During the last weekend in April, I had the pleasure of traveling to New York City and attending the 29th annual meeting of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) hosted by the Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Surgery and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. It was an amazing experience!!!! This meeting not only gave me the opportunity to network with phenomenal black leaders in surgery, but it refreshed my spirit and truly confirmed my love for surgery.
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| Road trip with my mentor! |
I was blessed to have the opportunity to travel to the conference with my wonderful mentor, Dr. Scantlebury. She had been urging me to attend the conference since last year when it was held in Birmingham, Alabama, and I was thankful that the conference was again being held at a location that wasn’t too far from me.
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| SBAS Women in Surgery |
This was my first time attending an SBAS meeting, and I couldn’t wait to soak up all it had to offer. We arrived in New York just in time to attend the first session which was a two-hour financial wellness summit that included a ton of relevant and useful information. Following this, was a women in surgery reception and opening welcome reception where I got the chance to interact with so many awesome individuals. Before this point, I had never shared a room with so many people who not only looked like me, but who all shared the same love and passion as I do for surgery. It was truly both beautiful and inspiring.
In true surgical fashion, the next day started bright and early. Breakfast was served at 530am and we were all on the bus at 630am to head over to Weill Cornell where a full academic agenda was planned. The morning spent there was full of great talks and research presentations. I enjoyed every presentation ranging from laparoscopic donor hepatectomies to the use of GoPro in the operating room as a way to evaluate and improve performance with video-based feedback. I also got to be a part of a group picture with everyone in attendance (above). Seeing this inspires me every time I see it! We then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon lunch lecture and more great scientific sessions.
Later that evening, we all headed to The Harold Pratt House for an evening of great food, music, and dancing. The featured musical guests were the George Gee Swing Orchestra and Lindy Hoppers and they made for a great atmosphere. It was also awesome being able to socialize and make new friends. I even ran into one of my surgery attendings who didn’t recognize me at first outside of my normal everyday scrubs look, and even better was the amazing food! I ate a little bit of everything that night ranging from custom-made tacos to trying knish for the first time.
The next and final day was my favorite of the meeting. During a mentorship lunch, I had the opportunity to sit with leaders in surgery and have an open discussion on various topics. I felt completely comfortable asking questions and it was great feeling supported. Following the lunch, a Resident and Medical Student breakout session was held that discussed everything from ascending in leadership to negotiating contracts. One thing that stuck out to me the most from both this session and a previous session was the fact that there has yet to be an African-American female to serve as a department chair in surgery. Now I’m not saying this is what I’m striving for, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to try ;) It was also really fun engaging with the medical students and answering their questions while giving tips for success in their upcoming surgery rotations. It wasn’t too long ago that I was in their position, so it was cool being able to help ease some of their anxiety.
The final event of the 2019 SBAS meeting was a black tie dinner that still has me smiling. The speakers were Dr. Mae Jemison and Dr. Louis Sullivan. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Jemison is a physician, engineer, NASA astronaut, and the FIRST woman of color to travel in space. Dr. Louis Sullivan is the Founding Dean of Morehouse School of Medicine AND former Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services under the George H.W. Bush administration. There literally are no words to describe how phenomenal both of these individuals are or the impact that they have made on history. Their speeches were extremely engaging, inspiring, and probably some of the best that I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing (and I mean that, without exaggeration). Hearing them speak was a prominent ending to a great conference.
Following the dinner, was an evening of dancing that allowed for even more fellowship and gave everyone the opportunity to cut loose one last time. You haven’t lived until you’ve swag surfed with a room full of department chairs, program directors, attendings, residents, and medical students who all share a love for surgery, and I’m happy that someone was able to catch this moment of fun (as shown below).
The Magic of SBAS- Black Surgeons Defining Excellence from Dr. Hassan A. Tetteh on Vimeo.
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| #BlackExcellence |
In true surgical fashion, the next day started bright and early. Breakfast was served at 530am and we were all on the bus at 630am to head over to Weill Cornell where a full academic agenda was planned. The morning spent there was full of great talks and research presentations. I enjoyed every presentation ranging from laparoscopic donor hepatectomies to the use of GoPro in the operating room as a way to evaluate and improve performance with video-based feedback. I also got to be a part of a group picture with everyone in attendance (above). Seeing this inspires me every time I see it! We then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon lunch lecture and more great scientific sessions.
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| An Evening of fun at the Pratt House! |
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| So many great moments! |
Following the dinner, was an evening of dancing that allowed for even more fellowship and gave everyone the opportunity to cut loose one last time. You haven’t lived until you’ve swag surfed with a room full of department chairs, program directors, attendings, residents, and medical students who all share a love for surgery, and I’m happy that someone was able to catch this moment of fun (as shown below).
This was my first time attending a SBAS meeting, and it definitely won’t be my last. I was engaged intellectually, formed lasting bonds, and it was the first time since starting intern year where I felt supported, inspired, and hopeful of my professional aspirations. It was much needed, and I will forever be thankful for the experience and all it blessed me with. If you’re a medical student interested in surgery or surgery resident, then I highly recommend attending one of the annual meetings, so you can experience the same joy I did. Below, you’ll find a video highlighting past SBAS meetings with the NYC highlights occuring at the 1:45 mark. Hopefully I’ll be able to attend next year’s meeting at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and if so, I hope to meet some of you there!
The Magic of SBAS- Black Surgeons Defining Excellence from Dr. Hassan A. Tetteh on Vimeo.
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