It has been a tremendous privilege and a great honor to serve as an ambassador for the American College of Surgeons during the first 6 months of my presidency. I know that First Vice-President Tyler G. Hughes, MD, FACS, and Second Vice-President, Deborah A. Kuhls, MD, FACS, share this sentiment.
The reception from all the ACS chapters we have visited has been simply overwhelming and quite humbling. It reflects the global significance and impact of the ACS as we strive to equip our Fellows “to heal all with skill and trust.” Below are some abbreviated highlights of just some of my trips as ACS President.
Philippines
The 79th Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS) Annual Clinical Congress was combined with the 24th Asian Congress of Surgery and the 12th ASEAN Federation of Surgical Colleges Summit.
It was held December 3–6, 2023 in Manila, Philippines. Maria Concepcion C. Vesagas, MD, FACS, is the PCS president, and Vivencio Jose P. Villaflor III, MD, FACS, is the vice-president.
The event was well-attended, with many delegates from the Philippines but also from throughout Southeast Asia. Each surgical discipline held its own meeting during the congress.
The theme was Collaborations and Innovations in the Era of Global Surgery. The opening ceremony was modeled after the ACS Convocation. New fellows were welcomed into the PCS, and honorary fellows were inducted.
My lectures included “American College of Surgeons Initiatives to Promote Excellence in Surgical Care” for the ACS Philippines Chapter and “Educating the next generation of physicians and surgeons: A new paradigm” for the Asian Surgical Association and PCS joint session.
Unlike the ACS, PCS is also responsible for licensure of surgeons, which is a common practice in other countries such as Germany and Australia-New Zealand. A key threat to PCS is the danger of fragmentation, as various surgical disciplines are contemplating the possibility of leaving PCS to create independent, self-contained accreditation boards. As the House of Surgery, we discussed how the ACS can support PCS in its attempt to increase member satisfaction by bringing added value to the various surgical disciplines and prevent fragmentation.
Puerto Rico
The 73rd Annual ACS Puerto Rico Chapter Meeting was held in Isla Verde, February 22–24.
Jorge J. Zequeira, MD, FACS, is President of the ACS Puerto Rico Chapter.
The Chapter is vibrant and dynamic, with clear, impactful advocacy to preserve quality of surgical training to prevent ill-equipped private hospitals from engaging in residency training. This is reminiscent of the approach that ACS founder Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS, pursued to ensure that hospitals were properly equipped to perform surgery and train surgical residents.
The meeting featured several invited speakers, including a representative from the ACS Washington, DC office, Mary L. Brandt, MD, MDiv, FACS; Brian Jacob, MD, FACS; and Marc De Moya, FACS.
Saturday case presentations were excellent. They featured medical students and surgical residents. Marino Blasini-Torres, MD, FACS, received a lifetime achievement award from the ACS PR Chapter. He was the first graduate of the school of medicine in Puerto Rico in 1954 and is responsible for training countless surgical residents.
Sierra Leone
Please see the summary prepared by colleagues Benedict C. Nwomeh, MBBS, FACS, and A. Peter Ekeh, MBBS, FACS, on the West African College of Surgeons 64th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference that was held at the Freetown International Conference Centre in Sierra Leone, March 3–7.
Japan
The 124th Annual Congress of the Japan Surgical Society was held in Nagoya, April 17–20. The congress president was Yasuhiro Kodera, MD, FACS, and the theme was establishing surgical development goals for sustainable surgical practice in Japan.
I delivered brief remarks and words of encouragement to the Japanese Association of Women Surgeons (JAWS) at its breakfast meeting, which was also attended by Dr. Brandt. I spoke at the ACS Japan Chapter meeting, speaking on "American College of Surgeons Initiatives to Promote Excellence in Surgical Care: Achieving Our Best Together—#Inclusive Excellence.” I also addressed the Japanese Surgical Society about “Educating the Next Generation of Physicians and Scientists: A New Paradigm.”
A major challenge discussed during these meetings was how to increase participation of women in surgical disciplines in Japan. The JAWS and ACS Japan Chapter are exploring sensible solutions to increasing the pipeline of women surgeons. Professor Norihiro Kokudo, MD, PhD, FACS, President and Governor for the Japan Chapter, and Kiyoshi Hasegawa, MD, PhD, FACS, Administrator and Secretary of the Japan Chapter, were grateful for our contributions to the program and for the frank and open discussion on this topic.
Germany
The 141st Congress of the German Society of Surgery (DGCH) was held in Leipzig, April 23–26. The theme was The Courage to Change—Helping to Shape the Future, under the leadership of DGCH President Christiane J. Bruns, MD, FACS(Hon).
Prior to the congress, I participated in the daylong “Fundamentals of Surgical Research Course,” taught by leaders of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) at the Children’s Hospital in Leipzig.
During the opening ceremony, I delivered greetings from the ACS, and watched as ACS Board of Regents Vice-Chair Fabrizio Michelassi, MD, FACS, was made an honorary fellow of the DGCH.
ACS Executive Director and CEO Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, chaired a session and gave an update on ACS activities. I delivered two lectures: “Educating the Next Generation of Physicians and Surgeons: A New Paradigm” and “Insights into the Pathogenesis of Necrotizing Enterocolitis.”
New Zealand
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) 92nd Annual Scientific Congress was held in Christchurch, New Zealand, May 6–10. The conference theme was Responsibility of a Surgeon, under the leadership of RACS President Kerin Fielding, MBBS.
I participated in the convocation ceremony, during which new RACS fellows were admitted. I also attended the reception sponsored by the ACS Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Chapter, delivering the talk “American College of Surgeons Initiatives to Promote Excellence in Surgical Care: Achieving Our Best Together—#Inclusive Excellence.”
The ANZ Chapter sponsored the Scientific Forum Session, and I served as one of the judges. The winner is scheduled to present his abstract at the ACS Clinical Congress Surgical Forum in San Francisco this October.
I also gave two presentations during the pediatric surgery section: “Educating the Next Generation of Physicians and Surgeons: A New Paradigm” and “Insights into the Pathogenesis of Necrotizing Enterocolitis.”
During the Presidents Roundtable, “Challenges Facing Our Colleges,” I participated in a discussion about how colleges of surgeons in different parts of the world are organized and the issues they are confronting.
Is the issues and challenges discussed were similar to those encountered in the Philippines and Germany: how to keep the surgical disciplines united under the RACS to prevent fragmentation and allowing RACS to continue serving as the accrediting body for surgical licensure.
Another important topic was how to address the issue of maldistribution of surgeons, which leaves different regions with shortages of surgical specialists while there may be an abundance of surgeons in large metropolitan areas. This is reminiscent of the ongoing discussions regarding providing surgical care in rural settings in the US.
Because the government is responsible for financing graduate medical education in ANZ, the participants suggested that one approach could be a mandatory service requirement after completing surgical training.
Of note, pre-congress, Callisia N. Clarke, MD, MS, FACS, president of the AAS, and Juliet Emamaullee, MD, PhD, FACS, winner of the 2023 Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award, were among the faculty teaching the “Fundamentals of Surgical Research Course,” sponsored by the AAS.
Henri R. Ford, MD, MHA, FACS
ACS President
