Dr. Ernestine Hambrick Honored as Inspiring Surgeon at Clinical Congress

Dr. Hambrick (left) receives her award from ACS Past-President Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, DFSVS.

For her commitment to advancing women in surgery and improving colo-rectal cancer outcomes, Ernestine Hambrick, MD, FACS, received the Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Inspiring Women in Surgery Award at Clinical Congress 2022.

Throughout her long and distinguished career, Dr. Hambrick earned many firsts. A few of those include being the first woman Diplomate of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, the first woman on the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) executive council, and the first woman vice-president of the ASCRS and its research foundation.

She has been an active supporter of women in surgery, especially in colon-rectal surgery, and her leadership, mentorship, and commitment to advancing women surgeons continues. Many of the women surgeons Dr. Hambrick has touched—directly and indirectly—have ascended to leadership positions within surgery and continue to make significant contributions in the surgical community.

Dr. Hambrick embodied the spirit of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker in her creation of the STOP Colon/Rectal Cancer Foundation. During her career and from the personal experience of losing her only brother to colon cancer, Dr. Hambrick recognized that most colon-rectal cancers could be prevented with screenings.

Dr. Hambrick left her practice after 25 years as a colon-rectal surgeon to lead STOP Colon/Rectal Cancer Foundation, advocating tirelessly for the eradication of colon and rectal cancer and helping in having March designated as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The STOP Colon/Rectal Cancer Foundation closed after 10 years of work because it had achieved much of its mission to promote public awareness, preventative screening, early detection, and healthy lifestyle choices.

The Inspiring Women in Surgery Award is named in honor of Mary Edwards Walker, MD, the first female surgeon employed by the US Army, the only female recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and a tireless crusader for women’s rights.