PTS PRESIDENT'S LETTER

DR. JUAN CARLOS SALAMEA MOLINA

PTS PRESIDENT 2026-2027

FROM LEGACY TO LEADERSHIP… Building the Road to 50

Dear Members and Friends of the Panamerican Trauma Society,

At the conclusion of our XXXVIII Panamerican Trauma Congress in Cartagena, I had the great honor of assuming the Presidency of our Society for the 2026–2027 term.

I accept this responsibility with gratitude, humility, and, above all, a deep commitment to a Society that for four decades has brought together professionals, institutions, and countries around a common purpose: **to improve trauma care**.

I would like to begin by recognizing the leadership of Dr. Sharon Henry and expressing my gratitude to Dr. Antonio Marttos, our Executive Director; to the Board of Directors, our committees, and everyone who made the extraordinary Cartagena Congress possible.

Each presidency has inherited the legacy of those who came before and has contributed to the continued growth of our Society. My responsibility is to continue along that path, strengthen what we have built together, and help prepare our Society for the future.

This moment also carries a very special significance: The Panamerican Trauma Society celebrates its 40th Anniversary.

Since 1986, generations of leaders, mentors, and members have built the Society we inherit today. Celebrating this anniversary must mean much more than remembering our history. It should also be an opportunity to ask ourselves what kind of Society we want to pass on to the next generation when we celebrate our 50th Anniversary in 2036.

For that reason, I propose that this term be guided by a simple idea: From Legacy to Leadership: Building the Road to 50.

Not as the project of a single presidency, but as an institutional vision that we can build together—one that provides continuity to shared goals beyond our individual terms of leadership.

During 2026–2027, we will focus our efforts on five priorities:

1. Forty Years and the Road to 50.

Prepare a distinctive institutional celebration during the 2027 Panamerican Congress, preserve our history, and establish a roadmap toward 2036 with measurable objectives and annual follow-up.

2. Education.

Expand the Essential Trauma Course to medical schools throughout Latin America, combining SPT virtual education with locally delivered hands-on training.

3. Standards.

Develop the Panamerican Curriculum for the Trauma and Emergency Surgeon, defining the essential competencies required by the realities of our region.

4. Trauma Systems and Data.

Promote the progressive evaluation and improvement of trauma centers and strengthen the Panamerican Trauma Registry as a tool to measure, compare, investigate, and improve outcomes.

5. SPT Leader.

Create a program that connects the experience of our leaders and mentors with new generations, promoting mentorship, research, scientific publication, and institutional projects that will help develop those who will lead our Society in the future.

These five priorities must translate into results. But no institutional vision can be built by a President or a Board of Directors alone. The Panamerican Trauma Society belongs to its members. That is why I invite all of you to participate.

We need the involvement of educators, researchers, mentors, young surgeons, nurses, prehospital care professionals, universities, trauma centers, and leaders from all of our countries. We need ideas, projects, and, above all, people willing to work together.

For 40 years, our geographic, cultural, and professional diversity has been one of our greatest strengths. Our next challenge is to transform that diversity into an increasingly active and integrated network capable of making a meaningful impact on the care of injured patients.

Our challenge is not simply to remain relevant… Our challenge is to BE RELEVANT.

Relevant to our members, to our universities, and to our trauma systems—but, most importantly, relevant to the patients and communities we serve.

Our founders gave us a Society.

Our responsibility is to strengthen it.

Our commitment is to prepare the next generation.

Our mission remains to improve trauma care.

And our legacy should be to deliver, when we celebrate our 50th Anniversary, a stronger, more integrated, and more relevant Panamerican Trauma Society than the one we have inherited today.

I invite you to build this road together.

From Legacy to Leadership… Building the Road to 50.

With warm regards and deep commitment,

Juan Carlos Salamea Molina, MD, MPH, FACS, MSPT, IMCBC (Hon), MSCGP (Hon)

President 2026–2027

Panamerican Trauma Society

Past Presidents

Sharon Henry, MD   

Martha Quiodettis, MD   

Paula Ferrada, MD   

Jorge Esteban Foianini,  MD   

Antonio Marttos, MD Virtual Message  

  Felipe Vega, MD  

Sandro Rizoli, MD  

Carlos A. Ordoñez, MD  

Michel Aboutanos, MD  
Gustavo P. Fraga, MD  
Manuel Lorenzo, MD  
Anamaria Pacheco, MD  
Juan Carlos Puyana, MD  
Renato Poggetti, MD  
Raul Coimbra, MD  
David Ortega, MD  
Aurelio Rodriguez, MD  
Samir Rasslam, MD  
Andrew Peitzman, MD  
Jorge Neira, MD  
David Mulder, MD  
Carlos Morales, MD  
Ernest Moore, MD  
Kimball Maull, MD  
Charles Lucas, MD  
Juan Lombardi, MD  
Rao Ivatury, MD  
David Hoyt, MD  
Francisco Holguin, MD  
Gerado Gomez, MD  
Jose Eduardo Gracia, MD  
Ricardo Ferrada, MD  
David Feliciano, MD  
Susan Briggs, MD  
Dario Birolini, MD  
Armando Baqueiro, MD