The American College of Surgeons is The House of Surgery™, and that means we strive to serve surgeons in all specialties. In 2024, I wrote about the relationships we have enjoyed with a few surgical disciplines. This month, I will focus on another that has had an enduring positive impact on the ACS: gynecological surgery.
The influence of this surgical discipline on the ACS began before our founding. In 1905, pioneering gynecologic surgeon Franklin H. Martin, MD, FACS (1857–1935), established the academic journal Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics (SG&O), offering, in the first volume, articles on appendicitis in pregnancy, toxemia in pregnancy, and sudden death after childbirth, as well as topics in general surgery such as incision technique and antiseptic use.
In 1910, Dr. Martin invited all SG&O subscribers to a conference, the Clinical Congress, in Chicago; it drew an unexpectedly robust crowd of 2,000 surgeons eager for professional development, clinical skill-building, and camaraderie. Buoyed by this success, Dr. Martin and his colleagues decided to host the conference annually. In 1913, after successful Clinical Congresses in New York City and Philadelphia, the leaders of the time founded the ACS to serve surgeons year-round.
The College continues to integrate gynecological surgeons into its work. In September 2024, the ACS convened 100 surgical adhesions experts from around the world for the Surgical Adhesions Improvement Project Summit (see October 2024 article). The 2-day meeting launched an ongoing ACS-led effort to address adhesive disease. This vexing problem impacts all who operate in the abdomen and pelvis and, as such, represents a research area that is of interest to many specialties, including gynecological surgeons. The additional relationship between adhesions and compromised fertility makes this an area of particular concern. The Surgical Adhesions Improvement Project includes the voices of prominent gynecological surgeons with expertise in this condition.
Recognizing the important contributions of gynecological surgeons is something the ACS has done for more than a century. On 25 occasions, we have made surgeons specializing in gynecology and obstetrics Honorary Fellows of the ACS. The first such Honorary Fellow was Thomas Addis Emmet, MD, FACS(Hon), who received this honor in 1914, just 1 year after the founding of the ACS. Among other achievements, Dr. Emmet was surgeon-in-chief of the Woman’s Hospital in New York, New York, from 1861 to 1872.
Another notable Honorary Fellow is E. Catherine Hamlin, MBBS, FRCS(Eng), FACS(Hon) (1924–2020), an Australian gynecological surgeon who spent 6 decades repairing obstetrical fistulae in Ethiopia, at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, which she cofounded. Her influential example of long-term commitment to resource-constrained nations is reflected in the approach of our own global surgery initiative, ACS Health Outreach Program for Equity in Global Surgery (ACS H.O.P.E.), which maintains ongoing multidisciplinary surgical teaching hubs in Hawassa, Ethiopia; Kigali, Rwanda; and Lusaka, Zambia.
In addition to recognizing prestigious gynecological surgeons with honorary fellowships, they are included in leadership roles. The ACS Advisory Council for Gynecology and Obstetrics advises the College on issues affecting gynecological surgeons and patients. Gynecological surgery is also represented on the ACS Board of Regents, through Carol L. Brown, MD, FACOG, FACS, a renowned gynecologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York. In addition to her leadership in the ACS, Dr. Brown was a member of the Presidential Cancer Moonshot and joined the President’s Cancer Panel in early 2023.
Clinical Congress endures as our flagship meeting, and in 2024, panel sessions covered rural gynecological emergencies, cytoreductive surgery, multidisciplinary management of fistulae, pelvic masses, and other gynecological topics. These sessions, chosen with input from the Advisory Council, remain accessible on demand via the conference’s virtual platform. Multidisciplinary sessions, including those developed with general surgery, urology, and surgical oncology, are always well-received.
In the first issue of SG&O, in July 1905, J. Clarence Webster, CMG, FRSE, FRSC, a pioneering Canadian gynecological surgeon, wrote, “In recent years, the idea has been widely promulgated that the specialty of gynecology is doomed to extinction.” He opined, however, that “the younger generation of gynecologists need not be discouraged,” in part because the new journal “will give to American gynecology an even great pre-eminence than it has yet reached.”
Dr. Webster was correct in part: gynecology has never become extinct, and the journal, which ultimately became the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in 1994, continues to publish broad-based surgical research, including studies in gynecological surgery.
The ACS is proud to contribute to all specialties, including gynecological surgery, and honored by how gynecological surgeons have contributed to the College for so many years.
Clinical Congress 2024
If you did not attend Clinical Congress 2024, you can still register for online access, where you can view many conference sessions on demand, gain valuable information, and earn CME credit until February 24. See Clinical Congress 2024 for details.
Cancer Conference 2025
If you are a surgical oncologist, please join us at the ACS Cancer Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 12-14. Registration is open now at 2025 ACS Cancer Conference.
