Michigan Chapter hosts 62nd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids
The Michigan Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) hosted its 62nd Annual Meeting and 65th Annual Surgical Resident Competition May 13−15 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand Rapids. Chapter President Kurt A. Kralovich, MD, FACS, led the meeting along with Program Chair Wayne E. Vanderkolk, MD, FACS.
In conjunction with the chapter meeting, the Michigan Committee on Trauma hosted its 65th Annual Keyport Trauma Symposium on May 13. Of special note among the nine different Resident Competition awards presented at the Michigan annual meeting is the Coller Award, named for the late Frederick Coller, MD, FACS, past-chair of surgery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the first President of the Michigan Chapter of the ACS. Dr. Coller also was President of the ACS (1949−1950), and the Frederick A. Coller Society was named for him. Dr. Coller was recognized for his surgical skills, dedication to improving general surgery residency training programs in Michigan, and efforts to enhance and expand postgraduate surgical education. This year’s Coller Award was presented to Priya H. Dedhia, MD, PhD, second-year surgery resident at the University of Michigan. The next Michigan Chapter meeting is scheduled for May 18−20, 2016, at Mission Point Resort, Mackinac Island.
Georgia Chapter adds new “Day of Trauma” to annual meeting
Georgia Society of the ACS: (From left) Drs. Mabry, Warshaw, and Senkowski at the annual chapter meeting held in August.
The Georgia Society of the ACS hosted its annual meeting August 28–30 at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead in Atlanta. The meeting began with a dinner hosted by Chapter President Christopher K. Senkowski, MD, FACS. In attendance at the dinner were special guests Andrew L. Warshaw, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), Immediate Past-President of the ACS; Charles D. Mabry, MD, FACS, Chair, ACS Health Policy Advisory Council; and Donna Tieberg, ACS Chapter Services Manager. During the dinner meeting, the speakers reviewed the chapter’s accomplishments in the last year.
A new component of the annual meeting was a Day of Trauma, which began with meetings for trauma medical directors and managers and continued with the M. Gage Ochsner Resident Paper Competition with presentations by eight different residents.
In addition, Dr. Warshaw gave a presentation titled How the ACS Is Leading Our Profession, in which he described the College’s international growth and referred to the College’s history of setting standards for quality surgical care.
A special bariatric track was offered for the first time at this year’s meeting. Teresa Fraker, Program Administrator, ACS Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program, described the program and participated in a Quality Improvement Programs Panel. Gina Pope, RN, CNOR, Business Development Representative, ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, also participated in the panel discussion.
Dr. Mabry offered a lively presentation titled For Whom Do We Work? on the challenges of employment contracts and how ACS benchmarking resources and the Surgeon Specific Registry can assist members.
Concurrent sessions took place during the lunch hour. Attendees could choose to participate in one of the following: a Program Director Panel presentation for students; a Commission on Cancer luncheon featuring former ACS Governor George M. Fuhrman, MD, FACS, of the Atlanta Medical Center, on Interesting Observations in the Management of Ductal Carcinoma in Situ of the Breast; or a political action committee luncheon with State Rep. Katie Dempsey (R), who spoke on the passage of recent health care legislation. Representative Dempsey, who was honored with a plaque for her contributions to the state, asked those present to encourage others to join the surgical profession to fill the local need for surgeons in Georgia.
The meeting ended with a dinner and Surgical Olympics. Surgical Olympics competitors were timed in different skills activities, including robotic surgery.
Social media use a focus at Kansas Chapter meeting
Kansas Chapter: Meeting attendees included (from left) Dr. Steinle; John Ashcraft, DO, FACS, Program Committee; Joshua Mammen, MD, FACS, President-Elect; Kyle Vincent, MD, FACS, Program Committee; and Peter DiPasco, MD, FACS, Program Committee
The Kansas Chapter of the ACS hosted its annual meeting at the DoubleTree Hotel, Overland Park. Prior to the meeting, Chapter President Pamela J. Steinle, MD, FACS, hosted an informal dinner meeting attended by Chapter Councilors; Chapter Administrator Denise Lantz; Jay L. Grosfeld, MD, FACS, then First Vice-President of the ACS; ACS Governor Tyler G. Hughes, MD, FACS; and Ms. Tieberg.
Two themes of this year’s Kansas Chapter meeting were disorders of the esophagus and the use of social media. Presenters described the benefits of social media use for surgeons, with Dr. Hughes offering a presentation titled Kansas ACS Communities, and Sean J. Langenfeld, MD, FACS, assistant professor of surgery, University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Omaha, speaking on Social Media for the Surgeon. Dr. Grosfeld provided an update on College activities, and Scott Coates, MD, FACS, presented the ACS Foundation update.
The second half of the day focused on resident/student paper presentations and Surgical Jeopardy. E. Patricia Hill, MD, a fourth-year general surgery resident at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, received a $250 award for her winning submission in the resident paper competition, Repeat Head Imaging in Blunt Pediatric Trauma Patients: Is It Necessary?
Metro Philadelphia Chapter offers 7th Mock Oral Boards
The Metropolitan Philadelphia Chapter of the ACS offered the 7th annual Mock Oral Boards examination September 19. The event took place at the Annenberg Center for Medical Education, Lankenau Medical Center, Wynnewood, PA. A total of 57 residents, fellows, and recent medical school graduates were quizzed by 59 surgeon faculty volunteers from nine teaching institutions located across the Philadelphia area. Both examinees and examiners deemed the event successful.
Arkansas Chapter meets in state capital, plans for future activities
Arkansas Chapter: Attendees take a break in programming to network with other members and vendors while attending the annual meeting at the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute in Little Rock.
The Arkansas Chapter of the ACS hosted its annual meeting October 17 in Little Rock at the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute, University of Arkansas Medical Center. Approximately 60 chapter members and surgery residents participated in the meeting, along with seven vendors.
Chapter President Patrick A. Dolan III, MD, FACS, welcomed meeting attendees and moderated throughout the day. Included in the day’s activities were Resident Trauma Case and Poster Presentations. Richard H. Turnage, MD, FACS, member of the Arkansas Program Planning Committee, also offered an engaging presentation on Public Reporting of Surgical Outcomes: Codman to Consumer Reports.
Before the annual meeting, chapter members and guests met at the historic Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock for a reception. At this event, Charles D. Mabry, MD, FACS, Chair of the ACS Health Policy Advisory Council, gave a brief report on College activities, and ACS Governor Lee A. Forestiere, MD, FACS, described the efforts of the College’s Governors’ Chapter Activities Domestic Workgroup. Dr. Forestiere asked attendees to offer suggestions on how to encourage more surgeon participation in the chapter. Ideas shared included the possibility of attending a football game as a chapter meeting social event, adding more family activities, partnering with other organizations, creating a memorial educational society that would provide keynote speakers for the meeting, and encouraging more chapter resident participation by adding a Surgical Jeopardy competition to the annual meeting.
In attendance was Ms. Tieberg, who described the ACS Resident and Associate Society Jeopardy Kit pilot program, adding that the competition creates excitement within local surgical programs participating in the competition and is also enjoyed by the audience.
Egypt Chapter hosts annual meeting and Middle East conference
Egypt Chapter: The meeting was led by (from left) Dr. Elbanna; Dr. Ismail; Dr. Warshaw; Prof. Hussein Eissa, president of Ain Shams University; Dr. Omar; Prof. Abdallah Bashir, MB, BCh, FACS; and Prof. Jamal Hoballah, MD, MBA, FACS.
The fourth annual meeting of the Egypt Chapter of the ACS took place April 29–May 1 in Cairo at the Sonesta Hotel in conjunction with the first Region 17 Middle East and Mediterranean Conference of ACS chapters. Representatives of the Lebanon, Jordan, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Chapters of the ACS attended the regional conference.
In addition, the conference planning committee, which included M. Sherif Omar, MB, BCh, FACS, President of the Egypt Chapter; Mohey E. R. Elbanna, MB, BCh, FACS, Secretary/Treasurer of the Egypt Chapter; and Alaa Eldin Ismail, MD, FACS, ACS Governor for Egypt, invited surgeons from the African Foundation of Breast Cancer to join the regional meeting where a workshop on breast cancer management was held. Dr. Omar is founder of the African Foundation of Breast Cancer.
Dr. Warshaw attended the meetings in Cairo as a special guest. Drs. Warshaw and Ismail hosted a gathering of Chapter Council members from Lebanon, Jordan, and UAE. Fellows from Sudan who are interested in forming an ACS chapter also attended the meeting. Councilors from Region 17 discussed coordinating local chapters’ efforts and standardizing surgical education and training in the region.
The chapter meeting also signified the first time nurses participated in a surgeons’ conference in Egypt. Nursing staff and students engaged with one another during the meeting, with the participation of an unprecedented number of medical students. The Egypt Chapter reports increased interest in ACS membership among young surgeons in the country and plans to start offering a General Surgery Review Course or additional Fundamentals of Surgery courses.
Chapter Speed Networking in action at Clinical Congress 2015
More than 100 Clinical Congress attendees participated in the Chapter Speed Networking and Reception hosted by the ACS Governors of the Chapter Activities Domestic and International Workgroups at this year’s conference. Attending the event were international and domestic chapter council members, chapter staff/administrators, and Governors of the College. The event featured 15-minute table talks. Each table was moderated by one or two Fellows and young surgeon volunteers or College staff, and the talks centered on different topics of interest to chapters, including engaging young surgeons, the Chapter Annual Meeting Toolkit, the Chapter Partner Program, medical student recruitment, social media/networking for chapters, state/grassroots advocacy, creating a mentoring program, best practices for archiving chapter documents and materials, and an introduction to Operation Giving Back. Both workgroups plan to repeat this successful event next year, introducing additional table topics.
Clinical Congress 2015: Chapter council members, staff, and Governors participated in short “table talks” during the Chapter Speed Networking Event at Clinical Congress.
