President’s Message
Dear Members of the Excelsior Surgical Society, friends, colleagues,
It is a great honor to serve as the ninth President of the Excelsior Surgical Society (ESS), the House of Military Surgery within the ACS, and contribute to our three-part mission of preserving the lessons of the past, improving care in the present, and anticipating challenges of the future. The last year has been incredibly busy for the ESS. Immediate Past-President Colonel Jennifer Gurney, MD, FACS, developed a phenomenal program for the ESS 80/10 Anniversary at our society’s namesake, the Excelsior Hotel in Rome, Italy, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the first meeting of the Excelsior Surgical Club and the 10th anniversary of the modern ESS. With this meeting, Colonel Gurney has continued with the long tradition of ESS presidents growing and improving the ESS. Thanks to the support of donations to the ACS and the leadership of Colonel Gurney, along with the countless hours she and the ESS staff put into organizing this event, the meeting was a tremendous success. I’m sure it will be remembered as a pivotal moment in the history of the ESS and military surgery. If you would like to learn more about the meeting, read the article published in the ACS Bulletin, Excelsior Society Celebrates 80 Years of Legacy in Rome.
“Military surgery is a subspecialty of surgery, but a discontinuous one.” –Edward D. Churchill, MD, FACS, Surgeon to Soldiers
As I reflect on the lessons learned from World War II, the other wars of the 20th and 21st century, and Dr. Churchill’s comments on military surgery, it is clear to me that we need the ESS now more than ever as we grapple with our generation’s peacetime effect. Compared to the interwar periods of previous generations, one major difference now that gives me hope for the future is that the ESS is thriving. Through the collective efforts of military surgeons, both past and present, the work of our committees, and the partnerships with other military surgical societies and outside organizations that share our ethos, I have no doubt that we will be successful in caring for those who go into harm’s way.
An innovation started by the ESS’s fifth President, Colonel (Retired) Todd Rasmusen, MD, FACS, is the ESS monthly webinar. These webinars continue to be a success, with each committee and the ESS executive council sponsoring interesting content. Remember, if you miss a webinar, they are recorded and available on the ESS website for members to watch.
Our Vice-President and President-Elect, Captain Matt J. Bradley, MD, FACS, USN, and I are working with the Executive Council to develop outstanding content for the October 2025 ESS Symposium. This year’s theme is “The Military Surgeon as a Leader: Adaptive Surgical Leadership to Combat the Peacetime Effect.” This year, we are also partnering with the ACS History and Archives Committee (HAC) to participate in the History of Surgery Poster Competition, where the ESS will formally recognize two posters and two e-posters for their relevance to military medicine and surgery. Another product of the ESS and HAC collaboration will be contributions by ESS members to the “From the Archives” column in the ACS Bulletin. The first column was published in May. Read "US Navy Surgical Teams Fight to Save Lives on WWII Ambitious Warships." Finally, the ESS, ACS Military Health System Strategic Partnership, the HAC, and the ACS Committee on Trauma are all co-sponsoring the Panel Session, “War, Surgery, and Remembrance: The 80th Anniversary of World War II,” during the 2025 Clinical Congress in Chicago, Illinois.
If you have an idea for the ESS or if you are looking for opportunities to volunteer, send an email to excelsior@facs.org. I look forward to seeing you on October 4, 2025, in Chicago at the ESS Symposium. Thank you for all your contributions to the ESS.
With great respect,
Captain Matthew D. Tadlock, MD, FACS
Medical Corps, US Navy
President, Excelsior Surgical Society
