SAGES

Reimagining surgical care for a healthier world

A Concluding Message from Dr. Horacio Asbun

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It is amazing that a whole year has passed so quickly!

As I conclude my SAGES presidency, I reflect on all SAGES managed to accomplish, even during a fully virtual pandemic year.

We were PROACTIVE responding to the challenges we had to face

  • Publication of several COVID related statements, webinars and “Notes from the Battlefield” with some international surgical colleagues – https://www.sages.org/category/covid-19/
  • Swiftly closed fundamentals test centers last spring, pivoted to virtual testing, and, at the discretion of each test center, began to slowly and safely re-open sites this winter as local and institutional guidelines allowed
  • Responded to events in the US with anti-racism statements last summer and again last month
  • Convened virtual retreats to address potential threats to SAGES following the pandemic, as well as to address our foregut initiatives and strategy

We continued to INNOVATE

  • Expanded and implemented groundbreaking changes on our Shark Tank program to a multi round competition, including written submissions, virtual pitch presentations by semi-finalists, final presentations at the Shark Tank Session at the SAGES meeting, and a $30,000 prize to the winner. Also new this year, all finalists will receive an opportunity to receive funding through the newly formed SAGES Investor Network (SINC), which will allow fellow SAGES members to invest in your idea.
  • Conducted an Industry Roundtable with 29 colleagues representing 11 of our industry sponsors and discussed innovative changes in our relations with Industry, focusing on creating exciting projects
  • Continued the work of the Technology Council, adding the Fluorescence Imaging and Digital Surgery sub-groups which are already doing great work
  • Planned the 2nd SAGES Innovation Weekend for this June 4-5 in Houston, with the Next Big Thing Summit combined with the Surgical Disruptive Technology Summit, along with Advocacy Summit, a Surgical Video Data Conference, and the 15th International NOSCAR Summit
  • The Artificial Intelligence Task Force continues its mission of educating SAGES members about AI and its implications for clinical practices, research, and education, while also growing its liaison efforts with Safe Chole, VBA, digital surgery, and community surgery.

We maintained our track record to EDUCATE during a year where in-person education was not feasible

  • Pivoted with less than two months’ notice to a virtual SAGES meeting in August, 2020
  • Provided virtual ADOPT and Train the Trainers courses
  • Conducted hybrid robotics courses for fellows.
  • Continued our Global education, shifting our Global Advancement Laparoscopic Program (GLAP) to a virtual program with tele-simulation and continuing to implement in Mexico City, Mexico, Leon Guanajuato, Mexico, and new site in Costa Rica.
  • Postponed SAGES 2021 spring meeting to late August 2021, with hopes of being able to safely re-convene in person.
  • Continued our resident webinar education series of six webinars; topics covering Career Development, ABSITE reviews, Flex Endo training in Rural America, Pediatric surgery and innovations in Hernia surgery.
  • Education Council progressed with a pilot for the Lap Fundoplication Video Based Assessment (VBA) and is beginning work on the Lap Chole VBA. The Curriculum Group completed Goals and Objectives for all clinical pathways of the Masters Program. Many pathways have been added to the program since its inception. The Business and Technology Group has readied OWLS for an early release to committee chairs.

We persisted in our ability to COLLABORATE

  • Participation in the CVGSC (Coronavirus Global Surgical Collaborative), which includes surgical leaders from multiple countries and different continents and will continue in the future as the GSC
  • Formed a Leadership Through Crisis group with presidents of several US & international sister surgical societies to address the challenges we all have shared
  • Initiated oncology webinar series with sister societies on Improving Cancer Care delivered through Minimally Invasive Surgery
  • Currently working with 5 sister societies for the Consensus Conference on GERD in August, 2021, and 12 sister societies on the Multi-Society Guidelines for Endoscopy Credentialing

We were LEADERS

  • Formation of RPS Task Force – Reimagining the Practice of Surgery, whose primary goal is promoting/regaining the joy in the practice of surgery and making institutions more vested in creating a positive work environment for surgeons
  • Despite pandemic, continued work on SAGES strategic plan, with on time deliverables
  • We inducted our 7000th member!
  • Thanks to past treasurers and presidents, we were prepared for and weathered the financial storm that accompanied a pandemic year and cancellation of the 2020 annual meeting.

Looking forward, I expect we will be able to reunite in person in Las Vegas for our SAGES 2021 Annual Meeting with an exceptional program that includes very unique subjects for the Storz & Marks keynote lectures. Register & book housing now! https://www.sages2021.surgery/

I end my Presidential year feeling grateful, humbled and with a strong sense of optimism:

Grateful to all the Executive Committee, the SAGES Board, the committee chairs/co-chairs, program chairs, SAGES Foundation, Dr. Pon and to Sallie Matthews and her excellent staff for making this unprecedented year a successful one for SAGES.

Humbled by the tremendous work of “the people of SAGES” including the work done by prior leaders. As a President, I was able to see it all and understand how SAGES has become the organization is today.

Optimistic for what is coming. The development and implementation of our 2019 strategic plan along with this year’s projects in innovation, the practice of surgery and how we relate to industry places SAGES in a strong position for the future. This is coupled with the superb leaders that are taking over the privileged position of President of SAGES: Liane Feldman for 2021 and John Mellinger for 2022. They will undoubtedly lead our society to a bright future.

Horacio J. Asbun, MD

Message from Horacio J. Asbun – SAGES President

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are realizing just how extensively our lives are being affected by it.  It curtails our freedom during our daily work life; we are no longer the ones deciding who gets to have surgery, or how many surgical masks we get per week, or if we can test our patient for the virus before surgery. We are seeing our colleagues from anesthesia, ICU, ED and ID exhausted, overworked, and in some cases getting ill. We are being called to fill in for their roles. As we deal with our own very real personal fears, we have to find ways to remind ourselves that all of this will one day pass. It will.

In the meantime, it is our responsibility to make the right decisions for our patients, our colleagues, and ourselves during this stressful situation.  Because that is what we, as surgeons and surgical team members, do in our daily lives. It is our responsibility to find hope amidst the chaos, and support those colleagues that may be the most overwhelmed by the crisis despite their daily heroic actions and decisions. Finding hope is also part of what we do and give to our patients and their families in our daily lives. It is our responsibility to step-up and be leaders during this crisis, because surgeons are intrinsic leaders, as necessitated by the nature of our work and our role within the surgical team.

I now have the honor of being the president of SAGES. I use the word honor this year, not just for the usual reasons that the position entails within this great organization, but in particular because I have been humbled as I witness how SAGES reacts to this crisis. At all levels of the SAGES family, from the past president, to Executive Committee and Board members, and many other committee and individual members. They have proactively stepped up utilizing their leadership skills and working very hard to make a positive difference during this crisis. Not only at their local level but for the surgical community at large. These actions are undertaken without any expectation of academic or financial reward, and are inspiring to witness.

There is no better testament to our new vision statement: “Reimagining surgical care for a healthier world”. Who knew, less than five months ago when the vision statement was created, that it would be put to such a drastic test during one of the worst health care crisis in our history… and yes, we really are doing so.

Please remember you are a surgeon, you are a leader, make good use of those, your qualities during these difficult times! We will learn from this experience and we will become better for our patients and for each other. Understand that fear and courage are not exclusive.  Experiencing fear for ourselves and our loved ones is normal and we must honor the feeling. Going to work despite it shows courage and we should also honor that fact.

Don’t forget for a moment that soon we will be celebrating camaraderie, collegiality and the art of having good fun together, as we do so every year.

Stay well, best wishes to you and yours.

 

Horacio J. Asbun, MD

SAGES President

Visit https://www.sages.org/category/covid-19/ for SAGES updated statements regarding COVID-19.

Visit https://www.sages.org/video/surgical-guidelines-during-covid-19/ to view the SAGES April 8, 2020 webinar on Surgical Guidelines during COVID-19.

The Coronavirus Global Surgical Collaborative (CVGSC)

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An initiative sponsored by SAGES in collaboration with EAES, AEC, KSELS* 

A group of surgical leaders from affected countries have joined to discuss what they are learning during this Covid-19 Global crisis. The following is a brief summary of what they feel may be useful information to disseminate to the surgical community:

Lack of taste and smell:

A minority of patients present with decreased sense of taste and/or smell as their first symptom. This can precede any other symptom. Several ENT physicians have been exposed to Covid-19 because they unsuspectingly examined these patients in their offices

Abdominal Pain:

A minority of patients can present with abdominal pain and possible associated fever. In some instances, even mimicking appendicitis. They usually have accompanying diarrhea, loss of appetite and or vomiting. When the clinical presentation of a suspected acute abdominal diagnosis appears somewhat atypical, including only mildly raised WBC or CRP, a CT of the abdomen including the chest can be paramount to avoid taking the patient to surgery.

Chest Ultrasound:

As the number of patients increases, a useful diagnostic modality could be thoracic ultrasound. Six areas of the thorax are studied at each side. Please follow this link to see a 5 minute video of how to perform a diagnostic ultrasound or watch it below, courtesy of San Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Italy –

Testing:

There is a wide range of sensitivity and wait times for results of the Covid-19 diagnostic test. The provider swabbing the patient should know how to do it correctly and has the experience in doing it. A superficial, incorrect swabbing is discouraged since it may lead to a false negative result.

Participants:

Drs. Horacio Asbun (Lead), Mohammed Abu Hilal, Jaap Bonjer, Nicolas Demartines, Ho-Seong Han, Salvador Morales, Andrea Pietrabissa, Aurora Pryor, Christopher Schlachta, Eduardo Targarona

Other Surgical Societies/leaders are welcome to participate in future discussions. Please contact SAGES Executive Director, Sallie Matthews at [email protected] if interested in being considered for participation.

*GENERAL DISCLAIMER:  

The following is intended to provide our members with information arising from the experience of our colleagues from Europe and Asia who experienced the pandemic first.  While the information provided is from very reliable sources, it is NOT evidence based data, since there was no time to test its validity on scientific grounds. It is merely an attempt to share practical advice based upon prior experience and current knowledge.