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Become a member and receive career-enhancing benefits
Our top priority is providing value to members. Your Member Services team is here to ensure you maximize your ACS member benefits, participate in College activities, and engage with your ACS colleagues. It's all here.
The ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators Grand Rounds Series is pleased to present this virtual panel discussion with Dr. Abebe Bekele, Dr. Michael Mwachiro, Dr. Benedict Nwomeh, and Dr. Andrea Parker, moderated by Dr. Mohsen Shabahang, with welcoming remarks by Dr. Ajit K. Sachdeva. The purpose of this panel is to discuss the challenges and opportunities in global surgical education.
Dr. Bekele is deputy vice chancellor of academic and research affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. He has been CEO of the Black Lion Teaching Hospital and dean of the School of Medicine of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. He is a professor of surgery (general and thoracic surgery). He has full professor faculty positions at UGHE, Addis Ababa University, and the University of Rwanda, as well as a professor of global health at Duke University. He has received fellowships in medical education from FAIMER in Philadelphia, simulation-based education from the University of Washington, and surgical leadership from the Harvard Medical School. He has vast experience in medical and surgical education for more than 22 years and has served as a visiting professor and external examiner in undergraduate and postgraduate education worldwide. He is a fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Master Surgical Educators of the American College of Surgeons.
Professor Abebe is the secretary general of the College of Surgeons of East Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA), he is the editor-in-chief of the East and Central Africa Journal of Surgery and sits on the editorial board of the JAMA health forum, BMC Medical Education and the Ethiopian Medical Journal. He has published over 130 articles and book chapters and received several regional and international awards, including the CUGH Distinguished Leadership Award in 2024. He serves as a member of the advisory councils and boards of the Ethiopian Ministry of Sciences and Higher Education, the WHO Council on Learning and Capacity Building in Health Emergences, the Global Surgery Foundation, and the African Forum for Research and Education in Health. He is also the founder and the secretary-general of the consortium of medical schools of Africa (COMSA).
Professor Abebe is actively engaged in global safe surgery and has served as a senior advisor to the Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia, in the Saving Lives Through Safe Surgery initiative. He is the current Pan African Surgical HealthCare Forum (PASHeF) chairman. He is passionate about equitable access to surgical care, care, and gender equity in global surgery and surgical education. His research interests include trauma, surgical oncology, equity in global surgery, and education.
Michael Mwachiro, MBChB, MPH, FACS, FCS(ECSA)
Dr. Michael Mwachiro is the president of the Surgical Society of Kenya and chair of the Education and Research committee for the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA). He is a consultant general surgeon and interventional endoscopist based at Avenue HealthCare in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Mwachiro is also co-chair of the African Organization for Research and Training (AORTIC) Education and Training committee. He is a founder member of the African Esophageal Cancer Consortium (AfrECC) and The AFrECC Foundation. His research interests are focused on surgical education and gastrointestinal malignancies with an emphasis on esophageal cancer. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and an Associate Member of the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators as well as a COSECSA master trainer. Dr. Mwachiro is the current panel head of the COSECSA Surgical Endoscopy Fellowship program.
Benedict C. Nwomeh, MBBS, MPH, FACS, MAMSE
Dr. Benedict C. Nwomeh is a professor of surgery at The Ohio State University, with appointments in pediatrics and epidemiology. He serves as vice-chair of global surgery in the department of surgery and as program director for the pediatric surgery fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH.
Dr. Nwomeh is the global surgery editor for the Journal of Surgical Research and has served as Governor for the American Pediatric Surgical Association and the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Nwomeh serves on the American Board of Surgery (ABS) Council as chair of the Education and Training Committee, and director of the Pediatric Surgery Board (PSB). He is a member of the ACS Advisory Council for Pediatric Surgery, and has been elected to the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators (MAMSE).
Andrea Parker, MD, FACS, FCS(ECSA)
Dr. Andrea Parker is a general surgeon and surgical educator who has lived and worked in rural Kenya since 2015. She serves as director of Medical Education at Tenwek Hospital, where she previously directed the general surgery residency program. Dr. Parker has led regional efforts to standardize surgical training across Africa through the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA), developing the Surgical Foundations Course. The course comprises more than 80 online modules, which are freely available through the United Nations Global Surgery Learning Hub (SURGhub), and is the platform’s most utilized resource.
Dr. Parker's work in advancing global surgical education has been recognized with the Reed Williams Award for Innovation in Surgical Education and the American College of Surgeons–Pfizer Academic Global Surgeon Award. She is an Associate Member of the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators and an associate professor of surgery at Brown University.
Moderator
The session will be moderated by Mohsen Shabahang, MD, PhD, FACS, MAMSE, who until recently was the vice president and chief medical officer of the WellSpan Surgery Service Line in York, PA. After four years at WellSpan, Dr. Shabahang is pursuing a Masters in Leadership and Organizational Change at Case Western Reserve University. Currently, Dr. Shabahang serves as the Chair of the Subcommittee of Novel Teaching and Assessment Methods and Educational Resources for the ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.
Opening Remarks
Ajit K. Sachdeva, MD, FACS, FRCSC, FSACME, MAMSE, will deliver opening remarks. Dr. Sachdeva is the Senior Vice President of the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators at the American College of Surgeons. He was the founding director of the ACS Division of Education, where he established educational programs for surgeons, surgery residents, medical students and members of surgical teams. Under Dr. Sachdeva’s leadership, several major education and training initiatives were launched, including the Program for Accreditation of Education Institutes (simulation centers); ACS Academy of Master Surgeon Educators; and an innovative Patient Education Program. Dr. Sachdeva also serves as adjunct professor of surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.
Dr. Sachdeva was awarded the Distinguished Educator Award (a lifetime achievement award) by the Association for Surgical Education, and the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Healthcare Simulation from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. He has also received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Blockley-Osler Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, the Board of Trustees’ Award for Teaching Excellence, and Golden Apple Awards for teaching excellence. Dr. Sachdeva has served on the boards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and Accreditation Council for Graduation Medical Education (ACGME). Dr. Sachdeva has served as president of the Association for Surgical Education, president of the American Association for Cancer Education, president of the Alliance for Clinical Education, president of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and president of the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education.
