News
Gender diversity addressed
Health equity efforts must also address gender imbalance. Edward E. Cornwell III, MD, FACS, LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. Professor and Chairman of Surgery, Howard University, and SBAS president (2003-2004), reminisced about the first national meeting photo (above) of SBAS leadership and notes the “most obvious sign of the times in April 1989 … no women surgeons in that photo (the woman in the top row wasn’t a physician). Today, at a time when 14 of my 25 categorical surgical residents are women … we stand on the precipice of the next 25 years of career milestones trumpeting gender diversity – that will surpass the explosion we saw over the last 25 years with male surgeons of color.”
Courtesy OSU College of Medicine
Dr. Robert Higgins
Dr. Brawley also commented on the meteoric rise of African American women surgeons: “I take particular pride in the contribution today of black women who have come on strong in the past half-century. I appreciate and celebrate their achievement.”
Patricia Turner, MD, FACS, Director, ACS Division of Member Services, and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago, summarized the African American female experience in surgery: “It is indeed a pleasure to note that in the years since the first SBAS photograph in 1989 … the number of women in medicine and surgery continues to surge. This recent growth is as much a reflection of an increased interest in surgery among women who may have been discouraged previously, as it is of a profession that has realized that previously accepted constraints around gender, race, and other factors limited access to colleagues exemplifying excellence in surgery. ACS and SBAS have consistently placed excellence, integrity, and outcomes at the forefront of their mission. Diversity brings quality, and the house of surgery is no different.”
Dr. Edward E. Cornwell
Mentorship and Giving Back
Despite facing myriad obstacles, successful contemporary African American surgeons that are testimony to the mentorship and outreach efforts of SBAS as well as the ACS leadership have been acknowledged by an exhibit developed by the National Library of Medicine titled “Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons,” and by a chapter contributed by Dr. Britt for the ACS Centennial textbook, “Setting the Course and Establishing Alliances: Fellows of the American College of Surgeons with African American Heritage.” The NLM exhibit specifically highlights the achievements of contemporary surgeons Drs. Alexa Canady; LaSalle Lefall; Claude Organ (1926-2005); Rosalyn Scott; L.D. Britt; Malcolm V. Brock; Karyn L.Butler; Benjamin Carson; Edward Cornwell; Kenneth Davis; Sharon Henry; Carla Pugh; Velma Scantlebury; Claudia Thomas; Errington Thompson; Levi Watkins; Patricia Bath; and Richard Scott. Dr. Britt (a legend in his own right as well as a contemporary icon) also acknowledges the accomplishments of the recent generations of academic surgeons (many of which overlap with the notables listed by the NLM), including Drs. Levi Watkins; Kenneth Forde; Alexa Canady; Clive Callender; Arthur Fleming; Lenworth Jacobs; Velma Scantlebury; Sharon Henry; Patricia Turner; Cato Laurencin; Butch Rossner; Kimberly Joseph; Debra Ford; Robert Higgins; Lisa Newman; Carla Pugh; Electron Kebenew; Terrence Fullum; David Jacobs; Andre Campbell; Kenneth Davis; Rhonda Henry-Tillman; Sherilyn Gordon-Burroughs; Hobart Harris; Michael Watkins; Raphael Lee; Karyn Butler; Edward Barksdale; Orlando Kirton; Jeffrey Upperman; Frederick Cason; Malcolm Brock; and Raymond Bynoe.
Dr. Patricia Turner
African Americans in medicine and surgery remain committed to improving the landscape of health care for underrepresented minority patients, students, and trainees today as in the past. This dedication was expressed by Dr. Daniel Hale Williams many decades ago: “My greatest reward is knowing that I can help my fellow man, especially those of my own race, who so deserve a better way of life.”
Today, trainee Dr. Revels echoes a similar allegiance to eradicating health care disparities by strengthening gender balance as well as racial/ethnic diversity in the health care profession: “I have a responsibility to stand for the next generation of young women of color who may be told that they didn’t need to take that algebra class or that AP classes would be too hard for them.”
Data continue to document that African American physicians are substantially more likely to establish practices that provide care to minority and impoverished patient populations (The Rationale for Diversity in the Health Professions: A Review of the Evidence. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions, October 2006).
Transcending artificial barriers
The ACS and the SBAS are in many ways bound together by their shared history, goals, and membership, and both have a critical role to play in the continuing struggle for equity and diversity in the surgical profession. Dr. Britt eloquently stated: “The month of February should not be the only time to highlight these milestones. On the contrary, there should be around-the-clock recognition, along with continual emphasis on even more advances. Let me be one of the first to toast this special partnership.”