Dear Naffziger Society Members,
It is my distinct honor and privilege to serve as the 66th President of the UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society.
First, I want to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor, James Constant, MD, for his outstanding service as our immediate past President. Under his leadership, the Society implemented electronic billing for the membership, and spearheaded the effort to enhance the Naffziger Society website and modernize its internal operations. This built on the foundation laid by his predecessors, Carlos U. Corvera, M.D., A. Brent Eastman MD and James R. Macho, M.D.
Second, I want to expressly thank those members who supported the Society in 2015 through payment of their annual membership dues. Funds from dues are critical to supporting the mission of the Society including our educational symposiums, annual events and social functions. We truly value your loyalty and financial support.
In 2015, I am pleased to report that many members took advantage of our new electronic billing options, paying their dues by simply clicking a “Pay Now” button embedded in the email containing their e-invoice. Others used the PayPal buttons on our website to pay for events as well as membership dues. Many academic surgeons elected to pay their dues through institutional expense accounts. To make this process easier, we have posted our W-9 form online so academic assistants needing this information can easily access it.
In approximately a week, we will be sending out eInvoices to the membership for 2016 dues, and paper invoices to members without email addresses on file.
Upcoming Events
Annual Business Meeting and Dinner Honoring the Chief Residents
I would like to cordially invite you to attend our upcoming annual meeting, which will take place in San Francisco from May 12th – May 14th at the Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel at the same time as the Postgraduate Course in Hernia Surgery.
Our business luncheon will take place on Thursday, May 12th from 12:00 – 1:00 pm on the 10th Floor of Marines’ Memorial in the Regimental Room. We are pleased to again welcome Nancy L. Ascher, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery, who will be giving her annual “State of the Department” address to the membership. The dinner honoring the Department’s graduating chief residentswill take place on Friday, May 13, 2016 from 7:00 – 9:30 pm at One Market Restaurant.
RSVP and Payment
To RSVP for these events, please email naffziger.society@gmail.com or use our Contact Form. You may also call the Society directly at (650) 992-1387. Please indicate how many people will be attending: 1) the business lunch and/or 2) the dinner honoring the Chief Residents.
Payment for the event may be made:
1) Via Paypal using the Pay for Events button on the Naffziger Society website
2) By mailing a check to: UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society, 179 Canterbury Ave., Daly City, CA 94015
Please register for these events by April 25, 2016 as we must provide a headcount to the venue hosts. For additional details, please visit the Naffziger Surgical Society Annual Meeting Page.
Postgraduate Course in Hernia Surgery
This three-day symposium commences on Thursday, May 12, 2015 at 7:30 a.m. and runs through Saturday, May 14, 2016, adjourning at 12:00 p.m. The Postgraduate Course in Hernia Surgery, co-chaired by Hobart W. Harris, MD, MPH, Professor and Chief of Division of General Surgery at UCSF and myself, features renowned experts in the fields of general, gastrointestinal, and laparoscopic surgery; surgical nutrition and metabolism; reconstructive microsurgery; and complex abdominal wall reconstruction. The program will explore the latest developments in the field including evidenced-based studies and emerging consensus of expert opinion. The conference will also provide an ideal networking forum where you can reconnect with other Naffziger members.
Among the roster of distinguished faculty are: the 2016 Naffziger Invited Lecturer, Guilherme M. Campos, MD, FACS (left), Division Chair and Professor of Surgery at VCU School of Medicine, Naffziger Visiting Professor, Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, FRCSI (Hon.) *(right),*Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at University of Washington, and Postgraduate Course Keynote Speaker, Robert G. Martindale, MD, PhD, (shown at left below) Professor and Chief of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery, and Medical Director of the Hospital Nutritional Service Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
The three-day conference, with coverage of over fifty topics, is free to all Naffziger Society members through a special arrangement with the University of California, San Francisco. This program represents a tremendous value to our membership, one that would otherwise cost $750.00 to attend.
Click here to view the full speaker roster with links to each of their biographies. For a complete listing of all conference topics, click here. For all details on the conference including the full course outline, please visit the UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society Annual Meeting Page.
News & Announcements
New Lifetime and Associate Members
I want to extend a warm welcome to six new lifetime members from the class of 2015, all of whom have taken positions as clinical fellows: Jessica H. Beard, MD, MPH (UPenn), Jack W. Harbell, MD (UCSF), Sandhya B. Kumar, MD (UCSF), Lawrence B. Oresanya, MD (Temple Univ.), Amanda Sammann, MD, MPH (OHSU), and Cathy J. Tang, MD, MS (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles). Lifetime members are comprised of the graduating Chief Residents from the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program.
In addition, we recently inducted four new Associate Members: Ankit Sarin, MD, MHA, Matthew Y.C. Lin, MD, Catherine Juillard, MD, MPH, and Errol L. Bush, MD. Associate members are comprised of: 1) full-time faculty in the Department of Surgery who have had their appointment for at least three years, and 2) UCSF clinical fellows who have completed at least one-year of training.
Wen T. Shen, M.D. Nominated as Vice-President/President Elect
I am pleased to announce that the Executive Council has nominated Wen T. Shen, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCSF, to be our 67th President. Upon confirmation in May, Dr. Shen will become Vice-President/President Elect, then assume the reigns of the presidency on July 1st. In addition to being an outstanding surgeon, resident mentor and dedicated physician-scientist, Dr. Shen has distinguished himself as a medical historian. The holder of a a masters’ degree in the History of Medicine, he has published articles on the 1942 Coconut Grove Fire in Boston and its impact on burn care, the history of adrenal incidentaloma, and many other thought-provoking topics.
Enhancements to Naffziger Society Website
Over the past three years, we have continued to improve the Naffziger Society website, adding features and discovering new ways for our members to connect with one another. I welcome you to visit the site and view the rich content and features it offers. Our searchable membership directory now includes an entry for each member that displays the year of graduation (for UCSF Chief Residents), the member’s area of practice(s), and a link to the member’s biography. Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to locate an online bio link for every member. To add or update your biography link, or to apprise us of any changes in your contact information, please use our member update form or email us at naffziger.society@gmail.com.
The Society also has a news feed on the website where we post news summaries and notable announcements about our membership. If you would like to suggest a news story or submit an announcement for the website, please use our online form or email the Society. We also recently launched a Naffziger Society Photos Page at Flickr that houses photos of Naffziger events. if you have photos you want us to upload to this page, please email the Society.
Celebration Honoring William P. Schecter, MD
Last December, the UCSF Department of Surgery honored our esteemed colleague, William P. Schechter, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Surgery at UCSF and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH). Dr. Schechter was honored for his illustrious career and myriad accomplishments during a luncheon and academic program at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center, and later at a dinner celebration at AT&T Park in San Francisco, one that included a fireworks display. UCSF has also established the “Trauma Resident of the Year” award in Dr. Schechter’s honor. To read more about the celebration, please view our website news summary.
2016 Loupes Ceremony
On August 5, 2015, the Department of Surgery held its annual Loupes Ceremony for 2nd Year (PGY-2) categorical residents at Toland Hall on the UCSF Parnassus Heights campus. The following residents received the ceremonial loupes: Jhoanne Bautista, M.D., Ph.D., Greg Haro, M.D., Quoc-Hung Nguyen, M.D., Juliet Okoroh, M.D., James Ross, M.D., Oren Shaked, M.D., Casey Ward, M.D., Clara Gomez-Sanchez, M.D., Hunter Oliver-Allen, M.D., and Audrey Nguyen, M.D.
In April, we will be emailing the membership a very special issue of the Naffziger Society Newsletter that will have a historical look-back at the Department’s Loupes ceremony over the past decade, featuring presentation booklets and a full list of honorees and faculty presenters. Stay tuned!
Ed Chen Pledges Gift for Purchase of Chief Resident Chairs for 2016
Edward P. Chen, MD, a member of the class of 2000, has magnanimously pledged the sum of $5,000.00 for the purchase of ALL Chief Resident Chairs for members of the 2016 graduating class. These chairs are a tangible tribute to the Chief Residents who have made the arduous, but rewarding journey through the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program. Soon after their official induction into the UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society, graduating residents are shipped their Chief Resident Chair.
In a recent letter, Ed told me:
“I am happy to contribute in anyway you need. I would be happy to fund ALL the chairs for the Chiefs or fund ALL the loupes for the second years to be honest. I’m being serious. Also happy to contribute to the general fund, but I know how much those loupes and the chairs meant to me so would be happy to do so.”
Ed also views the gift as a way to bridge the geographical distance between San Francisco, the hub of the UCSF General Surgery Residency Program, and Atlanta, GA, where Dr. Chen is Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine as well as Director of Thoracic Aortic Disease.
On a personal level, I found Ed’s gift so inspiring that I have decided to make a similar pledge for the purchase of ALL Chief Resident Chairs for the graduating class of 2017.
Newly Minted Attending Surgeons
A number of Chief Residents that graduated in the past several years have now completed their fellowship training and become attending surgeons. Those members include: Kenneth Loh, M.D. (Kaiser Permanente, SF), Aaron Joseph Ahearn, M.D., Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, UMass), Rita Mukhtar, MD (Kaiser Permanente, SF), Susan Lee Char, MD (CPMC – SF), Farzad Alemi, MD (Truman Medical Center, Kansas City, MI), Carter K. Lebares, MD (UCSF), and Ian Brown, M.D., Ph.D (UC Davis).
Executive Council Update
Current Members
The Executive Council includes, in addition to myself, Secretary-Treasurer Shelley A. Marks, M.D., at-large members Michelle L. Li, M.D., Wen T. Shen, M.D. and Crystine M. Lee M.D., and the past three Presidents, James Constant, MD, Carlos U. Corvera, M.D., and A. Brent Eastman MD.
New Members
At last years’ business meeting, the general membership confirmed the nominations of Madhulika “Mika” Varma, M.D. and Rita Mukhtar, M.D. as members-at-large, and Jonathan Carter, M.D. as website liaison, to the Naffziger Society Executive Council. The Council also created two new positions and nominees for 2016: Naffziger historian”, Lawrence W. Way, M.D. and “Resident Liaison”, UCSF general surgery resident Bian Wu, M.D.
I am also pleased to report that Annette Bronstein has returned as our Executive Secretary, a position she previously held for over a quarter of a century. Annette is an event planner extraordinaire and has a deep and abiding affection for the membership. The Society has also appointed [Richard N. Barg, JD, MBA](http://top.ucsf.edu/meet-the-team/strategic-development/richard-n-barg,-jd,-mba.aspx) Director of Online Operations. Mr. Barg co-led the effort to develop the Naffziger website with the site’s designer [Colin Fahrion](http://www.pedsurg.ucsf.edu/about-us/staff/colin-fahrion.aspx), and deployed the Society’s new electronic billing system. Mr. Barg will now oversee all online and digital assets of the Society including its website and membership directory.
In Memoriam
Marjorie Stanley Albo – May 22, 1934 – June 25, 2015
It is with sadness that I report the passing of Marjorie Albo. Marjorie “Marge” was the beloved wife of the late Dr. Robert Albo, the well-known bay area surgeon and former team physician for the Oakland Raiders and Golden State Warriors for many years.
Final Words
I hope you will consider visiting San Francisco from May 12th – May 14th and join us for our Naffziger Society Annual Meeting and Postgraduate Course in Hernia Surgery co-hosted with the UCSF Department of Surgery. I believe you will find it an outstanding opportunity for professional development as well as an ideal way to reconnect with former mentors and colleagues.
I encourage your participation in the activities of the Society including playing a future role in leadership and governance. If you have ideas for advancing the Society’s mission, would like to nominate someone to our Executive Council, or want to offer input to improve the functioning of the Society, please email me at naffziger.society@gmail.com.
And, in closing, thank you again for giving me the opportunity to serve as President of this venerable society.
Sincerely,
Laurence F. Yee, MD, FACS, FASCRS
President
UCSF Naffziger Surgical Society