Gerald M. Fried, MD, FACS, FRCSC, was elected Chair of the Board of Regents (B/R) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) at the ACS Clinical Congress 2018 in Boston, MA, October 21–25.
A general surgeon, Dr. Fried is the Edward W. Archibald Professor and chair, department of surgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC; and surgeon-in-chief, McGill University Health Centre Hospitals. He also is the founder of the Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery and Innovation at McGill University Health Centre. Dr. Fried previously served as Adair Family Chair of Surgical Education and the program director for general surgery at McGill University.
As B/R Chair, Dr. Fried will work closely with ACS Executive Director David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, and will chair the Regents’ Finance and Executive Committees. The College’s 24-member Board of Regents formulates policy and is ultimately responsible for managing the affairs of the College. The Board members’ diversity and variety of experiences and interests enable the Regents to represent views related to myriad issues in contemporary surgery.
Previous leadership roles
A Fellow of the ACS since 1986 and a member of the B/R since 2011, Dr. Fried has served in many roles within the organization, including as Chair of the B/R Nominating Committee (2012–2015) and a member of its Honors Committee (2011–2019), as well as a member (2002–2006), Vice-Chair (2006–2008), and consultant (2012–2015) of the Committee on Emerging Surgical Technology and Education. Dr. Fried also has served on the Board of Governors (2002–2008), the Advisory Council for General Surgery (2006–2011), and the ACS Accredited Education Institutes Surveyor Committee (2010–2015).
Dr. Fried has trained many residents and fellows who have gone on to hold leadership positions in Canada and throughout the world. His academic interests include surgical education and optimizing surgical outcomes. His research has explored teaching and evaluating procedural skills, especially in the fields of minimally invasive and endoscopic surgery. Dr. Fried and his colleagues have played a leading role in developing a simulation-based program to teach and assess fundamental skills in minimally invasive surgery at the Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery and Innovation; the program has become widely adopted around the world. He also is interested in how optimal processes of surgical care can impact the trajectory of recovery of the surgical patient.
Dr. Fried has received many honors from, and held numerous leadership positions in, other health care organizations. He was elected to the McGill Honour Roll for Educational Excellence and received the national Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s John Ruedy Award for Innovation in Medical Education. Dr. Fried has served as president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Canadian Association of General Surgeons, the Central Surgical Association, and the James IV Association of Surgeons (Canadian section). In 2011, Dr. Fried was elected to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has served on editorial boards of six influential surgery journals and has given hundreds of lectures internationally. In 2018, Dr. Fried received the Meritorious Service Cross from the Governor General of Canada for “meritorious acts bringing benefit and honour to Canada.”
Dr. Fried received a bachelor of science degree and a medical degree from McGill University. He completed his surgical internship and part of his residency in general surgery at Montreal General Hospital and did further residency training and a fellowship in gastroenterology at The Ohio State University Hospital, Columbus. Following his chief resident year back at McGill University, Dr. Fried went to the Gastrointestinal Hormone Research Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, for further research fellowship training.
Dr. Elsey elected Vice-Chair
James K. Elsey, MD, FACS, a general surgeon in private practice in Atlanta, GA, and visiting professor of surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, was elected Vice-Chair of the ACS B/R.
A Fellow of the College since 1989, Dr. Elsey has been a Regent since 2011 and has served on a number of ACS committees. He was Secretary of the ACS Board of Governors Executive Committee (2008–2010), President of the Georgia Society of the ACS (2008–2010), and a member of the Central Judiciary Committee (2011–2014), among other positions. Since 2012, Dr. Elsey has served as Regent member of the Advisory Council for Rural Surgery.
