Promoting a Healthy Work/Life Balance for Young Surgeons

On October 4, 2021, the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (RAS-ACS) hosted a webinar presented by William H. Ward, MD, MS, FACS, and Mark Savarise, MD, MBA, FACS.

In their first years of practice, young surgeons are frequently driven to fulfill multiple clinical and administrative demands that are concurrent with existing family or personal obligations that have persisted throughout many years of training. For junior surgeons, it is quite easy to become overextended, resulting in work/life imbalance and a higher risk of burnout. This webinar aims to share lessons learned from both a junior and senior surgeon's perspective, thereby promulgating different approaches designed to foster a healthy work/life balance.

Learning Objectives

• Become familiar with typical challenges associated with establishing a busy clinical practice while maintaining personal/family obligations.
• Review the importance of establishing priorities.
• Learn different approaches that can prevent overextension and promote a healthy work/life balance.

More about William Ward

Dr. Ward is currently Chair, Department of Surgery, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, and Associate Professor of Surgery, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University. An active-duty naval officer, he serves as a staff surgical oncologist at the Naval Medical Center and also serves as a community acute care surgeon with Sentara Surgical Specialists in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Ward holds a dual assignment to the Joint Medical Unit, Joint Special Operations Command, as a team surgeon.

Dr. Ward is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the Governing Council of the Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the Governing Council of the ACS Young Fellows Association (YFA) where he serves as the chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workgroup. He has been happily married for 15 years and has three boys under the age of 12.

More about Mark Savarise

Dr. Savarise is an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Savarise earned his medical degree at the University of Colorado Sciences Center in 1991, and has been in practice for more than 20 years. Dr. Savarise’s clinical interest areas include ambulatory surgery, hernia, benign and malignant skin lesions, anorectal problems and venous insufficiency of the lower extremities. Dr. Savarise’s non-clinical areas of expertise are health policy, reimbursement, coding, rural and community practice, mentorship and ergonomics. Dr. Savarise is a member of the ACS Health Policy and Advocacy Group, and serves on the ACS Practice Protection Committee. Dr. Savarise is the lead author of the JACS article, Structured Postural Education Program to Improve Ergonomics and Reduce Work-related Musculoskeltal Disorders among Surgeons, and second author on the JACS article, Are General Surgery Residents Ready to Practice: A Survey of the American College of Surgeons Board of Governor’s and Young Fellows Association.

This webinar is sponsored by the Resident and Associate Society and the Practice Protection Committee of the American College of Surgeons