From its founding in 1903, the Society of Clinical Surgery has pursued general advancement of surgery – seeking to stimulate its members to work along lines of original thought and investigation in the clinic, laboratory, or library.
In addition to its mission of opening the door of science to a new world, it is also a community of peers and ideas, a place to learn from each other in camaraderie and support. This was highlighted Nov. 10-12 at the Society’s 178th Annual Scientific Meeting, hosted by the University of Colorado Department of Surgery.
Hosting the meeting “is a wonderful opportunity to show the world and the country all the wonderful things going on at the Anschutz Medical Campus and in Colorado,” said Richard Schulick, MD, MBA, CU Department of Surgery chair. “This meeting is a place to showcase cutting-edge technology and to learn from each other.”
Sharing modern advances in surgery
The meeting included scientific sessions on a wide variety of surgical and research topics and a keynote address by Terry Fry, MD, a pioneer in CAR T-cell therapy who earlier this year was named director of the new Gates Institute on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. His presentation addressed the evolution of cellular therapy for cancer.
Ernest E. Moore, MD, distinguished professor of GI, trauma, and endocrine surgery in the CU School of Medicine and namesake of the Ernest E. Moore Shock Trauma Center at Denver Health, also presented at the meeting, highlighting recent advances in trauma care.
“It’s a credit to Dr. Schulick that this distinguished group has elected to meet here on the Anschutz campus,” Moore said. “It’s inspiring to gather with leaders in surgery who are here sharing all the modern advances in surgery, sharing their ideas and horizons. It’s exciting to be a part of this.”
Presenting the best ideas
The 2022 meeting was the first time Society members had gathered for an annual scientific meeting since the 2019 meeting held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“It’s really nice to have this collegiality and be able to share triumphs and tragedies with friends and peers who’ve had similar experiences,” said Brad Warner, MD, PhD, chief surgeon at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. “This is a unique group because it doesn’t focus on one specialty, which meetings like this often do, so we can spend time in the operating room and see different ways of doing the same thing and discuss outcomes with surgeons from different specialties.”
Sir Murray F. Brennan, MD, the Benno C. Schmidt Chair in Clinical Oncology at Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, also praised the meeting for being multidisciplinary rather than specialty specific. “It takes a holistic approach to surgery that presents the best ideas,” Brennan said. “As surgeons we’re always interested in how people do things at other institutions, how they’re running things, so this is our chance to compare notes.”
The meeting also was a time for those newer in their surgical careers to meet and learn from national and international leaders in surgical care and research. Lea Wehrli, MD, a pediatric surgery fellow at Children’s Hospital Colorado, attended the meeting not only because her chief, Andrea Bischoff, MD, a pediatric surgeon at Children’s Hospital Colorado, presented a scientific session about long-term outcomes for patients born with congenital colorectal conditions, but to meet and learn from peers.
“It’s easy to get really focused on your own specialty,” Wehrli said, “so this is a chance to get insights into a broader range of surgical specialties.”
