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2008 MEETING May 4-6, 2008 (Dallas, TX)
Congratulations to Larry Kim on his election as Vice Chair of the Council of Chiefs. The fall meeting of the American College of Surgeons allowed us to reflect on our achievements as VA surgeons: Several of our members made key presentations and participated in key decisions during various committee meetings. In particular, I would like to congratulate Vice President Tarpley for his role as president of The Association of Program Directors in Surgery, Dr Fiemu Nwariaku for his role as president of the Association for Academic Surgery and his selection as the 2008 Australia and New Zealand ACS traveling fellow, Past President Neumayer on her role as member of the executive committee of the Board of Governors of the ACS, and Dr Naji Abumrad on ascending to the chair of surgery at Vanderbilt. The executive committee met on October 8 and made the following decisions: 1- The abstract deadline will be January 8, 2008. Abstracts can be submitted electronically at www.vasurgeons.org 2- The ad hoc research committee Lead by Mark Basson will have a session on how to obtain successful funding within the VA targeting young investigators. This session will run in parallel with the bariatric surgery symposium 3- A trauma and disaster committee will be formalized 4- The 2008 meeting is now confirmed at the Dallas Marriott Las Colinas from May 3 to May 6. New members of the AVAS will receive their certificate of membership at the beginning of the first plenary session on May 4. The 2009 meeting is confirmed for Boston at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge from April 18 to April 22 with plans to celebrate the NSQIP 15th anniversary on April 18. The 2010 meeting will be in Indianapolis and the 2011 meeting in Loma Linda. 5- Drs Longo and Tarpley will collaborate on developing a get together for the residents and students attending the annual meeting and talking to them about a surgical career within the VA. 6- Funds were moved from the AVAS main account to the AVAS Foundation under the leadership of Bill Cheadle who will work with his officers on mechanisms to fundraise and disburse funds for various research and educational endeavors within the VA. I sincerely hope that all of you will submit abstracts for consideration for presentation at the Dallas meeting and that you will plan to attend this meeting in May. Drs. Shukri Khuri and Bill Henderson will be receiving the presidential citation and it will be a terrific opportunity to congratulate these 2 VA giants in person.
Kamal Itani MD
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The
fall meeting of the American College of Surgeons presented us with
another opportunity to see each other, discuss common problems
and share experience and solutions. Thanks to Mark Wilson for running
a very effective council of Chiefs meeting and to Sue Lentz for
making arrangements for an outstanding reception. |
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