and thoracic (20% overall), but most members practiced adult cardiac (31% overall; ASCVTS 48%; AATS 36%; EACTS 30%; STS 28%) and were in the late stage of their careers.We present the makeup of our four major societies. We are global with a diversity of careers but concerning factors that require immediate attention. The future of our specialty depends on our ability to evolve, promote the specialty, attract trainees, and include and promote female surgeons. It is crucial that we wake up to these issues, change the narrative, and create action on both individual and leadership levels.
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