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President’s Message 2012

James Macho., MD

I am honored to be writing to you today as your President for the current term. I give my heartfelt and sincere thanks to my colleagues on the Executive Council, A. Brent Eastman Vice-President and President Elect of the Naffziger Society and Secretary-Treasurer James Constant, M.D., for their dedicated service and support to the Society.

Naffziger Society Website

Today, we have launched a new website, Naffzigersociety.com, which showcases the great work the Society performs. The site includes:

  • Pages detailing the rich and storied history of the UCSF Department of Surgery and the Naffziger society
  • A roster of members and online biographies
  • A password-protected member page with contact information
  • A news feed comprised of outstanding accomplishments of our members
  • Annual meeting agendas and as well as highlights and photographs from last year’s meeting.
  • The ability to donate directly to the Society through a simple an easy-to-use interface linked directly to its account

We will also use the site to inform the membership about details of upcoming meetings and for collaborative purposes such as online newsletters, made possible by an optimized mailing list of content.

Many thanks to Colin Fahrion, manager of the UCSF Pediatric Surgery and Fetal Treatment Center sites, for his work in designing and developing the Naffziger site and to Richard N. Barg, Director of Web Strategy and Development for the Department of Surgery, for his work developing the content and stitching together the information architecture.

Membership Survey

Members conveyed the sentiment that their successful careers were directly related to the training that they received at UCSF. As a measure of gratitude, they expressed a desire to give something back through the Society by providing support for the next generation of UCSF surgeons. Following the survey, the number of duespaying members increased significantly! The responses also expressed enthusiasm for the our annual meetings, both to promote professional and personal interactions with fellow trainees and for the opportunity to interact directly with the current residents.

Changes to Bylaws

Under the leadership of F. William Blaisdell, many changes were made to the Naffziger Surgical Society. The bylaws were rewritten to reflect the primary purpose of the society as assisting the UCSF Department of Surgery with the educational advancement of its residents. A new meeting format was developed and implemented with a day of presentations followed by an evening dinner honoring the current UCSF chief residents.

2011 Meeting

The highlights of last year’s meeting at San Francisco General Hospital included “Grand Rounds” presentations on multiple topics given by Dr. Blaisdell’s “Trauma Team”. This was followed by a surgical morbidity and mortality conference, chaired by Dr. Donald Trunkey, with presentations of case reports from the 70s. At the evening dinner, the chief residents were individually introduced with their biographies. The contributions of Dr. J. Englebert Dunphy were recognized and honored with a presentation by Dr. Frank Lewis.

Agenda of 2012 Meeting

I am pleased to report to you that the next meeting of the Howard C. Naffziger Surgical Society will be held on Friday, June 1, 2012. Based on the success of last year’s program and the positive feedback received, we have decided to remain separate from the UCSF Postgraduate Course again this year. The program will focus on the decade of the 1980’s in UCSF surgical history. We will be recognizing and honoring two living legends of the Surgery Department, who both made great contributions during that era.

We are planning to have a series of presentations given by distinguished graduates of the program from the 80’s and the topics chosen should be of interest to members in all specialties. The program will be held at the new Mission Bay campus and site of the future UCSF Hospital. We anticipate that there will be an opportunity to tour the Mission Bay campus.

Our evening dinner program will be held in the private dining room at Farallon, a four star restaurant in downtown San Francisco. I hope that you will mark the date and make every effort to attend. For those who are coming from a distance and planning to stay over the weekend, we hope to be able to offer assistance with arranging your weekend activities by providing recommendations

Thank you for allowing me to serve as your President this term. I look forward to seeing you at the June 1, 2012 Meeting and Dinner.

Sincerely,