Do I Remember How to Operate? Returning to Clinical Practice After an Extended Leave

Life can be unpredictable, and some surgeons will require an extended period of time away from clinical duties. This may be due to medical leave, to care for a loved one, or for pregnancy and childbirth. Returning to practice after an extended leave can be challenging and often comes with many transitions in the workplace and in your personal life. Join us for a moderated discussion about returning to practice after leave. Hosted by the ACS Women in Surgery Committee.

Moderator

Niru Anne, MD, FACS

Associate Professor of Surgery, Penn State Milton Hersey Medical Center

Dr. Anne is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Penn State Milton Hersey Medical Center. She received her MD from SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse and completed her general surgery residency training at Northwell Health Systems and a fellowship in surgical oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY.

With nearly 18 years in clinical practice, Dr. Anne has previously served as the medical director of the Breast Surgery Program at Prisma Health System in Greenville and Columbia, SC and was appointed to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Anne was also the Chairperson for the Department of Surgery at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital-Guthrie System in Binghamton, NY.

Dr. Anne’s career is marked by active leadership in several national committees including, the ACS Women in Surgery Committee, serving as the current chair of the Mentorship Subcommittee, the American Society of Breast Disease, as a past member of the  Abstract Selection Committee and the Breast Specialty Training Committee, Past President of the Broome County Medical Society, Past Vice Chair of the Medical Society of the State of New York Organized Medical Staff Section at the State level, and past Physician Leader of the Broome County Health Advisory Board

Dr. Anne holds appointed roles with the American Board of Surgery EPA writing group for Complex General Surgical, the Society of Surgical Oncology Breast Surgical Oncology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology Guideline Expert Panel.

Panelists

Clay Cothren Burlew, MD, FACS

Professor of Surgery, Program Director, SCC & TACS Fellowships, GITES Division, Department of Surgery, University of Colorado

Dr. Burlew is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Colorado/Anschutz Medical Campus and is the Program Director of the ACGME-approved Surgical Critical Care Fellowship and the AAST-approved Trauma & Acute Care Surgery Fellowship.  Dr. Burlew received her MD from UT Southwestern Medical School, where she was ranked 1^st in her class and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. She completed her general surgery residency and Surgical Critical Care fellowship at the University of Colorado.

Dr. Burlew is an active surgical investigator, educator, and clinician; she has received multiple awards in each of these areas including the J. Cuthbert Owens Award, the DHMC Award for Academic Excellence, the Bartle Faculty Teaching Award, the Eiseman Medical Student Teaching Award, the Academy of Medical Educator's award for Excellence in Mentoring, the 2017 American College of Surgeons Travelling Fellowship to Australia/New Zealand, and the 2023 Oriens Award.  She currently serves on the Board of Managers for the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma as the Secretary/Treasurer, on the GS CE Trauma/Vascular Committee for the American Board of Surgery and is a Past-President of the Southwestern Surgical Congress.  She is on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, serving as the Associate Editor for Surgical Critical Care.  She also reviews for an additional 15 journals in an ad hoc capacity.  She has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles and 90 book chapters.  She has given over 100 national and international lectures and scientific presentations.

Geeta Lal, M.D., MSc, FRCS(C), FACS

Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

Dr. Lal is a tenured Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She received her BS from McMaster University, and her MD at the University of Toronto. She earned an MSc at the University of Toronto and The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. She completed residency in General Surgery at the University of Toronto and a fellowship in Endocrine Surgical Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Lal has served in many different leadership roles throughout her career. She previously headed an NIH- funded basic science laboratory and was the Associate Chief Quality Officer for the Adult Inpatient Services at her institution. She currently co-leads the Cancer Center’s Endocrine Multidisciplinary Oncology Group and continues to maintain a busy endocrine surgery practice.

Dr. Lal is committed to increasing awareness of and developing solutions to counteract the impact of poor ergonomics on surgeons' professional and personal lives after experiencing work-related musculoskeletal symptoms herself. She founded Surgical Ergonomics, a speaking, coaching and consulting business. Dr. Lal is a co-founder and immediate Past-President of the Society of Surgical Ergonomics and is the current Chair of its Industry Collaborations Committee. Her advocacy on this topic has led to the incorporation of an Ergonomics module in the Surgical Council On Resident Education (SCORE) curriculum. She has also co-authored the first-ever chapter on ergonomics in the upcoming edition of the Sabiston Textbook of Surgery.

Deborah Nagle, MD, FACS, FASCRS

Chief, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Stony Brook University Hospital and Cancer Center

Dr. Nagle is the Chief for the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Professor of Surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital and Cancer Center and is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Exero Medical. She received her MD from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and completed her residency at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and a fellowship in colon rectal surgery at Thomas Jefferson university Hospital.

Previously. Dr. Nagle worked for Ethicon, Inc as an Integrated Leader, Digital Surgery, leading cross-functional group in evidence generation strategy for a digital surgery system incorporating preclinical, clinical, and medical efforts and as Medical Director, Endomechanical and Surgical Oncology. Prior to Ethicon, Inc, Dr. Nagle was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Chief, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. During her time at Beath Israel, Dr. Nagle was part of the team that developed the technique of single incision laparoscopic surgery and began the first robotic colon and rectal surgery program in Massachusetts. Dr. Nagle is a member of several national organizations and societies such as the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Society for the Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the Association of Women Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and more.

Dr. Nagle is driven to improve patient and physician outcomes through education, biotechnology and practice management innovations and energized by the challenges in surgical care and helping patients navigate through difficulty choices with the goal of the best possible outcome.