British Thoracic Society

Last updated
British Thoracic Society
AbbreviationBTS
Formation1982
Legal statusRegistered charity and limited company
PurposeThoracic medicine (pulmonology) in the UK
Location
Region served
UK
Membership
Respiratory medical professionals in the UK
Chief Executive
Sally Welham
Website BTS

The British Thoracic Society (BTS) was formed in 1982 by the amalgamation of the British Thoracic Association and the Thoracic Society. [1] It is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. [2]

Contents

Function

The Society's main charitable objective is to improve the care of people with respiratory disorders, which it aims to achieve by:

Structure

BTS is a membership organisation, with over 4,000 members from the respiratory health sector (as of December 2022). These include doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists, speech and language therapists, scientists and other professionals with an interest in respiratory disease. [3]

The Society also works in partnership with a range of organisations to achieve its objectives. These partners include other respiratory health professional groups, organisations representing patients and carers, medical and surgical Royal Colleges and other specialist societies.

Meetings and Short Course Programmes

BTS holds two annual conferences; the Summer Meeting in the last week of June and the Winter Meeting which takes place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London at the end of November. These Meetings bring together medical professionals with an interest in respiratory medicine.

The Summer Meeting has a main focus on education and training, with clinical updates and the opportunity for a multi-disciplinary audience to discuss key issues and share good practice.

The BTS Winter Meeting attracts over 2000 delegates each year and is the UK's primary respiratory scientific meeting, with the emphasis on presenting updates on current respiratory research and symposia from leading researchers from all over the world. Young Investigators and Medical Students are encouraged to put forward abstracts and prizes are awarded in each category.

There is also a wide-ranging programme of short courses, many of which are now available to complete online.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxygen therapy</span> Use of oxygen as a medical treatment

Oxygen therapy, also referred to as supplemental oxygen, is the use of oxygen as medical treatment. Supplemental oxygen can also refer to the use of oxygen enriched air at altitude. Acute indications for therapy include hypoxemia, carbon monoxide toxicity and cluster headache. It may also be prophylactically given to maintain blood oxygen levels during the induction of anesthesia. Oxygen therapy is often useful in chronic hypoxemia caused by conditions such as severe COPD or cystic fibrosis. Oxygen can be delivered via nasal cannula, face mask, or endotracheal intubation at normal atmospheric pressure, or in a hyperbaric chamber. It can also be given through bypassing the airway, such as in ECMO therapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulmonology</span> Study of respiratory diseases

Pulmonology, pneumology or pneumonology is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract. It is also known as respirology, respiratory medicine, or chest medicine in some countries and areas.

The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) is an educational charity established in 1944 in the UK. It works to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment for the benefit of present and future generations. It achieves this by promoting research, conservation and education, and by widening access to archaeology through effective communication and participation.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), also known as environmental mycobacteria, atypical mycobacteria and mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT), are mycobacteria which do not cause tuberculosis or leprosy. NTM do cause pulmonary diseases that resemble tuberculosis. Mycobacteriosis is any of these illnesses, usually meant to exclude tuberculosis. They occur in many animals, including humans and are commonly found in soil and water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-invasive ventilation</span> Breathing support administered through a face mask

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is the use of breathing support administered through a face mask, nasal mask, or a helmet. Air, usually with added oxygen, is given through the mask under positive pressure; generally the amount of pressure is alternated depending on whether someone is breathing in or out. It is termed "non-invasive" because it is delivered with a mask that is tightly fitted to the face or around the head, but without a need for tracheal intubation. While there are similarities with regard to the interface, NIV is not the same as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which applies a single level of positive airway pressure throughout the whole respiratory cycle; CPAP does not deliver ventilation but is occasionally used in conditions also treated with NIV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal College of General Practitioners</span> Professional body for doctors in the UK

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners in the United Kingdom. The RCGP represents and supports GPs on key issues including licensing, education, training, research and clinical standards. It is the largest of the medical royal colleges, with over 50,000 members. The RCGP was founded in 1952 in London, England and is a registered charity. Its motto is Cum Scientia Caritas – "Compassion [empowered] with Knowledge."

CURB-65, also known as the CURB criteria, is a clinical prediction rule that has been validated for predicting mortality in community-acquired pneumonia and infection of any site. The CURB-65 is based on the earlier CURB score and is recommended by the British Thoracic Society for the assessment of severity of pneumonia. It was developed in 2002 at the University of Nottingham by Dr. W.S. Lim et al. In 2018 a new toolkit was presented on the basis of CURB-65.

The British Orthodontic Society (BOS) is a medical association for orthodontists in England. It publishes the Journal of Orthodontics. The British Orthodontic society represents all orthodontists and dentists carrying out orthodontics across the UK.

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) is a nonprofit organization focused on improving care for pulmonary diseases, critical illnesses and sleep-related breathing disorders. It was established in 1905 as the

The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) is a professional, scientific and medical society established in 1977 to promote excellence in bone and mineral research and to facilitate the translation of that research into clinical practice. The ASBMR has a membership of nearly 4,000 physicians, basic research scientists, and clinical investigators from around the world.

Pulmonary rehabilitation, also known as respiratory rehabilitation, is an important part of the management and health maintenance of people with chronic respiratory disease who remain symptomatic or continue to have decreased function despite standard medical treatment. It is a broad therapeutic concept. It is defined by the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society as an evidence-based, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive intervention for patients with chronic respiratory diseases who are symptomatic and often have decreased daily life activities. In general, pulmonary rehabilitation refers to a series of services that are administered to patients of respiratory disease and their families, typically to attempt to improve the quality of life for the patient. Pulmonary rehabilitation may be carried out in a variety of settings, depending on the patient's needs, and may or may not include pharmacologic intervention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Respiratory Society</span>

The European Respiratory Society, or ERS, is a non-profit organization with offices in Lausanne, Brussels and Sheffield. It was founded in 1990 in the field of respiratory medicine. The organization was formed with the merger of the Societas Europaea Physiologiae Clinicae Respoiratoriae and the European Society of Pneumology. The organization's membership is made up of medical professionals and scientists working in the area of respiratory medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia</span> Medical condition

Asphyxiating thoracic dysplasia (ATD), also known as Jeune syndrome, is a rare inherited bone growth disorder that primarily affects the thoracic region. It was first described in 1955 by the French pediatrician Mathis Jeune. Common signs and symptoms can include a narrow chest, short ribs, shortened bones in the arms and legs, short stature, and extra fingers and toes (polydactyly). The restricted growth and expansion of the lungs caused by this disorder results in life-threatening breathing difficulties; occurring in 1 in every 100,000-130,000 live births in the United States.

The Canadian Lung Association is a national organization and volunteer-based health charity that supports lung health research, education, prevention of disease/disorders and advocacy in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society</span> Medical association based in the United Kingdom

The British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society (BMFMS) aims to provide a forum where issues of relevance to obstetricians and other professionals involved in pregnancy care are discussed. It seeks to:

Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) is a national not-for-profit medical association representing researchers and healthcare professionals in the field of respirology. It was established when the Canadian Tuberculosis Association, now The Lung Association, recognized the need for a medical association as evidenced by the increase in attendance of both medical and non-medical members at the annual meetings.

The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) is a membership organisation devoted to the practice of cardiothoracic surgery. The mission statement of the association is to advance education in the field of cardiac, thoracic and vascular interventions; and promote research into cardiovascular and thoracic physiology, pathology and therapy, with the aim to correlate and disseminate the results for the public benefit. Within the EACTS there is a large number of committees working on various issues in order to improve cardio-thoracic surgery.

Anthony Seaton qualified in medicine from Cambridge University in 1962, and after training in Liverpool was appointed assistant professor of medicine at the University of West Virginia, USA in 1969. He became consulting chest physician at the University of Wales in 1971, and was named director of the Institute of Occupational Medicine at Edinburgh in 1978. Seaton became the head of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Aberdeen in 1988 and on retiring in 2003 became emeritus professor. He continues to write and teach and has active research interests in the causes of asthma and occupational illness.

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin is the largest and oldest medical professional organization for respiratory disorders in the German-speaking world and serves as a forum for all medical practitioners and scientists in the field of respiratory medicine. Almost 28% of the more than 3,000 members are women. Pneumologie has been the official journal of the German Respiratory Society since 1981.

The International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), established in 1986, is a nonprofit organization that monitors infectious diseases on a global scale. It also offers grants and fellowships, publishes a journal, and runs online learning platforms for sharing information on managing infectious diseases. It is based in Brookline, Massachusetts, US. The organization solicits donations from the general public, as well as governments, foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry.

References

  1. "The Thoracic Society:a retrospect" (PDF). Thorax. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  2. Status Archived April 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Membership Archived April 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine