News
September 2011
Call for Abstracts – SBAS Members are Invited to Submit an Abstract for the Upcoming 2012 Assembly
The Program Committee of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) cordially welcomes your participation in its 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting.
We are excited about our upcoming 22nd SBAS meeting jointly hosted by the Johns Hopkins and Howard Departments of Surgery, which will be held in the port city of Baltimore, Maryland. Historically, our meeting has been defined by the science. We are formally opening the SBAS abstract submission process. We look forward to your contributions in basic science and clinical research.
For more information, please visit our Call for Abstracts page »
August 2011
AAS Announces 2011 Fall Courses
Registration is now open for 2011 Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) Fall Courses, for details please visit the SBAS Information for Residents page.
June 2011
The SBAS executive council would like to encourage all junior faculty to participate in the Association for Academic Surgeons (AAS) Fall Courses to be held in 2011
The SBAS executive council would like to encourage all junior faculty to participate in the Association for Academic Surgeons (AAS) Fall Courses to be held in 2011 immediately preceding the American College of Surgeons Annual Meeting. The Fundamentals of Surgical Research and the Career Development Course of the AAS serve as an introduction to the requisite skills needed to build a solid foundation for academic progress. Although not a substitute for more in depth courses in biostatistics, clinical design and grant writing that may be offered at your institution, these courses do give you an appreciation of what is expected of the academic surgeon and a framework for how to attain academic success. Consistently, the courses have received much acclaim and the AAS is now teaching them regularly to other societies around the world.
For more information please visit:
April 2011
AESTHETIC SURGERY FELLOWSHIP, University of California, San Diego
Applications are currently being accepted for the UCSD/SAN DIEGO MULTIDISCIPLINARY AESTHETIC SURGERY FELLOWSHIP.
This unique, multidisciplinary fellowship includes rotations in cosmetic dermatology and laser medicine, facial plastic surgery, oculoplastic surgery and plastic surgery with exposure to all aspects of non-surgical and surgical treatments. The successful candidate will gain experience with the full spectrum of ablative and non-ablative lasers, a complete range of temporary and permanent fillers, complex eyelid reconstruction and management of ptosis, aesthetic breast surgery, secondary breast surgery, natural breast augmentation with fat grafting, rhinoplasty and surgical facial rejuvenation. Southern California in general and La Jolla more specifically offers the finest quality of plastic surgery to a highly demanding patient base and tremendous experience in managing patient expectations and handling unanticipated outcomes is a critical component of the experience. In addition, the fellow will be exposed to the host of biotechnology companies working in San Diego in many exciting fields, including adult cell therapies, mesotherapy, cellulite treatments, as well as have the opportunity for clinical research. The fellow will actively participate in the resident aesthetic clinic and be responsible for helping to organize the city-wide multidisciplinary aesthetic conference as well as participating in resident education in aesthetic surgery through grand rounds and resident teaching conferences. A California medical license is mandatory.
For further information, please email all inquiries to:
cdillard@facesplus.com with copies to Dr. Steven Cohen, Aesthetic Fellowship Co-Director (scohen@facesplus.com) and Dr. Marek Dobke, Aesthetic Fellowship Co-Director, University of California, San Diego (mdobke@ucsd.edu ).
This fellowship is recognized by the UCSD Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Anne Wallace.
Interviews are being conducted now for the flexible start date of July – September 2011.
January 2010
Diversity Editorial
“One of life’s most persistent questions is, what are you doing for others”
—MLK, Jr.
I have had the privilege of traveling to Haiti as part of a medical mission group, “Eugene’s Team” every year in May. Through participation in this amazing organization, I have learned of the medical and social needs of Haiti and the wonderfulness of the Haitian people. Therefore, this latest tragedy hit very close to home.
My belief that this tragedy could in the long run be a benefit to the Haitian people seems incomprehensible, is rooted in my personal experiences in Haiti and “Eugene’s Team”.
I met Dr Eugene Renoir Eugene when I was recruiting a vascular surgeon who could handle the needs of a public hospital, a level one trauma center, and be a contributing member of an academic faculty. Because he had no academic faculty experience I was hesitant to hire him, but thank providence another faculty member convinced me to hire him. It was indeed a life changing event in my life.
As Dr Eugene became a valued member of my clinical and academic faculty, I became aware of his incredible story and he became a friend. Eugene was born in Milot, Haiti a little town in northern Haiti, he was able to attend school in the largest city in the area, Caphaitian, get to the US and end up a vascular surgeon. While a surgical resident, Eugene started a medical mission to his home of Milot, which continues as “Eugene’s Team” with a medical mission to Milot every May. Eugene, who was a nonsmoker developed lung cancer at the age of 40 and succumbed to it in 2005. I had the honor of accompanying him on his last trip to Haiti (2 months before his death). During that trip he taught and showed me the true meaning of love and courage. As we had finished another difficult day of surgery in an operating room with out air-conditioning, no blood bank, limited lab, only a portable x-ray, and more patients than we could possible treat, we talked in the dark. We were in the dark because the petrol to run the generator was needed for the hospital.
I asked him why was he spending the last moments of his life in miserable conditions, making an infinitesimal difference. His response has and will always remain with me. He looked at me and gave me his wonderful smile and said; every moment we are on this planet should be about helping someone else, it should not matter if we are feeling good that day or we are close to death, life is about what you leave behind. That child we operated on today may grow up to save this country. What I leave behind is you!
Wm. Lynn Weaver, MD, FACS
August 2008
ACS surgical workforce crisis in Africa: A call to action
It's hard to imagine a more pressing issue facing the global surgical community than ensuring the training and education of an adequate and equitably distributed surgical workforce. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there is a global shortage of 4.3 health workers, with an estimated shortage of 1 million in Africa alone....
By Doruk Ozediz, MD, MSc; Robert Rivielo, MD, MPH; Selwyn O. Rogers, MD, MPH, FACS.
Volume 93, Number 8, Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons