Association for Academic Surgery (AAS)
Inspiring and Developing Young Academic Surgeons
The Academic Surgeon is the official blog of the AAS. We post anywhere from one to three times a week and our contributors will focus on issues relevant to young academic surgeons, residents, fellows, and even medical students.
If you would like to contribute, please submit your post here: https://www.aasurg.org/the-academic-surgeon-blog-submission/
Why do certain medical students, residents and attendings outperform their peers? What competencies can surgeons develop besides technical ones? Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) describes the ability to perceive, understand and manage one’s own and another person’s emotions [1]. The business world has long recognized EI as being meaningful and equally, if not more, important …
As a medical student at VCU, I was able to pursue my interest in global trauma and emergency care through a fantastic summer research opportunity working with faculty from the Division of Acute Care Surgery who have ongoing projects in multiple countries. Under the guidance of Dr. Sudha Jayaraman, we developed a project on cost …
Now being a surgeon is gratifying, rewarding, invigorating, inspirational, happy and fun – but it is also hard. A lot of surgeons don’t know this, but being hard is a critically important part of the appeal of our discipline. In fact, if surgery were not hard, we would eschew the entire field of surgery as …
I’m an early adopter of technology and an eternal optimist that the next program, app, or device I try is going to be the one that gives me back time. Today, I’m going to tell you 3 ways to use technology to bring order back to the chaos that is residency and clinical practice. My …
Palliative and end-of-life care communication has been a continuous topic of discussion. It is now believed that palliative care is not just for those patients who are likely to die after trauma, but for all critical, severely injured, or terminally ill patients and their families. Surgery and trauma patients are a large group of individuals …
Well into her 90s my grandma was actively using her cellphone. She was a little slow with it – bothered by the arthritis in her fingers – but she could use it to see pictures we sent of our kids, she could answer calls, and she generally kept it with her. Now, more than ever, …
Recent articles in professional journals and the lay press have publicized episodes of unspeakable behavior by physicians directed at their patients. Virtually all of the highlighted episodes involved a patient under anesthesia, naked and incapacitated. One might think that the physicians involved were oblivious to the presence of others. Not so–they knew and wanted the …
I am honored to serve as the AAS representative to the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons. In this capacity, I serve as a conduit for information between the two organizations. Additionally, I feel that I have a duty to advocate for the principals and the mission of the AAS within the …
The emotional toll on a surgeon or physician after the loss of a patient is an experience rarely spoken about freely. Perhaps the one exception is during the mandatory review at morbidity and mortality conference. We are often not prepared on how to deal with this experience. There is no grief counseling after the fact …
As a junior general surgeon resident, I remember learning from one of my most respected mentors, Dr. Berne, that to be a great surgeon, I must have “the eyes of an eagle, the heart of a lion, and the hands of a woman.” I remember thinking, “Oh good, I am glad I am starting out …
