Chapter news

Brooklyn-Long Island Chapter hosts Annual Clinic Day

The Brooklyn-Long Island (BLI) Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Nassau Surgical Society hosted a combined Annual Clinic Day in Uniondale, NY, December 6, 2017. The event featured educational programming for 10 surgical specialties, with more than 400 surgeons and other health care professionals in attendance.

The keynote speaker was Greg Buttle, a former New York Jets football player who spoke on The Value of a Team. The event included a Resident Jeopardy Competition with winners Daniel Gross, MD, postgraduate year (PGY)-4; Phil Rosen, MD, PGY-4; and Jose Torres, MD, PGY-5, from the State University New York Downstate Medical Center taking the top prize. A Resident Abstract Poster Presentation also took place, with the top 10 posters receiving special awards. The joint efforts of the BLI Chapter and the Nassau Surgical Society have enhanced the scope of the Annual Clinic Day for the last 15 years.

Connecticut Chapter hosts 49th Annual Meeting

The Connecticut Chapter of the ACS hosted its 49th Annual Meeting October 20, 2017, at the Marriott in Farmington. The meeting took place in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Connecticut Surgical Quality Collaborative and the Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeons.

The nearly 200 surgeons and residents in attendance enjoyed a day of engaging lectures, interesting research presentations, fellowship, and competition at the 10th Annual Surgical Skills Competition. Danbury Hospital claimed the 2017 championship.

The James Foster Memorial Lecture speaker, ACS Past-President Gerald B. Healy, MD, FACS, FRCS(Hon), FRCSI(Hon), professor of otology and laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; and the Healy Chair in Otolaryngology (emeritus), otolaryngologist-in-chief (emeritus), and surgeon-in-chief (emeritus), Boston Children’s Hospital, presented an inspirational talk, The DASH Is What It’s All About!, inspired by the Linda Ellis poem, “The Dash.” Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPA, MPH, FACS, director, emergency general surgery; associate chief, division of acute care surgery; and assistant professor of surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, presented an insightful and topical afternoon lecture, Dissecting Social Media—A Practical Approach for the Surgeon.

The chapter honored Scheuster E. Christie, MD, FACS, St. Francis Hospital, Hartford, with its Distinguished Service Award in recognition of a career devoted to serving his patients and peers and inspiring countless residents on their path to practice. David Shapiro, MD, MHCM, FACS, St. Francis Hospital, presented the award to his mentor and colleague.

The chapter also presented all three Connecticut medical schools—the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, Hamden; the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington; and the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven—with perpetual plaques listing the names of recent award recipients. As future awards are presented, the chapter will update these plaques, recognizing the graduates who earn the Chapter’s Excellence in Surgical Sciences award each year.

The Connecticut Chapter is planning its 2018 meeting, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary and take place October 19.

Florida Chapter residents win Clinical Congress Surgical Skills Competition

Residents from the Florida Chapter won the inaugural ACS Skills Competition: So You Think You Can Operate? at the Clinical Congress in San Diego on October 22, 2017. Tyler Loftus, MD, a PGY-4 general surgery resident at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and Sarah Eidelson, MD, a PGY-3 general surgery resident at Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miami, beat out seven teams sponsored by ACS chapters and residency programs.

Indiana Chapter hosts Will C. Moore Lecture

L. Michael Brunt, MD, FACS, chief, section of minimally invasive surgery, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, delivered the 2017 William C. Moore Lecture to the Indiana Chapter November 14, 2017. The Moore Lecture comprises a nonclinical talk provided to the chapter and a scientific lecture to the department of surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. More than 70 members of the Indiana Chapter attended the nonclinical portion of the talk, during which Dr. Brunt provided insights gained from his mountain-climbing experiences in the U.S. and abroad. His presentation to the department of surgery focused on patient safety—including safe cholecystectomy, a movement he has championed.

The lecture honors Will C. Moore, MD, from Summitville, IN. In addition to serving in World War I field hospitals in the Argonne Forest, Verdun, and St. Michael, he was the benefactor to more than 50 medical students and held positions of leadership in the Muncie, IN, medical community and Indiana state organization offices. He had an unmatched impact on surgery in Indiana, performing more than 60,000 operations throughout his career.

Keystone Chapter hosts annual scientific meeting

The Keystone Chapter of the ACS hosted its annual meeting November 3, 2017 at the Lehigh Valley Hospital’s Cedar Crest campus, Allentown, PA. The event featured a full day of educational sessions, providing Continuing Medical Education credits for physicians in attendance. Tyler Hughes, MD, FACS, ACS Surgery News co-editor and Editor-in-Chief of the ACS Communities, and Basil Pruitt, Jr., MD, FACS, FCCM, MCCM, ACS Second Vice-President, were featured speakers.

A total of 30 resident abstracts were submitted for the poster competition, 12 of which were chosen to present orally to the attendees; the remaining posters were judged throughout the day. Cash prizes were awarded to the top two oral abstract competition winners—Sasha Slipak, MD, a general surgery resident at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, won first place, and Rachel Appelbaum, MD, a general surgery resident at Lehigh Valley Health Network, won second place. The top two poster presenters also were recognized—Sinziana Cornea, BS, a medical student at Tower Health, Reading, won first place, and Anjuli Gupta, DO, a general surgery resident at Geisinger Medical Center, Wyoming Valley, won second place. The meeting concluded with the annual Resident Surgical Jeopardy Tournament, emceed by Christopher P. Coppola, MD, FACS, a pediatric surgeon at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville. The winners of the Surgical Jeopardy tournament were Nils Tomas McBride, MD, and Saranf Kashyap, MD, both from Easton Hospital, PA.

Maryland Chapter holds Fall Dinner Meeting, elects new officers

A crowd of residents and academic and community surgeons attended the Maryland Chapter of the ACS (MD-ACS) Fall Dinner Meeting November 16 at La Scala Restaurant, Baltimore.

Following dinner, Chapter President Frank Rotolo, MD, FACS, Finney Trimble Surgical Associates, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, called the business meeting to order, and a new slate of chapter officers was elected, as follows:

• President: Jon Efron, MD, FACS, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore
• President-Elect: Jose Diaz, MD, FACS, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore
• Secretary: Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPA, MPH, FACS, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore
• Treasurer: Jesus Esquivel, MD, FACS, Surgical Specialists, Frederick Regional Health System, Frederick

The group then welcomed B. Todd Heniford, MD, FACS, chief, division of gastrointestinal and minimally invasive surgery, and director, Carolinas Hernia Institute, Carolinas Health Center, Charlotte, NC, who spoke on Advances in Abdominal Wall Reconstruction.

The MD-ACS 2018 Annual Meeting is scheduled for April 28 at the Marriott Inner Harbor Camden Yards, Baltimore.

Residents revel at Massachusetts Chapter’s 64th Annual Meeting

The Massachusetts Chapter of the ACS (MCACS) held its 64th Annual Meeting December 2 at the Westin Copley in Boston, with a record registration of 168 professionals, including 93 residents. Chapter President Anne C. Larkin, MD, FACS, recognized Program Chair Robert P. Driscoll, MD, FACS, for putting together a valuable program addressing health care disparities.

Massachusetts Chapter: From left: Drs. Kelly, Vazquez, Cherng, and Czerniach, winners of the Massachusetts Chapter Top Gun Competition

The day opened with two sessions showcasing 12 resident research papers. The 5th Joseph Murray Resident Research Basic Science Award was presented to Sameer Hirji, MD, general surgery resident, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, for Utility and Feasibility of Intra- and Post-Operative Crisis Management Checklists in Cardiac Surgery. The Resident Research Clinical Award was presented to Janaka Lagoo, MD, resident, Ariadne Labs, Boston, for Physicians Working in New Hospital Environments: Understanding Their Challenges to Develop Real Solutions.

Throughout the morning, attendees also visited the poster hall to speak with the 40 authors about their work. The Basic Science Poster of Distinction Award was presented to Shen Li, MD, resident, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, for Pioglitazone Reduces Hepatocellular Neoplasia in a Rat Model of Cirrhosis. The Clinical Poster of Distinction Award was presented to Rajshri Mainthia, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, for Malpractice Claims after Cholecystectomy: What Factors Are Associated with Plaintiff Payout?

The meeting also featured the Survivor Game, which was moderated by George C. Velmahos, MD, PhD, FACS, division chief of trauma, emergency surgery, and surgical critical care, Massachusetts General Hospital, using an audience response system accessed through attendees’ smartphones to vote participants “off the island.” The winner was David Harris, MD, PGY-3 resident, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Peter S. Hopewood, MD, FACS, ACS Commission on Cancer Representative, Cape Cod Healthcare Falmouth, presented four awards on behalf of the ACS Commission on Cancer. Recipients were Mallika Gopal, third-year medical student, Boston University School of Medicine, for Impact of Subtype and Location on Pathological Upstaging of Clinical T1b/T2N0 Esophageal Cancer; Abha Aggarwal, PhD, MSPH, MS, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, for Metabolic Inhibition of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer with 3-BP Depends on Hexokinase II Expression; Praveen Sridhar, MD, PGY-2 resident, Boston University, for Pre-Clinical Evaluation of Spliceosome and Proteasome Inhibition in Triple Negative Breast Cancer; and Gabriel J. Ramos-Gonzalez, MD, PGY-2 surgical research fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital, for Long-Term Outcomes of Liver Transplantation for Hepatoblastoma: A Single-Center 14-Year Experience.

The meeting concluded with the seventh annual Resident Top Gun Competition, where surgical residents’ laparoscopic skills, including intracorporeal knot tying, transferring of objects from one hand to another, and pattern cutting, were judged. The winning individual on the initial four tasks was Mohamad Abdulhai, MD, general surgery resident, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington. Following the final “surprise” task, the winning team of the coveted MCACS Top Gun trophy was from UMass Memorial Medical Center, led by residents Donald R. Czerniach, MD; Nicole Cherng, MD; John Kelly, MD; and Samuel Vazquez, MD.

Metropolitan Philadelphia Chapter hosts Third Annual Jeopardy Tournament

The Metro Philadelphia Chapter of ACS (MPACS), PA, hosted its Third Annual Jeopardy Tournament November 9 at the National Mechanics restaurant. A total of 60 residents and MPACS Fellows were in attendance as the nine jeopardy teams fought for the coveted trophy. Jeffrey Butcher, MD, FACS, MPACS President, was the emcee, and Robert Kucejko, MD, MPACS Resident Subcommittee Chair, coordinated the event. Eight Philadelphia-based institutions competed in this year’s tournament. Team Drexel, composed of Elizabeth Gleeson, MD; William Morano, MD; Marlon Pastrana, MD; Matthew Pontell, MD; Charles Schafer, DO; Nicolas Serniak, MD; and Amanda Teichman, MD, walked away as the 2017 Surgical Jeopardy Champions.

Other competing Philadelphia institutions included Abington, Einstein, Jefferson, Lankenau, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Nevada Chapter attends trauma meeting in Hawaii

Several members of the Nevada Chapter of the ACS traveled to the Trauma Winter Conference/ACS Committee on Trauma Region IX Resident Papers Competition December 8, 2017, hosted by the Hawaii Chapter of the ACS at The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu.

Representing the Nevada Chapter in the Resident Papers Competition were the following: Allison McNickle, MD, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Medicine (UNLV SOM), acute care surgery fellow and Nevada ACS COT first-place winner; Christopher McNicoll, MD, MPH, MS, UNLV SOM general surgery resident and Nevada ACS COT second-place winner; and Nancy Rivera, MD, UNLV SOM acute care surgery fellow. Both Chapter President Deborah Kuhls, MD, FACS, and Paul Chestovich, MD, FACS, trauma surgeon and assistant professor, department of surgery, UNLV School of Medicine, spoke at the Trauma Winter Conference on firearm injuries and reducing pediatric computed tomography scans, respectively.

New Hampshire rejuvenates chapter

The New Hampshire Chapter of the ACS convened an organizational meeting at Clinical Congress 2017 to discuss rejuvenation of the chapter. All New Hampshire Chapter members were then invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Chapter in Boston on December 2, 2017. The chapter hopes to partner with other New England chapters for additional events in the future while it builds momentum. The New Hampshire Chapter is seeking enthusiastic individuals to play a leadership role in its revitalization.

New Jersey Chapter hosts the 66th Annual Clinical Symposium

The New Jersey Chapter of the ACS hosted its 66th Annual Clinical Symposium December 1, 2017, at The Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel & Conference Center in Iselin, NJ. More than 200 surgeons, surgical residents, and medical students attended the meeting.

Specialty surgical sessions centered on bariatric/foregut surgery, colon/rectal surgery, global surgery, plastic surgery, transplant and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, trauma and thoracic surgery, urologic surgery, and vascular surgery. Additionally, the surgical residency directors met.

The event featured Surgical Jeopardy for the surgical residents, with Eric Lazar, MD, FACS, a pediatric surgeon in Morristown, moderating. Participating teams included Cooper University Health Center, Camden; Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center; Morristown Medical Center; Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark; Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick; and Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston. Residents from Bronx Lebanon Medical Center won for the second consecutive year.

A surgical resident poster and manuscript contest took place. The winners were Robin F. Irons, MD, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, for Acceleration of Diabetic Wound Healing with Adipose Derived Stem Cells, Endothelial Differentiated Stem Cells and Topical Conditioned Medium Therapy in a Swine Model; Mihir M. Shah, MD, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, for Comparison of Perioperative Chemotherapy vs. Postoperative Chemoradiation Therapy for Distal Gastric Cancer: An Analysis of the National Cancer Database; and Anthony Scholar, MD, MBS, Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, for Improving Cancer Patient Emergency Room Utilization: A New Jersey State Assessment.

The keynote speaker was Rachel R. Kelz, MD, FACS, associate professor of surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Dr. Kelz’s topic was E-IQ: Education, Innovation and Quality. The topic was well received and those in attendance participated in an interactive exercise on IQs.

The 2017 Sheen Award recipient, Melina Kibbe, MD, FACS, chair, department of surgery, and the Zach D. Owens Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, attended the awards dinner Friday evening and presented the lecture When Mice Are Men, which focused on the difference between drug trials between men and women.

A brief business meeting was conducted during which the following new chapter officers were elected (all MD, FACS): Justin T. Sambol, President; Joseph E. Cauda, President-Elect; Anne C. Mosenthal, Vice-President; Dr. Lazar, Secretary; and Robert M. Olson, Treasurer. The meeting concluded with a presentation on the extensive legislative review by the chapter lobbyist.

New Mexico Chapter holds State of Surgical Science Meeting

The 2017 State of Surgical Science Meeting of the New Mexico Chapter of the College (NMACS) took place September 8–9, 2017, in Albuquerque. Anthony Vigil, MD, FACS, NMACS President, and Jean Remillard, MD, FACS, NMACS President-Elect, led the event. The NMACS welcomed Barbara L. Bass, MD, FACS, FRCS(Hon), then President-Elect of the ACS, as the keynote speaker. She presented Retooling Reimagined: Building the Infrastructure to Support a Lifetime of High Performance Surgery. The NMACS welcomed many other speakers from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, including Ashwani Rajput, MD, FACS, who presented the Commission on Cancer update; Victor Phuoc, MD, who presented Robot-Assisted Surgery for Gastrointestinal Oncology; David Pitcher, MD, FACS, ACS Governor, who presented the Merit-based Incentive Payment System; and Heidi Miller, MD, FACS, who presented Approaching the Complex Ventral Hernia Patient. The Annual Resident Abstract Competition took place during the meeting, and Alissa Greenbaum, MD, and Jaideep Das Gupta, MD, both from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, tied for first place.

New Mexico Chapter: Front row, from left: Drs. Fahy, Remillard, Bass, Vigil, and McKee. Back row: Drs. Batley, Rajput, Kwan, Yeats, and Pitcher.

This year’s program included a Surgical Jeopardy competition. Three teams from the University of New Mexico participated in this event. Zoe Jones, MD, won the competition and a trip to Clinical Congress 2017.

The chapter elected its 2017–2018 officers and council members during the annual business meeting. Dr. Remillard was elected President; Bridget Fahy, MD, FACS, was elected President-Elect; Chayanin Musikasinthorn, MD, FACS, was elected Vice-President; and Albert Kwan, MD, FACS, agreed to another term as Secretary-Treasurer. Rohini McKee, MD, FACS; Kamran Kamali, MD, FACS; Ashwani Rajput, MD, FACS; and Jerry Batley, MD FACS, were elected councilors.

A joint meeting with the New Mexico Medical Society is planned for September.

Wisconsin Surgical Society holds Annual Conference

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) held a town hall meeting November 3, 2017, as part of the Annual Conference and Meeting of The Wisconsin Surgical Society—a Chapter of ACS. After some brief comments, the senator opened the floor for questions. Topics were wide-ranging, including health care reform and tort reform. The gathering of more than 150 people found the session to be valuable and interesting. The meeting took place at the American Club, Kohler, WI.

Chapter Speed Networking: Clinical Congress 2017

A Chapter Speed Networking event took place October 23 at Clinical Congress 2017. Approximately 70 chapter leaders and administrators from around the world were invited to learn more about how to strengthen the activities of their local chapters. The event offered a fun, fast-paced educational and social environment for sharing best practices on topics such as membership recruitment, engagement of members of the Young Fellows Association and the Resident and Associates Society, social media, advocacy, and dynamic meetings.

Chapters discussed similar experiences, and one of the benefits of the event was that it provided a forum for building lasting connections with members of other ACS chapters.

Kuwait Chapter hosts inaugural meeting

The Kuwait Chapter of the ACS hosted its inaugural Chapter Conference, September 28–October 1, 2017, with the theme of Education and Innovation. Surgeons of all specialties in Kuwait attended the event. Notable guests included Courtney M. Townsend, Jr., MD, FACS, then-ACS President, and Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), FRCSEng(Hon), FRCSI(Hon), ACS Past-President.

The conference promoted innovation in surgery, one of the challenges in modern health care, and provided an evidence-based approach to addressing the real challenges in surgery and other complex therapies. Plenary lectures were intermixed with educational sessions and offered opportunities for surgeons to discuss the hot topics in surgery and for scientists to present their devices and innovative work.

After the inauguration of the Kuwait Chapter on September 30, the delegates and the organizing committee were invited to a special event at the Bayan Palace.

On November 25, 2017, the Kuwait Chapter also organized an Advanced Laparoscopy Suturing Course for surgeons from all surgical subspecialties.

Korean Surgical Society and South Korea Chapter of ACS hold Annual Congress

Dr. Bass attended the Annual Congress of the Korean Surgical Society and South Korean Chapter of ACS, which took place November 2–4, 2017, in Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Bass provided an ACS update and gave a lecture, Retooling Reimagined: Building the Infrastructure to Support a Lifetime of High Performance in Surgery.

Dr. Bass recognized the 70th anniversary of the Korean Surgical Society, founded in 1947. To increase international networking, the Korean Surgical Society works with the South Korea Chapter of ACS, Japan Surgical Society, and numerous other international surgical organizations to improve the quality of education.

The mission of the South Korea Chapter of ACS, which was formed in 1987, and the Korean Surgical Society is to improve the quality of patient care, which will contribute to the advancement of public health in South Korea.

The College welcomes a new international chapter

The ACS welcomes the Qatar Chapter to its international chapter network. The ACS Board of Regents officially granted a charter to the Qatar Chapter at its October 2017 meeting in San Diego, CA. The Qatar Chapter will work with the College to provide opportunities for ACS members in Qatar to get involved at the local level. The addition of the Qatar Chapter increases the worldwide network of ACS chapters to 112—45 international and 67 domestic chapters.