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Socioeconomic disparities and downstream effects on the pipeline of African American students and trainees remain apparent in the pool of surgeons available to pursue academic careers. These inequities are poignantly described by Sha’shonda Revels, MD, chief resident in general surgery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with plans to pursue an academic career in cardiothoracic surgery: “I consider myself truly blessed to have the opportunity to learn a tangible skill that I can use to effect change in the lives of others. … I appreciate the struggles that others have made for me to have this opportunity. Those not so well known ‘others’ include my grandmother who cleaned houses, and took care of me so that my mother could finish high school and attend college. They also include my parents who were tenacious about academics and would not accept a B average.”
Courtesy The Society of Black Academic Surgeons
The first meeting of the SBAS in 1989.
The SBAS is born
Despite post-WWII gains, opportunities remained limited for black surgeons to achieve prominence and recognition in academic surgical societies. The Society for Black Academic Surgeons was therefore established as a network that would promote the careers of African American surgeons in academia and accelerate their upward professional trajectory.
SBAS founding member and President (1993-1995) Eddie Hoover, MD, FACS, professor of surgery at the State University of New York Buffalo, and Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the National Medical Association, provides this passionate account of its history and accomplishments: “SBAS was created in a hotel room at the Marriott in New Orleans in 1987 to address the paucity of academic African American surgeons; their poor retention, promotion, and research funding; and lack of a leadership role in American surgery. The hero of academic African American surgeons, Dr. Charles Drew, adorns the shield of SBAS as much for his defiance of ACS for refusing to accept other well-qualified African American surgeons in the 1940’s as for his scientific contributions …With strong ACS support, SBAS has been stunningly successful over the past 27 years with a dozen SBAS members serving as surgical chairs and four as deans of majority schools.”
Courtesy Dr. Eddie Hoover
Eddie Hoover, MD, FACS
Dr. Britt, first African American chair of the ACS Board of Regents and later SBAS president, emphasizes that these two organizations have shared goals. “The evolution of the American College of Surgeons, the world’s largest organization for surgeons, and its growing partnership with the Society of Black Academic Surgeons (demonstrated formally, informally, and sometimes tacitly) needs to be recognized, underscored, and continually enhanced. Many of the ideals of SBAS now mirror the ideals and achievements of the ACS, including an ever growing diverse membership, improved diversity at all levels of leadership, meaningful mentorships for underrepresented minorities, and the establishment of several initiatives to address severe health care disparities in the world’s wealthiest nation.”
The 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the SBAS will be hosted by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, April 9-11, 2015.
Frederick Cason, MD, FACS, professor of surgery and chief, Division of Surgical Education at Morehouse School of Medicine and the SBAS historian and archivist, stated, “With the strong academic activities of SBAS, the networking it fosters, and the partnerships with numerous academic institutions and members of the College… there developed some 10 academic chairmen and at least 4 deans leading our major medical centers in America.”
Courtesy Moorehouse College of Medicine
Dr. Frederick D. Cason
Andrea Hayes-Jordan, MD, SBAS 2015 Annual Meeting program chair and associate professor of surgery and Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, notes, “At the annual meeting we are not only able to see the results of excellent research efforts from minority surgeons from around the country, but one has the unique opportunity to interact with them on a personal level, at an intimate meeting. This personal interaction with successful chair persons of color is invaluable in receiving pearls of advice, and understanding the nuances of successful academic practice. We hope in the future to increase the membership of SBAS and continue to promote the timely advancement of our members.”
Courtesy MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dr. Andrea Jordan Hayes
Robert Higgins, MD, FACS, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery, Ohio State University and past SBAS president (2008-2009), commented, “As someone who has benefitted from the progress that the SBAS/ACS relationship has fostered, I think the critical strength of this effort in the future is based upon its ability to create foundations for the development of underrepresented men and women of diverse backgrounds to reach new heights in surgery.”