Boston Teenagers Try Their Hand at Surgical Procedures

Creating the next generation of surgeons is an essential activity for the College.

Every year during Clinical Congress, the ACS tries to foster a curiosity for the specialty among high school students at a time when they are formulating future life plans. The students are introduced to surgeons and members of the surgical team, who offer insights into the joys of a career in medicine and surgery.

“I think the program gives a wonderful opportunity for Fellows of the College to engage with the community,” said Program Chair Mallory Williams, MD, MPH, FACS, from Howard University in Washington, DC, who’s been involved with the program for more than a decade. “It allows us to show young people what it means to be a surgeon and create a certain enthusiasm and excitement about them even venturing to be surgeons themselves.”

The 2023 program included 66 students from four Boston high schools.

“I came because I’m very interested in the health field, and I wanted to open up my mind to different types of health careers,” said participant Priscilla Davila, who is a junior at the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers.

She and the other students spent the day learning about the specialty from surgeons, including Dr. Williams, Priya Prakash, MD, FACS (The University of Chicago), Damon Brantley, MD, FACS (Southeast Georgia Health System), and Bethany Strong, MD, MS, FACS (University of Maryland). The students also toured the Exhibit Hall and learned how to STOP THE BLEED^®.

As with many volunteer activities, the volunteers walk away as energized as the participants do.

“This program isn’t just for the students, this program reinvigorates the surgeons themselves. We’re able to see that excitement that we used to know so well and go back to our home institutions and carry that with us again,” explained Dr. Strong, who is the incoming chair of the high school program.

Launched in 2001, the program is called “A Day with the American College of Surgeons.”