Photo credit: Aakansha Gosain, M.D.
Each year, the Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) convenes to create a platform for networking, scientific exchange, and well– fun. At the 15th annual ASC in Orlando, Florida, the UAB Department of Surgery had a large presence.
But, the UAB Department of Surgery did not only represent through research-sharing and presenting. In fact, UAB faculty dominated, coming in first in all three ASC conference competitions, including surgical jeopardy, the robotics competition, and the abstract submission contest.
Surgical jeopardy follows the same format as America’s long-standing, well-loved game show, Jeopardy. The catch is that all of the content is related to general surgery. General surgery residents John Killian, M.D., and Cozette Kale, M.D. MPH, surpassed Pittsburgh, UC Davis and Yale in the final round to bring home the “W,” and maybe earn a few bragging rights.
UAB Department of Surgery Chair Herbert Chen, M.D., FACS and Gastrointestinal Surgery Division Director and new SUS President Gregory Kennedy, M.D., Ph.D ., were both judges for the event– which probably added extra heat to our representing residents. Heat or no heat, Killian and Kale loved the event.
“We had a ton of fun competing in this event. All of the conference attendees from UAB - our faculty, fellows, and residents - were by far the best and loudest cheering section,” said Killian and Kale. “It was an amazing feeling to represent such a wonderful group of people.”
The final question was a cherry on top of the win for the Department of Surgery: “This institution has the highest cumulative abstract total over the last 15 years of the Academic Surgical Congress.” The answer was “What is UAB?”
For the robotics competition, the UAB Surgery team competed in the final six with the score showing just 0.3 seconds of differentiation. General surgery residents Connie Shao, M.D., and Christophe Hansen-Estruch, M.D., saw the robotics competition as a culmination of their accrued learnings. Amidst over 80 competitors, Shao and Hansen-Estruch were able to shine, thanks in part to General Surgery Residency Director John Porterfield, M.D. and his unique robotics training that he set up for the residents, which included a course in Atlanta and a robotics simulation curriculum.
“There was no better way to thank him for everything he has done than to try out for the ASC robotics competition,” said Shao. “Dr. Porterfield is an incredible teacher and offers great autonomy.”
The ASC also calls for abstract submissions leading up to the kick-off of the conference. After committee reviews, the Department of Surgery came in first in this category as well.
The trinity of triumphs translated into the digital realm as well. During the three-day conference, the @UABSurgery Twitter handle saw almost 16,000 tweet impressions, 416 profile visits, 93 mentions, and gained 25 new followers.
To see more about the UAB Surgery team victories and presentations, check out the href="https://twitter.com/UABSurgery">@UABSurgery Twitter handle activity with the #ASC2020.