January 2004 

1. Visiting Professor for 2004 
2. AWSF/Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. Grant 
3. AWS Virginia Chapter Meeting 
4. Trip To Russia 
5. AWS-AAS Luncheon 
6. Positions Available 
7. 2004 Young Investigators’ Conference 
8. Profiles 
9. Career Development Tips 
10. NIH Women Are Surgeons Videos Available 
11. Women on the Move 
12. Website of Interest 
13. Listservs 
14. AWS New Members 

Greetings and Happy New Year. Hope everyone had a happy holiday season and is embarking on a prosperous 2004. A couple of ideas for the AWScope came to me since our Strategic Planning Meeting last summer. Janet Bickel served as our moderator during this meeting. As most of you know, Janet was formerly at the AAMC and has left to start her own Consulting/Coaching business (website:  janetbickel.com). She offered to contribute career tips and so I have added a place for that in this AWScope. Janet also introduced me to Maureen Costello who is also involved in professional coaching (website:  imagelaunch.com). She has worked  with corporate executives on imaging issues and is expanding into the medical world in advising both physicians and patients. Another issue that arose during our Strategic Planning Meeting was getting more information to members regarding the AWS Council, including who we are and what we do. To address this, I have also added PROFILES. Included in this edition are biosketches for Dr. Hilary Sanfey and me. I am hoping to include a couple of brief biosketches in each AWScope this year. Those of you on the Council who have not submitted yours, please do. Thanks to Hilary and the others who have submitted theirs.

Please let me know what you think of these new changes and also let me know if you have suggestions otherwise. Thanks to all who made contributions to this issue of AWScope.

Mary Hooks, MD
Secretary  

1. VISITING PROFESSOR FOR 2004

Applications are now being accepted from surgeons interested in being a Visiting Professor in 2004. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2004. Applications can be obtained via the AWS Office or on the website at http://www.womensurgeons.org/visprofpgrm.htm.  

2. AWSF/ETHICON ENDO-SURGERY, INC. GRANT

Applications are being accepted for the 2005 AWSF/Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. Fellowship Grant. The deadline for applications is February 1, 2004. Since the deadline falls on a Sunday this year, applications will be accepted until noon CT on Monday, February 2, 2004. Applications can be obtained via the AWS Office, or online at http://www.womensurgeons.org/fellowship.htm.  

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3. AWS VIRGINIA CHAPTER MEETING
from Hilary Sanfey, MD, FACS

The Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) Virginia Chapter will have its inaugural meeting on the afternoon of Saturday May 1, 2004, 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. at UVA during the joint annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Virginia Chapter and the Virginia Surgical Association. The meeting will begin with lunch and a brief business meeting, followed by a symposium on career development. Symposium speakers are Ashanti Baskerville, Medical Student UVA; Mary Hooks, MD, FACS, Associate Professor, East Tennessee State University Cancer Center; Colonel AJ Jaffin, MD, FACS, United States Army; and Polly Stephens, MD, MPH, FACS, Richmond Surgical Group.

I am delighted to announce that our keynote session, “Bloom Where You’re Planted”, will be delivered by Julie Freischlag, MD, FACS, Chair of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Freischlag will talk about the career path that led her to one of the most prestigious surgical posts in the United States. This is a huge honor for our chapter and I know you will want to make a note of the date in order to attend what promises to be an exciting afternoon.

Registration for either the AWS symposium and/or the joint ACS/VSS Meeting is free of charge to residents/medical students. Registration for the AWS symposium is free of charge to all physicians who register for the ACS Virginia Chapter/Virginia Surgical Society Meeting. Registration forms are available from my secretary Brenda at (434) 982-4411 or e-mail (bpe2q@virginia.edu), or directly from Susan McConnell at the ACS Virginia Chapter office (smcconnell@ramdocs.org). This meeting is open to all women surgeons living or practicing in Virginia or in adjacent states. 

4. TRIP TO RUSSIA

Early in November, a delegation of 19 women surgeons led by AWS Immediate Past President Susan Kaiser set off for Russia as part of the People to People Ambassadors Program. They spent eight days in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and visited the Moscow Medical Academy, St. Eugenia’s Hospital, and Pavlov’s University Hospital in St. Petersburg. While they learned that health care may not be as universal as it was under the Soviet Union, and the system is still economically severely strapped, the doctors were very dedicated, well-educated and hopeful. The group left with many unanswered questions about health care and women’s roles in Russia, and many hope to go back. Click on the picture below to see the delegation.

Watch for the next issue of AWS Connections for the full story.  

5. AWS-AAS LUNCHEON

Dr. Kozar reported that the AWS-AAS Luncheon went great. Dr. Jonasson was wonderful - brutally honest but in a humorous way. All but seven of the seats available were sold by the morning of the luncheon, and all seats were filled by the time they started. Some individuals were sitting in the back just to listen.  

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6. POSITIONS AVAILABLE

-Fellowship Positions For Investigation In Gastrointestinal Surgery

This NIH-supported Research Fellowship is sponsored jointly by the Departments of Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School. Positions are offered in laboratory investigation (two new fellows per year) and outcomes/health services (one new fellow every other year), beginning July 1, 2004.

Opportunities are open to current or recently graduated residents in accredited U.S. or Canadian Surgical Training Programs. Fellowship appointment requires U.S. citizenship or U.S. permanent resident status. Applications from members of under-represented minorities are strongly encouraged.

Visit http://www.womensurgeons.org/job_postings.htm#ResTraining for a full listing of Preceptors and Areas of Investigation. For more information contact: David I. Soybel, MD, Program for Research Training in Alimentary Surgery, Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115. e-mail: dsoybel@partners.org.

-Academic Vascular Surgery Faculty Position

The Section of Vascular Surgery at SUNY Upstate is looking for a junior or midlevel vascular surgeon. Responsibilities are at both the University Hospital and the VA. There are opportunities for both clinical and basic science research. Access for performing endovascular procedures and participating in an accredited vascular lab exists. For all inquiries, please contact Vivian Gahtan, MD; Chief, Section of Vascular Surgery; SUNY Upstate University College of Medicine; 750 East Adams Street; Syracuse, NY 13210; phone 315-464-6241; e-mail gahtanv@upstate.edu 

-Also visit http://www.womensurgeons.org/job_postings.htm for a full list of job postings.  

7. 2004 YOUNG INVESTIGATORS’ CONFERENCE

This conference was organized by the Surgical Research Committee of the ACS to assist beginning surgeon-scientists in the process of obtaining extramural, peer-reviewed grant support. The conference will be held March 5-7, 2004 at the Lansdowne Resort and Conference Center in Leesburg, VA. For more information:  www.facs.org/oebs/src/youngsurg.html or contact Mary Fitzgerald at the ACS office, phone: 312-202-5319, e-mail: mfitzgerald@facs.org   

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8. PROFILES

Dr. Hilary Sanfey is vice-president of AWS. Hilary is an Associate Professor in the Transplant Division of the Department of Surgery at the University of Virginia. Originally from Ireland, she is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. She completed her surgery residency at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and underwent a period of research training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Hilary completed hepatobiliary and transplant fellowships at the University of Virginia and in Barcelona prior to her appointment as Consultant Surgeon to the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. She was part of the surgical team that established the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit and performed the first liver transplant in Scotland in November 1992. While in Edinburgh, Hilary also served as the Scottish representative to Women in Surgical Training (WIST) and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in recognition of her commitment to women in surgical training. Since taking up her appointment in Virginia in 1996, Hilary has been an active member of the Association of Women Surgeons and the Association for Surgical Education. She serves as a mentor to a number of medical students and residents, and is the recipient of the University of Virginia Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Association for Surgical Education Outstanding Teacher Award. In addition to her clinical commitments, Hilary serves as the Medical Director of LifeNet, Associate Program Director for Surgery, is a member of the University Senate, and is on the steering committee of the University of Virginia Academy of Distinguished Educators. She is founder and President of the Association of Women Surgeons Virginia Chapter, joint spokesperson on women’s health for the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease and serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Surgery and the Association for Surgical Education. Her research interests include gender differences in transplantation and surgical educations.

-Dr. Mary Hooks is Secretary of AWS. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery and Surgical Oncologist at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN. She attended medical school at University of Pennsylvania and did residency training at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She then returned to Philadelphia for Surgical Oncology training at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Upon completion of training, she was drawn to rural Tennessee by the unique opportunity to serve a community without any fellowship trained surgical oncologists and to provide care to a wide variety of cancer patients who could not get that care elsewhere. She has been the Third Year Clerkship Director since arriving at ETSU. Since that time the clerkship and department have won numerous teaching awards. She has also been active in bringing about changes in the clinical practice, including the development of a multi-disciplinary breast clinic new to the area.  

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9. CAREER DEVELOPMENT TIPS:

From Janet Bickel, Career Development Coach, Janetbickel@cox.net; www.janetbickel.com  

            From:  “Top 10 Tips for your CD (Career Development) Player”

1.     “Security no longer resides in the job (any job). It resides in your ability to add value. . . Value-adding tasks aren’t “job-based” so much as skills that enable you to find out what needs to be done, to adapt your resources to that task and present yourself as the answer to someone’s need.”  William Bridges, Creating You & Co.:  Learn To Think Like a CEO of Own Career, 1998

2.     “Uncertainty, risk and mistakes are part of the price we pay for innovations, change and ultimately learning. Psychological hardiness is a sense that you can influence the outcome and find meaning, not wishing for easy comfort or security, and able to use information from a variety of sources while asking questions.”  JM Kouzes and B. Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 3^rd edition. Jossey-Bass, 2002.

From Maureen Costello, Image Launch, www.imagelaunch.com

            Career Development Image Management Tip:

Straddling the day between green scrubs and white coats alleviates part of the professional dress dilemma. The key to honing yourself as a visual leader at staff and offsite meetings is one long look in the mirror. The human form is the backdrop for your aesthetic preferences. In figure drawing, the “perfect” body is made of eight head lengths. That is 1 head length for the hip, 2 head lengths from the shoulder to the waist, 1 head length for the hip, 2 head lengths from the hip to the knee and 2 head lengths from the knee to the foot. The challenge is that most designers use a “perfect fit model” to cut and size all the patterns. When we go shopping, the clothes on the rack are made for “perfectly” proportioned women and guess what? –  almost none of us fit this image!!  Use this art principle as a way to determine where some of your proportion challenges are when you shop for clothing. Are the sleeves too long, the jacket too short, the hem lengths off or the crotch rise to short?  Since women haven’t been predisposed to having garments tailored you may wish to consider this essential step to looking the part as a leader!  

10. NIH WOMEN ARE SURGEONS VIDEOS AVAILABLE

We are happy to report that we’ve received a shipment of the “Women Are Surgeons” videos from NIH. The videos are great for career days, school libraries, or any young person you know with an interest in medicine. The video is available through the AWS Office at no cost. You can call the AWS Office or e-mail info@womensurgeons.org to request the video.  

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11. WOMEN ON THE MOVE

-Leigh Neumayer, MD, FACS, was appointed to the nominating committee of the board of governors of the ACS (Mary Millroy is an alternate). Also, she just won the Wyndham by Request Women on their Way contest for a suggestion about hotel service for women travelers! She entered the contest because for each entry they donated a dollar to the Susan Komen Foundation. She won a trip for two and $1500 in skin care products (she plans to donate the skin care products to the Race for the Cure in Salt Lake City).

-Vivian Gahtan, MD, FACS, was recently promoted to Professor of Surgery and Chief Section of Vascular Surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

-Carolyn Reed, MD, is the first woman chair of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

-The Association for Academic Surgery announced its 2003-2004 officers, committee chairs and incoming councilors during the 2003 Annual Business Meeting held November 15 in Sacramento, California.

AAS' 2003-2004 officers are:

    *   J. Perren Cobb, MD of Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, President
    *   Matthias G. Stelzner, MD of UCLA, President-elect
    *  Scott R. Schell, MD PhD of University of Florida, Secretary
    *  Gary B. Nackman, MD of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Treasurer
    *  Siobhan A. Corbett, MD of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Recorder
    *  Henri R. Ford, MD of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Immediate Past President

AAS' 2003-2004 committee chairs are:

    *  Committee on Issues: Fiemu E. Nwariaku, MD of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
    *  Education Committee: Rosemary A. Kozar, MD of University of Texas - Houston, School of Medicine
    *  Membership Committee: Jeffrey S. Upperman, MD of Children's Hospital Pittsburgh
    *  Information and Technology Committee: David J. Hackam, MD PhD of Children's Hospital Pittsburgh
    *  Program Committee: Siobhan A. Corbett, MD of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

AAS' 2003-2004 incoming councilors are:

    *  Michel M. Murr, MD of University of South Florida (1994 year-of-entry)
    *  Peter J. Pappas, MD of UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (1996 year-of-entry)
    *  Ravi S. Chari, MD of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (1998 year-of-entry)
    *  Karen J. Brasel, MD of Medical College of Wisconsin (2000 year-of-entry)
    *  Jason B. Fleming, MD of University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (2002 year-of-entry)

The following councilors were recently elected via mail-in ballot. Their terms will commence immediately following the Association for Academic Surgery's 38^th Annual Meeting in November 2004:

    *  David L. Dawson, MD of University of California - Davis (1995 year-of-entry)
    *  Larry W. Kraiss, MD of University of Utah (1997 year-of-entry)
    *  Dai H. Chung, MD of University of Texas Medical Branch (1999 year-of-entry)
    *  Barbara A. Gaines, MD of Children's Hospital Pittsburgh (2001 year-of-entry)
    *  Daniel J. Scott, MD of Tulane School of Medicine (2003 year-of-entry) 

12. WEBSITE OF INTEREST

There is an exhibit on women in medicine available online. Many of the individuals in the exhibit are surgeons. This is a wonderful website. The following profiles are included: Nina Starr Braunwald, Frances Conley, Olga Jonasson, Margaret Kemeny, Sylvia Ramos and Rosalyn Scott. It was wonderful to see these familiar faces. Visit at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/  

13. LISTSERVS

The AWS has the following three listservs available for surgeon discussions: Balancing-Life, Breast, and Residents-Students. Visit http://www.womensurgeons.org/discussion_lists.htm to join!  

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14. AWS NEW MEMBERS

AWS welcomes the following new members who have joined since the end of November 2003. Be sure to visit the AWS Members Only section of http://www.womensurgeons.org/ for a complete member directory and more member benefits!