Surgery News - June 2008 - (Page 9)

JUNE 2008 • SURGERY NEWS 9 NEWS FROM THE COLLEGE Surgeon Shares Experience in State Advocacy BY MELINDA BAKER Hugh Gamble II, M.D., FACS, has been an ACS Fellow since 1985. A graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (where he did both his surgical internship and residencies), Dr. Gamble has held many leadership positions in the College: governor, chapter president, and chair of the Committee on Trauma, What do you see as the biggest issue affectas well as his current post as a member of the ing surgery today? Health Policy Steering Committee. In addition, How is that different from when you began Dr. Gamble is past president of the Mississippi practicing? State Medical Association, and currently he The biggest issues today are the ones that serves as the MSMA’s delegate to the American the ACS is trying to address. Patient safety, Medical Association’s House of Delegates. manpower, liability, and reimbursement are Dr. Gamble is a thoracic and cardiovascular always at the top of the list. These issues surgeon at Gamble Brothers & Archer Clinic, a HUGH GAMBLE II, never change. I remember hearing discussubsidiary of Delta Regional Medical Center in M.D., FACS sions about all of these issues as a child at Greenville, Miss. He was asked to share his exmy family dinner table. The battles end only if we alperiences in advocacy in hopes of encouraging other Fellows low others to make all the decisions for us. to think about how they can assist in advocating for their profession. Why should surgeons become involved in advocacy? No one else can or will speak for us. We are the How did you get involved in advocacy? only ones with the insight to be advocates for surgiI grew up in advocacy. My grandfather, great-uncle, cal patients. and father were all presidents of the MSMA. Mississippi is a relatively small state, especially for specialty sociWhat do you think holds surgeons back from becoming eties, so most legislative activity in health care involves involved in advocacy? MSMA. My great-grandfather was also in the first canI think people, surgeons in particular, don’t think didate group of the College in 1913. I have his certifithey can have an impact. That’s just not true. You cate, which is dated November 13, 1913. His brother, can’t always be asking for something; sometimes you Paul Gaston Gamble, was initiated a few years later. just need to show up and listen. The pressures of You were president of the Mississippi Medical Associa- practice, family, and personal interests all provide excuses to avoid becoming involved. “Showing up” realtion during the “medical liability wars.” What was ly is 90% of the battle. that like? Within 2 months of my becoming president of the MSMA, liability companies across the state started to increase premiums by up to 70%. Almost immediately, the amount of time required to deal with legislators, the press, and other tort reform partners increased dramatically. For almost a year, this was a second job in addition to my private practice. Are there any specific skills that surgeons tend to possess that make them more suited for advocacy? Surgeons tend to be good advocates because they are able to direct their focus on specific issues. Persistence is a surgical virtue that is essential to adequately address problems that require long-term involvement. How can chapters get more surgeons involved? Do you have any suggestions for recruiting younger surgeons? The major thing that chapters can do is communicate with their respective members. There are many national forums to address national issues, but individual states need to focus on their own local issues. Whether at the state or national level, the projected changes in our health care delivery system are far too important to be left to bureaucrats and politicians. Their objectives may be good, but the input of realworld practitioners is essential. Every resident in any surgical training program should be exposed to the benefits and programs that the College offers. Program directors, local chapters, and governors should carry the message of the ACS. We should consider making every resident a member of the candidate group upon acceptance into a training program. Physicians in training need to understand that while they are primarily focused on learning their craft, the impact of outside influences can be overwhelming. If we do not speak up, others who have a stake in the health care system will move on without us. Such an occurrence will be to the detriment of our profession and our patients. MS. BAKER is State Affairs Associate in the ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy. Scholarships Start in July First Lady of Georgia Visits For Resident Research ATLS Program S T While visiting the College, First andra Elisabeth Roelofs, the First Lady Roelofs and her delegation were Lady of the Eurasian country of given a tour of the trauma center at Georgia, and Georgian Embassy staff Northwestern University Hospital by visited the College in March to meet Michael West, M.D., FACS. Members with representatives of the Advanced of the delegation included Mikheil Trauma Life Support program. They Dolidze, M.D., who is involved in esdiscussed health care in her nation tablishing the first Georgian trauma and the reforms she believes are neccenter, and Levan Jugeli, M.D., who essary. works on health initiatives with First This visit with International ATLS Lady Roelofs. Director Christoph Kaufmann, M.D., FACS, and ATLS Program Manager Will Chapleau was partially inspired by plans that are in place for ATLS to be launched in Georgia. The country’s application was approved at the ATLS annual meeting, and the first site visit will take place Dr. Jugeli, Dr. Kaufmann, First Lady Roelofs, Mr. Chapleau, this summer. and Dr. Dolidze tour Northwestern’s trauma center. he Board of Regents has awarded six ACS Resident Research Scholarships for 2008. The scholarships begin July 1, 2008, and carry awards of $30,000 for each of 2 years to encourage residents to pursue careers in academic surgery. Unless otherwise noted, scholarships are sponsored by the Scholarship Endowment Fund of the College. Recipients and their respective research projects are as follows: Matthew Santore, M.D., resident in surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Research project: Developing effective in utero hematopoietic cell transplantation using intrathymic injection to facilitate engraftment in order to treat genetic disorders. Sae Hee Ko, M.D., resident in surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. Research project: The role of HIF overexpression in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on wound healing. (Dr. Ko’s scholarship is sponsored by Ethicon and will be conducted at Stanford University.) Johannes E. Kratz, M.D., resident in surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Research project: Linking inflammation and lung adenocarcinoma: Aberrant Wnt/Shh signaling in lung cancer stem cells. (Dr. Kratz’s scholarship is sponsored by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and will be conducted at the University of California, San Francisco.) Joshua J. Short, M.D., resident in surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham. Research project: Development of fluorophore labeled advanced generation pancreatic adenocarcinoma targeted conditionally replicative adenovirus (CRAd). Sam C. Wang, M.D., resident in neurosurgery, University of California, San Francisco. Research project: Defining the contributions of pancreatic ductal and acinar cells to tumorigenesis. Isam W. Nasr, M.D., resident in surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. Research project: Role of tertiary lymphoid organs in chronic allograft rejection. JENNY KAUFMANN

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