Editor’s note: Each year, the Communications Committee of the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (RAS-ACS) selects a topic of broad interest to young surgeons and solicits brief essays from RAS-ACS members who are interested in the subject. Essays are judged by a panel of Communications Committee members, and the author of the winning essay receives a $500 prize. In addition, that essay and other leading submissions are published in the Bulletin.
Unfortunately, the papers from the 2012 essay contest were never published. The Bulletin is pleased to publish them now in this special supplement.
The theme of the 2012 RAS-ACS essay contest was Treating the Difficult Patient. The winning essay was submitted by Mika Matthews, MD, from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus. She and the other authors share their personal experiences and lessons learned from providing care to confrontational, noncompliant, and otherwise difficult patients.
Familial ties in treating the difficult patient
Mika Matthews, MD
Pregnant with hematemesis
Cory Donovan, MD
Under your nose
Oluwadamilola Fayanju, MD, MA, MPHS
Patience with the difficult patient
Jonathan L. Garcia, MD
Avoid getting kicked
Douglas W. Jones, MD
Treating the difficult patient can be a long journey
Alan L. Kaplan, MD
Finding my friend’s heart in the difficult patient
Hunter Moore, MD
Doctor heal thyself…because we won’t
Gary Schwartz, MD
Punched in the face
Michael Sigman, MD
Treating the difficult patient may require stepping out of your comfort zone
Rohit Soans, MD
