Dr. Pellegrini meets Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, while in Rome for the Italy Chapter’s annual meeting.
Italy Chapter holds 28th annual meeting in Rome
The Italy Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) held its 28th annual meeting, October 12–15, at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rome. The meeting was held in conjunction with the 116th Congress of the Italian Society of Surgery and other associated surgical societies. The educational program comprised a series of lectures, symposia, and scientific sessions dedicated to surgery of the esophagus and pancreas, patient safety, the prevention and treatment of complications in minimally invasive surgery, new approaches to the treatment of cancer of the lower rectum, and the educational standard for training in trauma care. Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, FRCSI(Hon), then-President of the ACS, gave two presentations at the Congress, one on the use of anti-reflux surgery to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, and the other on the surgeon as a leader in quality of care.
From left: Giuseppe Nigri, MD, PhD, FACS, FRCS, ACS Italy Chapter Treasurer and Chair of International Relations Committee Scholar Selection Subcommittee; Dr. Pellegrini; Dr. Zarrimpar; Alessandro Paganini, MD, PhD, FACS, Italy Chapter President; and Antonio di Cataldo, MD, FACS, ACS Governor.
Dr. Pellegrini chaired most of the educational sessions at the meeting and presented the Young Surgeons Best Presentation Award to Gennaro Nappo, MD, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, for “Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery in the Left Side Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: a Retrospective Analysis in a High-Volume Center of Pancreatic Surgery.” Dr. Pellegrini also recognized Ali Zarrimpar, MD, PhD, a transplant surgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was selected to participate in the Resident and Associate Society of the ACS’ International Exchange Program this year. This program has been in place in Italy since 2012, and to date, three Italian residents and two resident surgeons from the U.S. have had the chance to visit institutions in each other’s countries.
Another session at the 116th Congress meeting focused on the proliferation of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®) program in Italy. On October 29, a celebration in Turin marked the 20th anniversary of the ATLS course in Italy, which included a reunion meeting and a gala dinner. Planning is now under way for the next ACS Italy Chapter meeting, scheduled to be held October 21–24, 2015, in Milan, which will take place in conjunction with the 117th Congress of the Italian Society of Surgery.
Illinois Chapter meeting attendees on the University of Illinois football field prior to the start of the game they attended.
Illinois Chapter and Illinois Surgical Society hold combined annual meeting
The Illinois Chapter of the American College of Surgeons held its annual meeting in conjunction with the Illinois Surgical Society, September 18–21, at the Carle Hospital conference center, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Gavish N. Patel, MD, FACS, President, Illinois Chapter, and Norman C. Estes, MD, FACS, president of the Illinois Surgical Society, made opening remarks and program introductions. Program Committee Director for the Illinois Chapter, Sherfield Dawson, MD, FACS, and Chapter Executive Director, Luann White, arranged for a diverse array of educational presentations and social events at the multi-day event, which more than 70 health care professionals attended.
Illinois Chapter leaders with Founder’s Competition winners, left to right: Dr. Dawson; Zachary Osborne, MD, surgery resident, Carle Hospital, Urbana, third-place winner; Mauricio de la Garza, MD, resident, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, first-place winner; and Dr. Pate. Not pictured: Lacey Stelle, MD, resident, Carle Hospital, Urbana, Second Place.
Educational sessions at the meeting included a Founder’s Resident Paper Competition and an update on College activities offered by John Preskitt, MD, FACS, ACS First Vice-President. Social events at the meeting included a Welcome Reception on Thursday evening at the Atrium Mills Breast Cancer Center, which included a tour of the Carle Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute; a Friday night cocktail and dinner party at the University of Illinois Alice Campbell Alumni Center; and a Saturday evening gala. The featured speaker at the gala was John Hedstrom, JD, Deputy Director, ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy, Washington, DC, who addressed the Changing Health Care Payment and Delivery System—A Proactive Approach. Donna Tieberg, Chapter Services Manager, also attended the meeting.
Massachusetts Chapter honors state legislators for State Trauma Registry advocacy
On September 30, the Massachusetts Chapter of the ACS honored two state legislators at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, for their advocacy efforts and leadership in helping to secure funding to allow for 1.5 full-time staff positions for the Massachusetts State Trauma Registry program.
State legislators honored at Massachussetts Chapter meeting. From left to right, Robert DeLeo, Massachusetts Speaker of the House; Peter Masiakos, MD, FACS, Chair of the Massachusetts Chapter’s Legislative Advocacy Committee; Senator Moore; Representative Manuel deMacedo; Terry Buchmiller, MD, FACS, Massachusetts Chapter President; and Peter L. Slavin, MD, president, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Senate President pro tempore Richard T. Moore (D) and Rep. Viriato Manuel deMacedo (R), were tireless advocates for incorporating trauma registry funding into the 2014–2015 state budget. The Massachusetts Chapter and members of the ACS Committee on Trauma have been strong advocates for trauma funding and in the past have allocated time during their 2013 Legislative Advocacy Day to appeal to legislators for appropriation for trauma programs. For more information regarding the Massachusetts Trauma Registry or advocacy in general, contact ACS State Affairs staff at state_affairs@facs.org.
Utah Chapter holds annual meeting and Surgical Health Care Quality Forum Mountain Region
The Utah Chapter of the ACS hosted its annual meeting October 3 at the Little America Hotel, Salt Lake City. The guest speaker for the meeting was Sara Hartsaw, MD, FACS, a general surgeon and member of the ACS Health Care Advisory Council, who presented on the topic of advocacy for surgeons and the use of the SurgeonsVoice program. The early afternoon portion of the meeting covered a variety of topics under the general theme of What’s New for You? Mark Savarise, MD, FACS, Utah Chapter Secretary, provided an update on billing and coding; Ray Price, MD, FACS, ACS Governor, Utah, discussed sustainable global surgery efforts (a topic that refers to the inequity of access to surgical care around the world); and Nate Gladwell, RN, MHA, director of telemedicine, University of Utah Health Care, educated the audience on the use of telemedicine in surgical care.
Katie Russell, MD, PGY-6 surgery resident, University of Utah, winner of the College’s 2014 Chassin Award for Professionalism; Earl (Joe) Downey, MD, FACS, pediatric surgeon, Intermountain Healthcare; Jim Fowler, MD, FACS, plastic surgeon, private practice in SLC, UT; and Tawnya Bowles, MD, FACS, surgical oncologist, Intermountain Healthcare and the University of Utah.
Spencer Galt, MD, FACS, and Ric Rasmussen, MD, FACS, closed the afternoon session of the meeting with a discussion on the use of advanced practice clinicians in surgical practices. The final event of the day was the annual Michael Collins Resident and Student Poster Competition. The first-place poster winner was Meg Bowen, MD, postgraduate year (PGY) 4 surgery resident; second place went to Patrick Loftus, a third-year medical student; and third place went to Aaron Healey, MD, PGY-5 surgery resident. All three poster winners hail from the University of Utah. The chapter meeting followed the Surgical Health Care Quality Forum Mountain Region.
Fellows in Guam form new chapter
At its October meeting in San Francisco, CA, the ACS Board of Regents unanimously approved the establishment of the Guam Chapter, making it the 106th chapter of the College. With the addition of Guam, the College now has 67 domestic chapters, with two other proposed chapters currently in the formative stage. The newly elected officers of the Guam Chapter are as follows: Jerone T. Landstrom, MD, FACS, President; Michael W. Cruz, MD, FACS, Vice-President; Sunggeun Samuel Im, MD, FACS, Secretary/Treasurer; Noel L. Concepcion, MD, FACS, Councilor; and Ricardo Eusebio, MD, FACS, ACS Governor.
Hawaii Chapter meeting includes updates on cancer initiatives
The ACS Hawaii Chapter held its 2014 annual meeting at the state-of-the-art Queen’s Conference Center on the campus of the Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, August 23. Keynote speakers were ACS Commission on Cancer (CoC) Chair Daniel P. McKellar, MD, FACS, who presented an overview of the CoC programs and initiatives aimed at improving the quality of cancer care. Other keynote speakers included Charles J. Rosser, MD, PhD, FACS, program director, clinical and translational research program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center (a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center); and Eric Z. Matayoshi, MD, FACS, Hawaii Chapter Governor. Dr. Rosser presented an update on clinical and translational research at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, and Dr. Matayoshi provided an update on the development of accountable care organizations. Michael Hayashi, MD, FACS, and Richard Smith, MD, FACS, provided State Trauma Committee and State CoC briefings, respectively. Danny M. Takanishi, Jr., MD, FACS, Hawaii Chapter President, presided over the Resident Research Competition and chapter business meeting.
Dr. McKellar (far left), with participants at the Hawaii Chapter of the ACS Resident Research Competition. From left: Joy Sarkar, MD, PGY-4 surgical resident, Tripler Army Medical Center, winner of first place; Megan Kuba, MD, PGY-3 orthopaedic surgery resident, University of Hawaii, sixth place; John Dupaix, MD, PGY-2 orthopaedic surgery resident, University of Hawaii, fifth place; Christopher Loo, MD, PhD, PGY-2 surgical resident, University of Hawaii, first place; and Paul Wetstein, MD, PGY-3 surgery resident, Tripler Army Medical Center Program, third place.
Layton F. Rikkers, MD, FACS, special guest speaker at New Mexico annual meeting
ACS New Mexico Chapter members and board members with Layton F. Rikkers, MD, FACS (third from right, back row), professor emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Past ACS Vice-President; and guest speaker at the New Mexico Chapter annual meeting held on September 12–13.
ACS New Mexico Chapter members and board members with Layton F. Rikkers, MD, FACS
Participants at the New Mexico annual meeting included board members (from left, sitting) Glenroy Heywood, MD, FACS, Chapter CoC Liaison; Melania Yeats, MD, FACS, Chapter Vice-President; Katherine T. Morris, MD, FACS, New Mexico Chapter Councilor; and James Goff, Jr., MD, FACS, Chapter President-Elect.
From left, standing: Anthony Vigil, MD, FACS, ACS Governor; Charles Guimaraes, MD, FACS, Rehoboth McKinley Christian Care Services; Albert Kwan, MD, FACS, Chapter Secretary/Treasurer; Dr. Rikkers; John Russell, MD, FACS, chair and professor of surgery, department of surgery, University of New Mexico School of Medicine; and Murugan Athigaman, MD, FACS, Chapter President.
