americansurgical.orgASA: American Surgical Association

Home Annual Meeting Council Committees Members Only Membership Journal Transactions Foundation Awards Newsletter About / History Search ASA Thank you to those who registered and attended the Virtual Annual Meeting! To those who attended live, CME claim information has been sent to you via email. The On-Demand Portal is now available! Access all sessions from the Virtual Annual Meeting in the On-Demand portal. ASA Statement in Support of Science and on Keeping Politics Out of Science The foundation of the achievements of modern medicine, including surgery, has been the scientific method. Unfortunately, there is a growing pattern in US politics to discredit science. The American Surgical Association, as the leading body of surgical scientists, stands in solidarity with other scientists to condemn such attacks. Objective scientific facts should not be suppressed as a political tool. While science should be used to inform politics, we firmly believe that politics should not dictate science. How to act upon scientific facts can be a legitimate part of political debate. The existence of scientific facts should not be. We call upon our members, all surgeons, and health care workers of all political beliefs to confront anti-science attitudes and attacks that have become part of our political discourse. ASA Statement of Solidarity We have all been greatly distressed by the recent violence against fellow Americans of color that has brought to the forefront racism and social injustice. These events, on top of the health inequities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, expose our imperfect society. Although the epicenter of this societal crisis is in the U.S., it is in fact a global issue. Surgeons and the discipline of surgery, particularly academic surgery, have a tradition of leadership both within medicine and within society. These recent events have challenged us to reexamine our historically significant deficiencies in diversity, equity and inclusion. The American Surgical Association stands in solidarity with all communities regardless of race, and our medical students, residents, fellows, faculty and members in North America and globally to condemn racism and discrimination in any form whether it be personal or systemic. It is critically important for each of us to have honest introspection and self-assessment with a commitment to resolve our own personal biases. Going forward, we in academic surgery, must continue to lead by service to our communities, patients and colleagues with ongoing self-assessment and improvement. By this action, we can be role models and provide the leadership necessary to remove structural racism and eliminate all forms of discrimination in our society. Ensuring Ethical Leadership in Academic Medicine A working group of the ASA Council was formed at the time of the ASA's 2018 Annual Meeting and charged with producing a work product to assemble best practices in the principles of ethical leadership. Applying ethical principles allows leaders to chart clear paths to solutions both in the short and long term. In the monograph, the principles of ethical leadership exemplified by case illustrations provide a novel resource to help ensure ethical leadership in academic medicine and beyond. Read more . Ensuring Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Academic Surgery Surgeons and the discipline of surgery, particularly academic surgery, have a tradition of leadership both within medicine and within society. Currently, we are being challenged to harness our innate curiosity, hard work, and perseverance to address the historically significant deficiencies within our field in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Surgery needs to identify areas for improvement and work iteratively to address and correct past deficiencies. This requires honest and ongoing identification and correction of implicit and explicit biases. More diverse departments, residencies, and universities will improve our care, enhance our productivity, augment our community connections, and achieve our most fundamental ambition - doing good for our patients. A working group, the Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, was formed at the time of the ASA's 2017 Annual Meeting, and charged with producing a work product to identify issues and hurdles and develop a set of solutions and benchmarks to aid the academic surgical community in achieving these goals. This "living document," Ensuring Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Academic Surgery , is now available online. Read more . Global Surgery Task Force There is an unacceptably high burden of death and disability from conditions that are treatable by surgery, worldwide and especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The major actions to improve this situation need to be taken by the surgical communities, institutions, and governments of the LMICs. However, the United States (US) surgical community, including the US academic surgical community, have important roles to play in addressing this problem. The American Surgical Association convened a Working Group to address how US academic surgery can most effectively decrease the burden from surgically treatable conditions in LMICs. Its consensus statement, "Global Surgery: Effective Involvement of US Academic Surgery," is now available in the Annals of Surgery . Read more .   FFF2D0 -- ASA Newsletter » Current Issue 2022 Membership Cycle New candidate applications for the 2022 membership cycle many no longer be initiated. View the remaining steps in the 2022-cycle timeline , and please note that the timeline from completion of application to election at the 2022 Annual Meeting is at minimum 13 months long.   FFF2D0 -- © Copyright 2021. Privacy Policy American Surgical Association 500 Cummings Center, Suite 4400, Beverly, MA 01915 (978) 927-8330 | FAX (978) 524-0498 Email ASA 3:27:27 PM Tuesday, June 1, 2021...