Resident Member News: March 2022

Happy spring! I hope there are flowers blooming in your life. As our esteemed President Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS, suggested in her Clinical Congress 2021 Presidential Address, take the time to sow some hope this spring along with your bed of flowers.

Need some inspiration? Listen to Dr. Freischlag and Dr. Julia Coleman, Resident and Associate Society (RAS) Executive Committee Vice-Chair, discuss #SurgeonsSowingHope at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Leadership & Advocacy Summit earlier in April.

You can also listen to ACS Executive Director Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, who shared a welcome message to all incoming surgery residents and encouraged them to take advantage of the many career-enhancing opportunities the College has to offer.  

Read on for highlights from the Leadership & Advocacy Summit and to help us celebrate the successes of some of our members.

Enjoy this issue.

Alison Powers, MBA

After 2 years of virtual meetings, the American College of Surgeons hosted the first-ever hybrid Leadership & Advocacy Summit's on April 2–5. More than 200 attendees joined in person in Washington, DC, alongside more than 350 virtual attendees for the Leadership Summit.

Following a welcome reception with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres Saturday evening, nearly 30 resident members joined RAS-ACS leadership and Danielle Walsh, MD, FACS, pediatric surgeon, Greenville, NC, for some straight talk on how to create meaningful culture change in surgical residency during her presentation, “Poison to Positive: Changing the Culture in Residency Programs.”

Resident and Associate Fellow Members, medical students, and Fellows filed into the Grand Hyatt conference room Sunday morning for a full day of sessions on leadership, wellness, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), all emphasizing how pivotal it is to welcome innovative approaches, thoughts, and ideas to advance the future surgery and stay true to the College’s motto: To Heal All with Skill and Trust.

Jon A. Chilingerian, PhD, explained why surgeons are innately excellent leaders and how to capitalize and build on their leadership skills. Drs. Julie A. Freischlag, Douglas E. Wood, and Melanie A. Edwards discussed the importance of wellness at all levels of the surgery hierarchy. Dr. Lindsay Strader from the ACS Kansas Chapter discussed ways to be inclusive and welcoming even in a hybrid setting. Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason explained the necessity of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the ways in which the College is working toward such goals. Dr. Patricia L. Turner, Executive Director of the ACS, spelled out in detail how all these concepts are interwoven to accomplish the goals of the College at a national level.

Sponsored by the RAS Executive Committee, Marion C.W. Henry, MD, MPH, FACS, FAAP, professor of surgery, pediatric surgery, University of Chicago, gave an inspiring talk on how and why advocacy and activism should be an integral part of a surgeon’s journey.

Monday included a full day of advocacy sessions focused on preparing the 130 attendees for their virtual visits with congressional leaders on Tuesday morning. The advocacy sessions focused on issues with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the No Surprises Act, creating a National Trauma and Emergency Preparedness System (NTEPS), and using CMS data to categorize surgeon value to a healthcare system and promote value-based reform. 

From personal growth and professional development to battles being fought to improve patient care on Capitol Hill, the 2022 Leadership and Advocacy Summit covered a truly astounding breadth of important issues facing surgeons today. In addition to the outstanding panel discussions and presentations, the Summit was a welcome return to in-person meetings. The fellowship and comradery provided by membership in the American College of Surgeons was on full display and the reinvigoration of enthusiasm for healthcare advocacy was palpable. 

The ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy and the ACS Division of Member Services are expected to announce a new resident scholarship program for attending the 2023 Leadership & Advocacy Summit, April 15-18 at the Grand Hyatt, in Washington, DC. Mark these dates on your calendar now!

In early May, the American College of Surgeons launched a redesigned website and a new visual design system, including new branding, logos, colors, and styles. The new facs.org offers a better user experience, enhanced capabilities focused on your surgical education and career, and an improved search function. In addition, further enhancements, including more website content and an improved e-commerce experience, will be launched this summer. Look for more about the new site in future issues of the ACS Brief and this newsletter.