The Society of Surgical Chairs (SSC) Women’s Committee hosted a leadership symposium for 40 women surgeons April 18–19 at the Union League of Philadelphia, PA, immediately preceding the annual meeting of the American Surgical Association. The event was sponsored by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Ethicon, and the SSC Women’s Committee.
Anne C. Mosenthal, MD, FACS, Benjamin F. Rush, Jr. Endowed Chair and professor and chair of surgery at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, and chair of the SSC’s Women’s Committee led the daylong educational program, which featured the following sessions:
• A team from Johnson & Johnson Ethicon spoke on the Changing Healthcare Landscape.
• Larry R. Kaiser, MD, FACS, Lewis Katz Dean, School of Medicine, senior executive vice-president for Health Affairs, Temple University, and president and chief executive officer (CEO), Temple University Health System, Philadelphia, spoke on the Healthcare System and Academic Medicine.
• ACS President-Elect Barbara L. Bass, MD, FACS, the John F. and Carolyn Bookout Distinguished Endowed Chair and chair, department of surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, TX; and Past-Chair of the ACS Board of Regents Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, president and CEO, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC, spoke on leadership challenges.
• Sandra Humbles, vice-president of Global Educational Solutions for One Medical Devices at Johnson & Johnson, and Vice-Chair of the ACS Board of Regents Leigh A. Neumayer, MD, MS, FACS, professor and chair, department of surgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, led a session on Performance, Impact, and Exposure.
• Dr. Mosenthal moderated a panel discussion on advancing women to leadership roles, which included the following panelists: Daniel V. Schidlow, MD, Drexel University, Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Dean and senior vice-president, medical affairs, at Drexel University College of Medicine; Nancy Spector, MD, executive director, executive leadership in academic medicine, and associate dean for faculty development, Drexel University College of Medicine; Mary T. Hawn, MD, FACS, professor of surgery and chair, department of surgery, Stanford University, CA; and Jeffrey B. Matthews, MD, FACS, Dallas B. Phemister Professor of Surgery and chair, department of surgery, University of Chicago, IL.
The ACS Foundation hosted a dinner for the SSC Women’s Committee members and Shane Hollett, ACS Foundation Executive Director, spoke with them about the future of women in philanthropy.