Debra Sudan, M.D., a transplant surgeon and director of the Intestinal Rehabilitation Program for UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, has been elected president of the Nebraska Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. She will serve a two-year term, which ends in January 2008.
Founded in 1913, the American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational association of surgeons with the goal of improving the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice. The college is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery.
Members of the college are referred to as “fellows.” The letters FACS (Fellow, American College of Surgeons) after a surgeon’s name mean that the surgeon’s education and training, professional qualifications, surgical competence, and ethical conduct have passed a rigorous evaluation, and have been found to be consistent with the high standards established and demanded by the College.
The organization currently has more than 64,000 fellows, including more than 3,700 fellows in other countries, making it the largest organization of surgeons in the world. There are presently more than 5,000 associate fellows. This category was established to provide an opportunity for surgeons who are beginning surgical practice and who meet specific requirements to assume an active role in the College at an early stage in their careers.
The organization exerts its influence at the community level primarily through its chapters. On the local level, Fellows of the American College of Surgeons are organized into 100 chapters. There are 65 chapters in the United States, two in Canada, three in Mexico, and 30 in other countries around the world. The Nebraska Chapter of the American College of Surgeons includes 212 members.
As president of the Nebraska Chapter, Dr. Sudan said she has wants to increase the activity of the chapter. One of the ways she hopes to do this is by inviting surgeons in prominent positions to speak at chapter meetings.
This year, the executive director of the American Board of Surgery, Frank R. Lewis, Jr., M.D., will be the keynote speaker for the Nebraska Chapter’s meeting on Nov. 10. The meeting will continue on Nov. 11 with a discussion dealing with controversies in surgery and a paper presentation/competition for resident surgeons.
In addition, Dr. Sudan said she is trying to increase the involvement of younger surgeons and has formed a new committee called the Committee on Young Surgeons. The committee has been instrumental in helping to identify and mobilize younger surgeons to participate, she said.
Dr. Sudan, who is a professor in the department of surgery, received her medical degree in 1989 from Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, and completed her general surgery residency in 1994, also at Wright State. She trained as a transplant research fellow at New York University, New York City, in 1992, followed by a transplant surgery fellowship at UNMC from 1994 to 1996.
Dr. Sudan joined the UNMC faculty in 1996 as assistant professor. She was named associate professor in 2000 and professor in 2004.