The Many Roles of an Academic Surgeon

One of our most important responsibilities is training the next generation of fellows, residents, medical students, and undergraduate students aspiring to a career in medicine. Last summer Sidney Kimmel Medical College launched our new educational curriculum, termed JeffMD (Jefferson.edu/JeffMD). There is great excitement as we have welcomed 270 new medical students, who will be engaged in an entirely new and improved curriculum focused on problem-based learning, small group sessions, lifetime learning, longitudinal threads and experiences. The Department has helped develop the new curriculum, and also hopes to bring to fruition a surgically-focused curriculum, for those medical students who differentiate early into a surgical field. Stay tuned for more, as this materializes under the direction of Drs. Gerald Isenberg and Harrison Pitcher. We also educate our learners by publishing books and journals focused on surgery. Congratulations to the many members of our Department who have led the way and brought to fruition the following major endeavors: • Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS, published Contemporary Liver Transplantation (book) • Alec Beekley, MD, FACS, published the 2nd edition of Front Line Surgery (book) • Gerald Isenberg, MD, FACS, released the first issue of the ACS online publication: Case Reviews in Surgery (journal) • Nicholas Cavarocchi, MD, FACS, FCCP, published Critical Care Clinics, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (e-book) • Francesco Palazzo, MD, FACS, and Michael Pucci, MD, FACS, are working on a new book The Fundamentals of General Surgery with many chapters already submitted. • Just two years ago Adam Berger, MD, FACS, edited a monograph on Melanoma, and David Tichansky, MD, MBA, FACS, edited The SAGES Manual of Quality, Outcomes, and Patient Safety • My personal project, the 8th Edition of Shackelford’s Surgery of the Alimentary Tract just celebrated the submission of the last of the 184 chapters that will make up this 2 volume set. Lastly, having just concluded my summer faculty chats with all 61 of our Jefferson-based faculty members, it is impressive to reflect on their accomplishments and achievements to date. It is certainly clear to me that our Department makes critical contributions to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital being named to the U.S.News & World Report Honor Roll, as the 16th best hospital in America. Please enjoy the various articles which compose this issue and keep up with our news on Facebook.com/JeffersonSurgery and Twitter@JEFFsurgery in between issues