The 2012 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) provided surgeons, medical students, surgical residents, and other members of the operating room team with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in a variety of educational experiences. Total registration for this year’s meeting was 14,138, including 8,604 physicians; the remaining attendees were exhibitors, guests, spouses, and convention personnel.
Centennial celebration begins
Adding to the excitement of this year’s meeting were activities heralding the start of the College’s yearlong Centennial celebration. A special exhibit titled 100 Years of Inspiring Quality—An Interactive Timeline was unveiled at this year’s meeting. This exhibit highlighted important developments in surgery and the many contributions ACS Fellows have made to patient care over the last 100 years. A brochure based on the timeline was distributed with the October 2012 issue of the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons.
In addition to the presentation of the timeline, several special events related to the Centennial took place at the conference. David L. Nahrwold, MD, FACS, and Peter J. Kernahan, MD, PhD, FACS, participated in two book signings for A Century of Surgeons and Surgery: The American College of Surgeons, 1913–2012. Drs. Nahrwold and Kernahan spent the better part of the last four years researching and writing the book, which was provided free of charge to all Clinical Congress attendees.
Furthermore, the ACS headquarters and Archives were accessible to Clinical Congress attendees for a 45-minute tour that revealed some of the College’s treasured materials, including the casebooks, scrapbooks, and papers of ACS Founder Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS. Also on display were the papers of Eleanor Grimm, Dr. Martin’s chief assistant and recorder of the history of the College from its inception, as well as mementos of the College’s voyage to South America in 1923.
The ACS leadership also hosted an evening of coffee, cordials, and conversation. During this social event, College leaders conducted a Centennial cake-cutting ceremony and showed a video highlighting the College’s unique place in American culture.
Each attendee also received a free, commemorative magazine, A Hundred Years of Inspiring Quality.
Convocation
A. Brent Eastman, MD, FACS, a general, vascular, and trauma surgeon from San Diego, CA, was installed as the 93rd President of the ACS during Convocation ceremonies Sunday, September 30. During the ceremony, Dr. Eastman presented his Presidential Address titled The Next Hundred Years to the College’s 1,377 Initiates.
Two Vice-Presidents assumed office during the Convocation as well: R. Phillip Burns, MD, FACS, as First Vice-President and John M. Daly, MD, FACS, as Second Vice-President.
In addition, Honorary Fellowship was conferred on the following international surgeons at the Convocation: Seiki Matsuno, MD, FACS, of Sendai, Japan; Enrique T. Ona, MD, FACS, of Manila, the Philippines; Hector Orozco, MD, FACS, Mexico City, Mexico; Lewis Spitz, MB, BCh, PhD, FRCS, FRCS(Ed), London, England; and Ignace B. Vergote, MD, PhD, Leuven, Belgium.
Named Lectures
As always, Clinical Congress featured several Named Lectures, starting with the Martin Memorial Lecture, presented immediately after the Opening Ceremony on Monday, October 1. Michael R. Harrison, MD, FACS, professor emeritus of surgery, pediatrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences, and founder of the Fetal Treatment Center at the University of California, San Francisco, presented the lecture titled Surgical Innovation vs. Regulation.
Other Named Lectures presented at the 2012 Clinical Congress were as follows:
- Robert A. Guyton, MD, FACS, chief of cardiothoracic surgery and professor of surgery at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, presented the John H. Gibbon, Jr., Lecture titled Critical Aortic Stenosis—Who Now Is Inoperable?
- Thomas J. Fogarty, MD, FACS, founder of the Institute for Innovation, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA, and clinical professor of surgery at Stanford University, presented the Charles G. Drake History of Surgery Lecture titled A Personal 50-Year Experience Relating to the FDA.
- Ira J. Kodner, MD, FACS, Solon and Bettie Gershman Professor of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, MO, presented the Herand Abcarian Lecture titled Surviving Surgery As a Career.
- Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, FACS, general and endocrine surgeon and professor of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor, department of health policy and management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, presented the Excelsior Surgical Society/Edward D. Churchill Lecture titled The Mass Production of Surgical Care.
- Timothy C. Fabian, MD, FACS, the Harwell Wilson Professor and Chairman, department of surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, gave the Scudder Oration on Trauma titled Blunt Cerebrovascular Injuries: Anatomic and Pathologic Heterogeneity Creates Management Enigmas.
- Carol-anne Moulton, MB, BS, PhD, FRACS, staff surgeon and associate professor of surgery, University of Toronto, and scientist, University of Toronto Donald R. Wilson Centre for Research in Education, ON, presented the Olga M. Jonasson Lecture titled Peeking behind the Curtain: Surgical Judgment Beyond Cognition.
- Ari Leppaniemi, MD, PhD, chief, division of emergency surgery and surgical critical care at Meilahti Hospital, University of Helsinki Central Hospital, Finland, presented the Distinguished Lecture of the International Society of Surgery titled Humanitarian Missions—Can One Surgeon Make a Difference?
- Peter A. Singer, MD, MPH, FRSC, chief executive officer of Grand Challenges Canada, director of the Sandra Rotman Centre, and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, presented the Ethics and Philosophy Lecture titled The Grandest Challenge: Global Health.
- R.J. Heald, OBE, MChir, FRCS, surgical director, Pelican Cancer Foundation, and professor of surgery at Basingstoke Hospital, Hampshire, UK, presented the Commission on Cancer Oncology Lecture titled Bowel Cancer Surgery: Tales of the Unexpected.
- Richard S. Hotchkiss, MD, professor of anesthesiology, medicine, surgery, molecular biology, and pharmacology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, gave the I.S. Ravdin Lecture in the Basic Sciences sponsored by the I.S. Ravdin Society titled Immunotherapy—An Emerging Concept in the Treatment of Sepsis.
Awards and honors
Several surgeons were honored for their contributions to the ACS.
Jack W. McAninch, MD, FACS, FRCS(Eng)(Hon), received the American College of Surgeons Distinguished Service Award, the College’s highest honor, during the Convocation (see photo). The Board of Regents recognized Dr. McAninch with this year’s award because of his “steadfast and inspirational commitment to the initiatives and principles embodied by the American College of Surgeons,” his work as a surgeon and leader, and his dedication to educating medical students and surgeons in training.
ACS Past-President George F. Sheldon, MD, FACS, received the second Lifetime Achievement Award of the ACS during the Convocation ceremonies. “Dr. Sheldon’s devotion, skills, ethics, and love for service—his contributions to the art of surgery and the College—[are] why he was chosen to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Patricia J. Numann, MD, FACS, Immediate Past-President of the College.
The Fellows Leadership Society (FLS) of the ACS presented the 2012 Distinguished Philanthropist Award to Murray F. Brennan, MD, FACS, during the 24th annual FLS benefactor recognition luncheon (see photo). The award recognizes Dr. Brennan’s philanthropic endeavors, his service to the surgical profession, and his all-encompassing support of the College.
Other awards were presented to surgeons for their commitment to trauma care. Norman E. McSwain, Jr., MD, FACS, a general and trauma surgeon in New Orleans, LA, and Donald D. Trunkey, MD, FACS, a general and trauma surgeon in Portland, OR, were accepted into the Order of Military Medical Merit during the annual Committee on Trauma (COT) dinner (see photo). The Order recognizes excellence and promotes fellowship and esprit de corps among U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) personnel, and membership in the organization denotes distinguished service that is recognized by the senior leadership of the AMEDD.
In addition, the National Safety Council presented its Surgeons’ Award for Service to Safety to David S. Mulder, MD, FACS, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Montreal, QC, during the COT dinner (see photo). The award recognizes Dr. Mulder for his dedication to “prevention of injuries, regionalization of trauma care, innovative studies, and lifelong commitment to the care of trauma patients.”
Two surgeons received the 2012 ACS/Pfizer Surgical Humanitarian Awards and three received Surgical Volunteerism Awards (see photo). Catherine R. deVries, MD, FACS, FAAP, and Russell E. White, MD, MPH, FACS, FCS (EASC), each received the Surgical Humanitarian Award. Brendan C. Brady, MD, FACS, received the Surgical Volunteerism Award for domestic outreach in recognition of his extraordinary service to the underserved migrant population in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Raymond R. Price, MD, FACS, received the Surgical Volunteerism Award for international outreach for his contributions toward improving surgical care in Mongolia and other countries. Robin T. Petroze, MD, received the Surgical Volunteerism Award for outreach during residency for her collaboration with the medical leadership in Rwanda to improve the quality and availability of surgical care.
Practicing surgeons, residents, and medical students were recognized for their contributions to advancing the art and science of surgery. The 2012 Owen Wangensteen Surgical Forum on Fundamental Surgical Problems was dedicated to Dr. Harrison (see photo), who presented the Martin Memorial Lecture. Residents honored with the Surgical Forum Excellence in Research Awards included: Jeff Chang, MS, MD; Sumanth Channapatna-Suresh, MD; Martin Egenti, MD; Alejandro Garcia, MD; Soyoung Lee, MD; Dana Lin, MD; Muhammad Rishi, MD; Benjamin Schmidt, MD; Daniel Shouhed, MD; Ian Udell, MD; Jessemae L. Welsh, MD; and Laura E. White, MD (see photo).
Jacqueline S. Jeruss, MD, PhD, FACS, a general surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and an assistant professor of surgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, received the Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award (see photo).
The tenth annual ACS Resident Award for Exemplary Teaching was presented to John L. Falcone, MD, MS, a fifth-year resident in general surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA (see photo). The award is sponsored by the Division of Education to recognize excellence in teaching by a resident and to highlight the importance of teaching in residents’ daily lives. Dr. Falcone was selected by an independent review panel of the Committee on Resident Education.
Valerie W. Rusch, MD, FACS, Chair of the ACS Program Committee, and ACS Regent Leigh A. Neumayer, MD, FACS, presented the award for Best Scientific Exhibit to Philip J. Hanwright, a medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, for the exhibit titled Variations in Complication Rates for Elective Non-Reconstructive Breast Surgery: An Analysis of NSQIP Data from 2006–2010. The coauthors of this exhibit are as follows: Geoffrey Chow, MD; Colton H. McNichols; Caitlin Conner; Karl Y. Bilimoria, MD; and John Y.S. Kim, MD (see photo).
Furthermore, the following medical students were honored for their Basic Science Research posters:
- First place: Charles A. Su, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, OH: Prolonged Cold Ischemia Increases the Early Infiltration and Effector Functions of Activated Effector-Memory T Lymphocytes in Cardiac Allografts
- Second place: Ben E. Biesterveld, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee: Alterations of Intestinal and Tissue-nonspecific Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in a Neonatal Rat Model of Necrotizing Enterocolitis
- Third place: Analise B. Thomas, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN: Disruption of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization Prevents Transplantation Tolerance
The following medical students were recognized for their Clinical and Educational Research posters:
- First place: Lauren B. Nosanov, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, CA: Models of Preoperative Clinical Predictors of Perforation in Pediatric Appendicitis (see photo)
- Second place: Michael A. Mooney, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY: Diagnostic Radiation Exposure during Evaluation for Liver Transplantation
- Third place: Edward Chu, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY: The Evaluation of Clopidogrel Use in Perioperative General Surgery Patients
The ACS Committee on Video-based Education sponsored two awards for outstanding videos created by prominent international surgeons. The 2012 Certificate of Merit Awards were presented to Joep Knol, MD, Jessa Hospital, Hasselt, Belgium, for the video titled Laparoscopic Repair and Splenic Flexure Mobilization—Beware of the Pancreas; and Akimasa Nakao, MD, PhD, FACS, Nagoya Central Hospital, Japan, for Pancreatic Head Resection with Segmental Duodenectomy (PHSD) for Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm of the Pancreas.
Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, Director of the ACS Division of Education, presented a pewter bowl to outgoing Committee on Video-based Education Chair Tonia M. Young-Fadok, MD, MS, FACS, in recognition of her contributions to the committee (see photo). Dr. Young-Fadok served on the committee for eight years, the last four as Chair.
The International Relations Committee welcomed the International Guest Scholars for 2012 and other guests at a luncheon October 4, including the following: Nikolaos Arkadopoulos, MD, FACS, Kifissia, Greece Stavros Niarchos Foundation Scholar; John R. Beer, MB, BS, FRACS, Kew, Victoria, Australia; Alvaro Enrique Sanabria, MD, MSc, PhD, Bogota, Colombia; Zviad Gagua, MD, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia; Stephen R. Grobmyer, MD, FACS, Japan Traveling Fellow; Mohamed Jallouli, MD, Sfax, Tunisia; Maria Antony Johnson, MB, BS, MS, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India; Vikram S. Kashyap, MD, FACS, Australia-New Zealand Traveling Fellow; Emeka Blessius Kesieme, MB, BS, FWACS, Baxiram S. & Kankuben B. Gelot Community Surgeon Travel Awardee, Ekpoma, Nigeria; Shuhei Komatsu, MD, PhD, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan; Lucas Krauel, MD, Barcelona, Spain; Yo Kurashima, Sapporo, Japan, International Surgical Education Scholar; Pawanindra Lal, MB, BS, MS, FACS, Elias Hanna Scholar, Delhi, India; Brian Hung-Hin Lang, MB, BS, MS, Hong Kong SAR, China; Hsin-Ching Lin, MD, FACS, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Elmi Muller, MB, ChB, MMed, Cape Town, South Africa; Anthony Chi-Fai Ng, MB, ChB, MD, Hong Kong, China; Marco Niedergethmann, MD, PhD, Mannheim, Germany; Emmanuel Olorundare Ojo, MB, ChB, FMCS, Louis C. Argenta Scholar, Jos, Nigeria; Kasaya Tantiphlachiva, Bangkok, Thailand, International Surgical Education Scholar; and Julio Leon Trostchansky, MD, FACS, Montevideo, Uruguay (see photo).
The Commission on Cancer presented the State Chair Outstanding Performance Award to the following surgeons: Peter Hopewood, MD, FACS, Massachusetts State Chair; Leslie Kohman, MD, FACS, New York State Chair; and Juan Carlos Paramo, MD, FACS, Florida State Chair (see photo).
In addition, Stephanie Allen Lilly, MD, FACS, a general surgeon at Androscoggin Valley Hospital, Berlin, NH, attended the Clinical Congress as the recipient of the 2012 Nizar N. Oweida Scholarship.
The Resident and Associate Society of the ACS presented a $500 award to the winner of the 2012 RAS essay contest—Mika Matthews, MD, a surgical resident at Ohio State University, Columbus. The theme of this year’s essay contest was Treating the Difficult Patient.
For more information
This article contains information that is discussed in greater depth in previous issues of the Bulletin. The following is a list of where these articles can be found.
September 2012
Dr. Jack McAninch receives 2012 Distinguished Service Award
Fellows honored for volunteerism
November 2012
Brent Eastman installed as 93rd ACS President
Dr. Sheldon honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
Five prominent surgeons accorded Honorary Fellowship in the ACS
December 2012
Summary of Dr. Eastman’s Presidential Address
Dr. Pellegrini named President-Elect
ACS Regents and Governors Elected at Annual Business Meeting
Annual Business Meeting
The ACS Annual Business Meeting of the Members convened on October 3 with Dr. Eastman presiding and the following officials presenting reports: J. David Richardson, MD, FACS, Chair of the Board of Regents and Chair of the American College of Surgeons Professional Association’s Board of Directors; Lena M. Napolitano, MD, FACS, Chair of the Board of Governors; and David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, ACS Executive Director.
The election of the ACS President-Elect, Vice-Presidents-Elect, Regents, and Governors also took place during the Annual Business Meeting.
Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, FRCSI(Hon), was named President-Elect. Layton “Bing” Rikkers, MD, FACS, was named First Vice-President-Elect; John T. Preskitt, MD, FACS, was named Second Vice-President-Elect.
Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, was elected Chair of the Board of Regents. Mark C. Weissler, MD, FACS, was elected Vice-Chair.
The following six surgeons were elected to the Board: John L.D. Atkinson, MD, FACS; Henri R. Ford, MD, FACS; Enrique Hernandez, MD, FACS; L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS; Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS; and Steven D. Wexner, MD, FACS.
Reelected to additional three-year terms on the Board of Regents were: Raymond F. Morgan, MD, FACS; Dr. Neumayer; and Marshall Z. Schwartz, MD, FACS.
The Board of Governors reelected Dr. Napolitano as Chair of its Executive Committee; Gary L. Timmerman, MD, FACS, as Vice-Chair; and William G. Cioffi, Jr., MD, FACS, as Secretary. Also reelected to the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors were Lorrie A. Langdale, MD, FACS, and Sherry M. Wren, MD, FACS. Governors-at-Large from throughout the world and Specialty Society Governors also were installed.
Clinical Congress 2013
Be sure to attend the 2013 Clinical Congress October 6–10 in Washington, DC. This meeting will mark the conclusion of the College’s Centennial celebration. Details regarding the educational program, registration, housing, and transportation will be posted at www.facs.org.
Photos accompanying this article were taken by Charles Giorno Photography and Oscar-Einzig Photography.
