Education - Surgery - University of Cincinnati

The Division of 

Education 

Education is at the foundation of our mission 

in the Department of Surgery. In addition to 

teaching medical students and mentoring 

residents and fellows, we serve as a resource 

for our colleagues in the greater Cincinnati 

region and other academic institutions. Our 

faculty also facilitate the discovery and scientific 

growth of our research fellows, Ph.D. and 

Doctor of Science candidates. All faculty 

members of the Department of Surgery are 

involved in our education mission and find this 

component of their professional life to be 

among the most rewarding. 

At our most recent review in September, 

2004, the General Surgery Residency program 

received full accreditation from the Residency 

Review Committee of the ACGME. With recent 

changes in work hour regulations, very few 

programs receive full accreditation. This 

accomplishment is another testament to the 

commitment of the Department of Surgery to 

education and is a tribute to our excellent 

teaching faculty and residents, as well as a 

superb administrative core in the Division of 

Surgical Education. Increased recruitment and 

training of physician assistants has enabled us 

to meet and exceed the ACGME restrictions on 

resident work hours while maintaining the 

highest standards of patient care. 

Our surgical clerkship continues as a 

model for innovation in clinical education. 

An improved didactic and technical skills 

curriculum has led to an increase in the 

number of medical students choosing surgery 

as their career path. UC medical students 

awarded Dr. Richard Stevenson the “Golden 

Apple Award” as the best clinical teacher for 

2005-2006, the fifth consecutive year he has 

won this award. Dr. Stevenson continues a 

long tradition of teaching excellence in the 

Department of Surgery. In fact, our faculty 

have held a virtual monopoly on these teaching 

awards for many years. We have continued our 

“Minority Visiting Student” program, offering 

the opportunity for a fourth year medical 

student from Meharry Medical College to 

spend a month as an acting intern on one of 

the surgical services. 

The Surgical Education Program in the 

Department of Surgery continues to attract and 

train the best and brightest medical students 

and residents from around the country. We 

recruit residents and fellows from many 

backgrounds and regions, celebrating our 

diversity while sharing the common goal of 

clinical excellence, discovery of scientific 

knowledge and professional growth. Our 

graduates have gone on to the most highly 

competitive fellowships, academic positions, 

and to become successful leaders in community 

practice. 

Surgical education programs in the 

Department of Surgery at the University of 

Cincinnati have a proud tradition of being 

among the premier programs in the country. 

We welcome your interest in our education 

program and invite you to learn more about 

our shared vision of surgical education in the 

21st century. 

Timothy A. Pritts, M.D., Ph.D. 

Assistant Professor of Surgery 

Vice Chairman—Education 

Director, Division of Education 

Associate Director, Residency 

Program in General Surgery 

Michael S. Nussbaum, M.D. 

Professor of Surgery 

Interim Chairman, 

Department of Surgery 

Vice-Chairman for Clinical Affairs 

Chief of Staff, 

The University Hospital 

Director, Residency Program in 

General Surgery 


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David R. Fischer, M.D. 


Associate Director, Residency 

Program in General Surgery 

Richard J. Stevenson M.D. 

Associate Professor of Surgery 

Director, Surgical Student 



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Administrative Team 

Andrea Anderson, Residency Coordinator 

Debbie Browne, Administrative Assistant 

April Dostie, Administrative Assistant 

Elaine Mullen, Student Coordinator 

Gilda Young, Administrative Coordinator 

Graduate 

Medical 


The Department of Surgery sponsors graduate 

medical education programs in nine surgical 

specialties which encompass 81 residents and 

fellows. The following lists these resident and 

fellowship programs: 

Resident Programs 

(number of resident positions): 

• General Surgery (45) 

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (8) 

• Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery (7) 

• Thoracic Surgery (2) 

• Urology (8) 

Fellowship Programs 

(number of fellow positions): 

• Pediatric Surgery (2) 

• Pediatric Urology (2) 

• Transplant Surgery (2) 

• Trauma/Critical Care (2) 

• Vascular Surgery (2) 

• Minimally Invasive/Advanced GI Surgery (1) 

The educational programs are guided by a 

group of dedicated surgeon educators who 

have helped to develop an educational 

environment that attracts many of the best 

candidates in the country. Dr. Timothy A. Pritts 

is the Vice Chair and Director of the Division of 

Education and is responsible for ensuring that 

education programs in the Department are of 

the highest caliber. Dr. Michael Nussbaum is 

the Director of the Residency Program in 

General Surgery. Drs. Fischer and Pritts 

continue to serve as Associate Program 

Directors and maintain responsibility for the 

general surgery residency program. The 

combination of talented, committed faculty and 

excellent residents and fellows results in an 

educational program that is second to none. 

The Department of Surgery has a 

distinguished history of educating its graduates 

to be leaders in surgery. Our commitment to 

excellence in patient care, education and 

advancement of knowledge in the surgical 

sciences creates an environment in which 

surgical training can flourish. Residents 

complete their training programs with 

exceptional breadth and depth of experience 

in their specialty. There is an abundance and

variety of clinical experiences in the hospitals 

and outpatient offices of our integrated and 

affiliated institutions which include: 

• The University Hospital 

• Veterans Affairs Medical Center 

• The Christ Hospital 

• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 

• Cincinnati Shriners Burns Hospital 

• Holzer Clinic 

• The University Pointe 

• The Good Samaritan Hospital 

For detailed information about these sites, 

please refer to the Facilities section of this 

Annual Report. 

Clinical experience is supplemented by an 

extensive series of educational conferences 

and surgical simulation experience. At the 

core of the educational program are Surgical 

Grand Rounds, Morbidity and Mortality 

Conference, Professor’s Hour, and Surgical 

Clinical/Basic Science Conference. These weekly 

conferences are supplemented by numerous 

specialty or rotation-specific conferences. 

Conferences 

• Surgical Grand Rounds 

• Morbidity and Mortality Conference 

• Professor’s Hour 

• Surgical Clinical/Basic Science Conference 

• General Surgery Preoperative Conference 

(individual teams) 

• General Surgery Teaching Conference 

• Schwartz Club 

• Breast Conference 

• Hepatobiliary/Radiology Conference 

• Pancreas Conference 

• Vascular Conference 

• Thoracic Conference 

• Cardiac & Thoracic Conference 

• Trauma Conference 

• University Hospital Tumor Board 

• VA Tumor Board 

• Medicine/Surgery GI Conference 

• Transplant Conference 

• Transplant Grand Rounds 

• Colon & Rectal Surgery Multidisciplinary 

Conference 

Surgical Simulation 

• Surgical Stapling 101 

• Basic Laparoscopy 

• Advanced Laparoscopy 

• DaVinci Robot Training 

• VATS Lab 

• Trauma Surgical Skills Lab 

Complementing the clinical training are 

outstanding opportunities to participate in 

basic science research in the Department of 

Surgery, other basic science laboratories within 

the College of Medicine or extramural 

institutions. Although research is optional, 

most residents spend two years in laboratory 

research with a faculty mentor. Opportunities 

are available to pursue advanced degrees such 

as M.S., Ph.D. or Doctor of Science. These 

research projects are supported by two 

institutional training grants (T32 awards) from 

the National Institutes of Health in trauma and 

gastrointestinal surgery. 

The Department of Surgery is 

extraordinarily committed to excellence in 

education. Our residency and fellowship 

programs are committed to meeting and 

exceeding the ACGME requirements for the 

resident work environment. We are committed 

to recruiting residents and fellows from diverse 

backgrounds and regions united by a common 

commitment to excellence. We seek an 

atmosphere of mutual respect in which faculty, 

medical students, residents and fellows work 

as colleagues. Our residents and fellows are 

paired with faculty advisors who serve as 

mentors. Numerous social events are held 

throughout the year to promote the sense 

of family within the Department. Residents 

who graduate from our programs have an 

outstanding record of selection for the best 

fellowships in the most competitive specialties 

in surgery. Our residents and fellows have 

been remarkably successful in securing 

positions in academic departments and as 

leaders in the community practice of surgery. 

Currently, the Department of Surgery 

employs Physician Assistants (PAs) who 

rotate to the Divisions of Cardiothoracic, 

Gastrointestinal/Endocrine (Bariatric), General 

Surgery, Trauma, and Vascular. The surgical 

Physician Assistant program has been carefully 

designed to improve the residency program. 

It has been demonstrated that surgical PAs 

provide high-quality, cost-effective care. 

2005-2006 Visiting Professor 

Program 

The Visiting Professor Program of the 

Department of Surgery is extremely important 

for the education of both the faculty and the 

residents. It gives the residents a first-hand 

opportunity to come into contact with 

distinguished leaders in American surgery, 

participate in teaching rounds with them, and 

get to know them as individuals at various 

luncheons and social gatherings. In addition, 

the Visiting Professor gives presentations at 

Surgical Grand Rounds to faculty, residents and 

medical students, and often speaks a second 

time during the visit at a Surgical Seminar or 


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the Cincinnati Surgical Society, a group of 

community physicians and residents, on work 

which is at the forefront of American Surgery. 

During the academic year 2005-2006, we 

had the privilege of hosting six Visiting 

Professors. These included: 

October 5, 2005 

Tenth Annual J. Rawson Collins Visiting 

Professor hosted by Division of Cardiac 

Surgery 

Constantine Mavroudis, M.D. 

Willis J. Potts Professor and Surgeon-in-Chief 

Children’s Memorial Hospital, Northwestern 

University 

Surgical Grand Rounds:“Adult Congenital 

Heart Surgery” 

Cincinnati Surgical Society:“A Partnership in 

Courage” 

January 18, 2006 

Ninth Annual Altemeier Visiting Professor 

hosted by the Department of Surgery 

Andrew L. Warshaw, M.D. 

W. Gerald Austen Professor of Surgery, Harvard 

Medical School and Chairman, 

Department of Surgery, Massachusetts 

General Hospital 

Surgical Seminar:“Advocacy For and By 

Surgeons” 

Surgical Grand Rounds:“Surgical Management 

of Pancreatic Cancer” 

March 1, 2006 

Tenth Annual McDonough Visiting 

Professor hosted by Division of 


Ajit K. Sachdeva, M.D. 

Director, Division of Education, American 

College of Surgeons 

Surgical Grand Rounds:“Acquiring Skills in 

New Procedures and Technology: The 

Challenge and the Opportunity” 

City-Wide Residency Conference: 

“Practice-based Learning and 

Improvement: An Essential Competency 

for Surgical Residents” 

Cincinnati Surgical Society:“The Changing 

Paradigm of Continuing Education in 

Surgery” 

March 29, 2006 

Sixth Annual Max & Molly Fischer Visiting 

Professor hosted by Department of 


Julie A. Freischlag, M.D. 

William Stewart Halsted Professor 

Chairman, Department of Surgery 

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 

Surgical Seminar:“Leading During Times of 

Change” 

Surgical Grand Rounds:“Abdominal Aortic 

Aneurysms: How Things Have Changed 

Over 50 Years” 

April 26, 2006 

Sixth Annual Kempczinski Visiting Professor 

hosted by Division of Vascular Surgery 

Anthony D. Whittemore, M.D. 

Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School 

Vice Chair, Department of Surgery 

Chief, Vascular Surgery, Brigham & Women’s 

Hospital 

Surgical Grand Rounds:“Repair of Abdominal 

Aortic Aneurysms: Past, Present and 

Future” 

May 3, 2006 

Ninth Annual Barrows Visiting Professor 

hosted by Section of General Surgery 

John G. Hunter, M.D. 

Professor and Vice Chairman of Surgery 

Oregon Health Sciences University 

Surgical Seminar:“Training Laparoscopic 

Surgeons for the Future” 

Surgical Grand Rounds:“Gastroesophageal 

Reflux Disease: From Heartburn to Cancer” 

Residency Programs - 


Michael S. Nussbaum, M.D., Program Director 


Division of Gastrointestinal and 

Endocrine Surgery 

Interim Chairman, Department of Surgery 

Vice Chairman, Clinical Affairs 

Chief of Staff, The University Hospital 

Director, Residency Program in General Surgery 

B.A. - Northwestern University 

M.D. - University of Pennsylvania 

Surgical Residency - University of Cincinnati 

Board Certification - American Board of 

Surgery, with Certificate of Added 

Qualification in Surgical Critical Care 

Special Interests - Gastrointestinal surgery, 

minimally invasive surgery, robotic 

assisted surgery 

David R. Fischer, M.D., 

Associate Program Director 


Associate Director, Residency Program in 


B.A. - University of Toledo 

M.D. - University of Cincinnati College of 

Medicine 

Residency - University of Cincinnati College 

of Medicine

Fellowship - University of Cincinnati College 

of Medicine 



Special Interests - Minimally invasive 

gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery, 

surgical education 

Timothy A. Pritts, M.D., Ph.D., 

Associate Program Director 


Associate Director, Residency Program in 


Vice Chair and Director, Division of Education 

B.A. - Illinois Wesleyan University 

M.D. - Northwestern University Medical School 

Ph.D. - University of Cincinnati College of 

Medicine 

Residency - University of Cincinnati College 


Fellowship - University of Cincinnati College 



Surgery with Certificate of Added 


Special Interests - Minimally invasive surgery, 

gastrointestinal surgery, surgical critical 

care, inflammatory response to sepsis, 

surgical education 

Andrea Anderson, C-TAGME, Program 

Coordinator 


University of Cincinnati College of Medicine 

231 Albert Sabin Way (ML0558) 

Cincinnati, OH 45267-0558 

513-558-5861 

Andrea.Anderson@uc.edu 

Residency education in General Surgery 

comprises five clinical years, with six Chief 

Residents finishing the program annually. An 

optional laboratory experience of two or three 

years is available leading to Master of Science, 

Doctor of Science or Ph.D. degrees, if desired. 

The residency program in General Surgery is 

fully accredited by the Residency Review 

Committee for Surgery. 

In the first and second postgraduate years, 

residents receive a broad experience in the 

essential content areas as well as in surgical 

specialties. Experience is gained in both 

inpatient and outpatient care, with appro 

priate emphasis on evaluation and diagnosis 

as well as operative therapy and perioperative 

care. This experience is obtained in a variety of 

settings including the general surgery services 

in community hospitals and the academic 

medical center, intensive care units, the 

Shriners Burns Hospital and the Cincinnati 

Children’s Hospital Medical Center. 

During the third and fourth clinical years, 

the resident is given additional responsibility 

as a leader on surgical teams including the 

trauma service, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular 

surgery and transplantation surgery. 

Additional experience is also gained as senior 

resident in general surgery. 

Two months of the third clinical year are 

spent at the Holzer Clinic. This modern, 

multi-specialty clinic is located in Gallipolis, 

Ohio, a rural area in the Appalachian foothills. 

Vast experience is obtained at the Holzer Clinic 

in general surgery as it is more broadly defined 

in a non-urban setting. 

In the fifth year, Chief Residents lead each 

of the three general surgery teams at The 

University Hospital, the general and colorectal 

surgery service at The Christ Hospital, and each 

of the two general surgery teams at the 

Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center 

(VAMC). Each of the teams at The University 

Hospital is composed of faculty members with 

similar interests and provides extensive 

experience in gastrointestinal disease, 

hepatobiliary disease, pancreatic disease, 

colorectal surgery, surgical oncology and 

endocrine surgery. The Christ Hospital is a large 

tertiary care hospital located approximately 1.5 

miles from The University Hospital. Residents 

there take advantage of a wide variety of 

surgical pathology including an extensive 

colorectal surgical practice and have the 

opportunity to learn about the private practice 

of surgery. The Cincinnati Veterans Affairs 

Medical Center is the major tertiary care surgical 

hospital for veterans in southwest Ohio. It is 

located on the same campus as The University 

Hospital. The two surgical services at the 

VAMC each care for general surgery, vascular 

surgery and thoracic surgery patients. 

One of the special features of the training 

program is The Mont Reid Surgical Handbook, 

recently published in its fifth edition. Named 

for Dr. Mont Reid, the second Christian R. 

Holmes Professor and Chairman of the UC 

Department of Surgery, this very popular 

pocket-size handbook intended for medical 

students and residents is a compilation of the 

practices of UC general surgery residents 

with assistance from resident colleagues in 

neurosurgery, plastic surgery, urology, 

anesthesia, pharmacy, orthopedics, as well as 

law. Written entirely by the residents and 

edited by the chief residents, the Handbook is 

broad in scope and crosses many specialty 

boundaries, reflecting the philosophy of the 

training program. The basic science approach 

to surgery is seen in chapters covering 


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metabolism, infection, nutrition, as well as the 

physiological basis for surgical and pre-surgical 

interventions. Diagnostic and surgical 

techniques described reflect current state-ofthe-art 

approaches including minimally 

invasive surgery for a wide spectrum of 

disorders. First published in 1987 with then 

chief resident Dr. Michael Nussbaum as Editorin-Chief, 

The Mont Reid Surgical Handbook has 

been seen in the pockets of countless medical 

students, residents, and even faculty in all 

corners of the United States. 

Community Connections 

Annually, the general surgery residents ask the 

faculty and alumni to join them in making 

donations to the William R. Culbertson 

Holiday Fund. This Fund was established to 

provide clothing, gifts and food during the 

holiday season for a few of the needy families 

they have met through the Surgery clinics. Dr. 

Culbertson’s lifetime of dedication to the 

Department exemplified the spirit of giving 

which the residents hope to continue in his 

honor. 

General Surgery Residents 

2005-2006 

First Year Categorical 

Alexander J. Bondoc, M.D., University of 

Michigan 

Michael D. Goodman, M.D., University of 

Cincinnati 

Sha-Ron Jackson, M.D., Meharry Medical 

College 

Ryan A. LeVasseur, M.D., University of 

Pittsburgh 

Amy T. Makley, M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Rebecca J. McClaine, M.D., Duke University 

First Year Integrated 

(General Surgery and Plastic Surgery/3+3) 

T. Kevin Cook, M.D., University of Texas Medical 

School at Galveston 

First Year Designated Preliminary 

Steven Brantley, M.D. (Orthopedics), 

University of Oklahoma 

Collin M. Burkart, M.D. (ENT), University of 


Alexandre’ Caillat, M.D. (Urology), Wright State 


Ondrej Choutka, M.D. (Neurosurgery), 

University of Oxford, UK 

Benjamin Dehner, M.D. (Urology), University of 


Nathan Gause, M.D. (Orthopedics), University 

of South Alabama 

Catherine K. Hart, M.D. (ENT), University of 

Minnesota 

Dean A. Hertzler, M.D. (Neurosurgery), Indiana 


Oner Khera, M.D. (Orthopedics), George 

Washington University 

Lisa Lee, M.D. (ENT), University of California, 

San Francisco 

Andrew J. Losiniecki, M.D. (Neurosurgery), 

Indiana University 

Sarmad Sabour, M.D. (ENT), University of Texas 

Health Sciences Center at San Antonio 

Matt Tweet, M.D. (Orthopedics), University of 


Second Year Categorical 

Damian R. Dyer, M.D., University of Louisville 

Gerald R. Fortuna, Jr., M.D., University of South 

Carolina 

Nathan L. Huber, M.D., Indiana University 

Karen L. Huezo, M.D., Louisiana State University 

Jaime D. Lewis, M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Stacey A. Milan, M.D., Temple University 

Rajalakshmi Nair, M.D., Louisiana State 


Jonathan E. Schoeff, M.D., University of 


Second Year Integrated 

(General Surgery + Plastic Surgery/3+3) 

Brian S. Pan, M.D., Creighton University 

Third Year 

Steven R. Allen, M.D., University of Florida 

Thomas L. Husted, M.D., Wayne State University 

Jocelyn Logan-Collins, M.D., Northwestern 


Colin Martin, M.D., Wayne State University 

Benjamin McIntyre, M.D., University of South 

Carolina 

Thomas W. Shin, M.D., University of Michigan 

Wolfgang Stehr, M.D., Eberhard Karls 

Universität 

Third Year Integrated 

(General Surgery + Plastic Surgery/3+3) 

Rian Maercks, M.D., Duke University 

Laboratory Years 

Bryon Boulton, M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Christian Bulcao, M.D., McGill University 

Lynn “Chip” Huffman, M.D., University of 

Michigan 

Mubeen Jafri, M.D., Eastern Virginia Medical 

School 

Ian Lytle, M.D., Wayne State University

Kelly M. McLean, M.D., University of Michigan 

Prakash K. Pandalai, M.D., Wright State 


George Sheng, M.D., Vanderbilt University 

Janice A. Taylor, M.D., Ohio State University 

Ryan M. Thomas, M.D., Loyola University 

Fourth Year 

Marcus D. Jarboe, M.D., Harvard Medical School 

Jefferson M. Lyons, M.D., 

Eastern Virginia Medical School 

Grace Z. Mak, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine 

Joshua M.V. Mammen, M.D, Boston University 

Konstantin Umanskiy, M.D., Case Western 

Reserve University 

Chief Year 

Grady D. Alsabrook, M.D., University of Texas 

Health Sciences Center at San Antonio 

(entering fellowship in vascular surgery, 

Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, 

North Carolina) 

Kfir Ben-David, M.D., University of Florida 

(entering fellowship in minimally invasive 

surgery, Duke University, Durham, North 

Carolina) 

Russell J. Juno, M.D., University of Texas, 

Houston (entering private practice, 

LaGrange, Texas) 

Andrew W. Knott, M.D., University of South 

Alabama (entering fellowship in vascular 

surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota) 

Amod A. Sarnaik, M.D., University of Michigan 

(entering fellowship in oncology, H. Lee 

Moffitt Cancer & Research Center, Tampa, 

Florida) 

Donn H. Spight, M.D., 

Northwestern University 

(entering fellowship in 

minimally invasive 

surgery, Oregon Health 

Sciences Center, 

Portland, Oregon) 

Resident Honors and 

Awards 

Grady D. Alsabrook, M.D. 

Arnold P. Gold Foundation 

Award for Humanism and 

Excellence in Teaching 

(voted by 3rd & 4th year 

medical students as their 

best role models) 

Kfir Ben-David, M.D. 

Winner (Tie), Josef E. Fischer Award (as voted 

by fellow residents for the resident in 

general surgery who best exemplifies 

excellence in patient care, attention to 

detail, and intellectual curiosity in the 

pursuit of clinical and scientific 

knowledge) 

Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons 

Resident Achievement Award 

Unveiling of Portrait and Dedication 

of Conference Room 

In Memoriam - Robert H. Bower, M.D. 

August 20, 1949 - September 11, 2005 

Dr. Bower received his B.A. from Grinnell College and M.D. from the 

University of Nebraska. He served his residency in General Surgery at the 

University of Nebraska and came to the University of Cincinnati in 1980 as a 

fellow in Surgical Nutrition, remaining on faculty until his death. Beginning as 

Assistant Professor of Surgery in 1981, he was promoted to full Professor in 

1995. Dr. Bower was an active clinician and nationally recognized expert in 

gastrointestinal surgery and nutrition. He was profoundly dedicated to surgical 

education and residents. He served as Director of Education and Program 

Director, Department of Surgery, from 1986 until his death. 

Dr. Bower led the general surgery residency training program for almost 

twenty years with a passion for education in the art and science of surgery. He 

profoundly influenced the careers of several generations of trainees, balancing 

roles as professor, coach, colleague, father and friend. He was admired not only 

for his teaching skills, but for the personal attention and support he gave to 

each resident. Dr. Bower combined 

a deep sense of surgical tradition 

with a modern emphasis on 

compassion and professionalism. 

Dr. Bower’s excellent performance 

as a mentor and advocate for 

students and residents resulted in 

his being elected to Alpha Omega 

Alpha as a faculty member in 1998. 

He was a finalist of the ACGME’s 

Parker J. Palmer “Courage to 

Teach” award in 2003 and 2004. 

His leadership and commitment to 

education at the national level were 

recognized by his receipt of the 2004 Association for Surgical Education 

Outstanding Teacher Award.

(Photos courtesy of UC Communications 

Services/D. Davenport) 


Page 26 

Bryon Boulton, M.D. 

Second Place, Cincinnati Surgical Society 

Resident Essay Competition: “The APC 

Tumor Suppressor Regulates Mammary 

Epithelial Apoptosis and Proliferation” 

Lynn (“Chip”) Huffman, M.D. 

Finalist, Department of Surgery Resident 

Research Award: “Early Results from Lung 

Cancer Screening Using Spiral CT of 

High-Risk Individuals” 

First Place, Cincinnati Surgical Society Resident 

Essay Competition: “Early Results from 

Lung Cancer Screening Using Spiral CT of 

High-Risk Individuals” 

Second Place Basic Science Award, Ohio 

Chapter of American College of Surgeons 

Mubeen Jafri, M.D. 

First Place, Department of Surgery Resident 

Research Award: “Down-Regulation of the 

α2β1 Integrin Reduces Cholangiocyte 

Susceptibility to Rotavirus Infection and 

Mortality in Experimental Biliary Atresia” 

Third Place, Cincinnati Surgical Society 

Resident Essay Competition: 

“Cholangiocyte Injury Mediates Temporal 

Dependence of Experimental Biliary 

Atresia” 

First Place Basic Science Award, Ohio Chapter 

of American College of Surgeons Research 

Competition 

Andrew Knott, M.D. 

Winner (Tie), Josef E. Fischer Award (as voted 

by fellow residents for the resident in 

general surgery who best exemplifies 

excellence in patient care, attention to 

detail, and intellectual curiosity in the 

pursuit of clinical and scientific 

knowledge) 

Winner, The Max Zinninger Award (as voted by 

the faculty for the resident who best 

exemplifies the characteristics of Dr. Max 

Zinninger—tenacious and meticulous care 

of patients, knowledgeable, professional 

and ceaseless in promoting the 

Department of Surgery) 

Robert H. Bower Administrative Chief Resident 

2005-2006 

Resident Representative to the Graduate 

Medical Education (GME) Residency 

Advisory Committee 2005-2006 

Prakash Pandalai, M.D. 


Research Award: “Restoration of 

Myocardial Beta-Adrenergic Receptor 

Signaling Following Left Ventricular Assist 

Device Support” 

Donn Spight, M.D. 

Department of Surgery Best Teaching Resident 

Award (as voted by medical students 

during the 3rd and 4th year Surgery 

clerkship) 

Resident Representative to the General 

Surgery Residency Committee (GSRC) 

2005-2006 

Ryan Thomas, M.D. 


Research Award: “The Ron Receptor in 

Pancreatic Cancer” 

Ohio Chapter of American College of Surgeons 

Peter J. Minton Oncology Award (presented 

at the American College of Surgeons, Ohio 

Chapter, Resident Research Competition, 

Columbus, OH, May 2006) 

American Association for Cancer Research- 

AstraZeneca Scholar-in-Training Award 

Recipient (presented at the meeting of 

AACR Special Conference in Cancer 

Research, Chapel Hill, NC, June 26-27, 2006) 

Mont Reid 

Surgical 

Society 

The Mont Reid Surgical Society of the 

University of Cincinnati, founded in 1950, is 

composed of graduates of the general surgery 

training program who are active in encouraging 

professional fellowship among the alumni to 

advance the art and science of surgery. The 

Society assists the current resident staff and 

the Department through funding, lectures, 

symposiums, publications, and other programs. 

The Mont Reid Surgical Society has 

education as one of its cornerstone goals and 

launched a Campaign in March 1999 to aid 

the Department in continuing to provide an 

outstanding educational experience for 

residents. Thanks to the generous donations 

of its members, the Mont Reid Campaign has 

now reached over $100,000. This money is 

used to assist the Department with funding 

for residents to attend meetings, purchase 

computers and software, and other educational 

endeavors. It is also used in recruitment for 

minority medical students. Selected minority 

medical students from around the country 

spend six weeks working with our surgical 

residents as part of their surgical clerkship.

The Society also provides financial 

assistance as needed to residents in the general 

surgery training program in the form of a loan 

which bears no interest during the training 

period or for the first three years after 

completion of training. The Society meets 

annually at the American College of Surgeons 

Clinical Congress where members can renew 

acquaintances and meet new residents as well 

as hear an update on the Department from the 

Chairman. In addition, the Society holds 

reunions every few years with both social and 

academic activities at the UC Department of 

Surgery. A newsletter is sent to regularly 

update members on various activities and 

events. 

2005-2006 Mont Reid Surgical 

Society Officers 

President: Elliott J. Fegelman, M.D. 

President-Elect: Jay A. Johannigman, M.D. 

Secretary-Treasurer: David D. Kirkpatrick, M.D. 

Councilman-at-Large: Barry L. Dick, M.D. 

Councilman-at-Large: W. John Kitzmiller, M.D. 

Chairman of the Department: 

Jeffrey B. Matthews, M.D. 

Recent Past President: Henry W. Neale, M.D. 

Editor of the Newsletter: 

John J. McDonough, M.D. 

Administrative Coordinator: Gilda Young 

Contact information: Gilda Branson Young at 

(513) 558-4206 or gilda.young@uc.edu 

Physician Assistant Program 

The physician assistant (PA) program in the UC 

Department of Surgery continues its success 

and expansion in its third year. The faculty, 

residents, medical students and nursing staff 

have welcomed the physician assistants and 

have been very impressed with their medical 

knowledge and work ethic. 

PAs currently serve on the General 

Surgery, Trauma, Vascular, and Cardiac Surgery 

services. They have been rapidly integrated 

into the healthcare delivery system and 

provide excellent care to the surgical patients. 

The PAs who are assigned to the Division of 

Trauma/Critical Care take in-house call several 

times a month, reducing the number of on-call 

nights for the junior residents. The PAs 

assigned to the Section of Cardiothoracic 

Surgery are on-call and available to the service 

each night and on weekends. This enables the 

residents to leave the hospital before the 8 pm 

duty hour requirement and have some weekends 

off. In addition, when a service lacks a full 

complement of residents, the PAs step in to fill 

those needs. 

As the role of physician assistants in 

healthcare continues to increase, legislation 

has been enacted in Ohio to provide PAs with 

a greater range of practice. One of the most 

important and favorable aspects of the new 

legislation is that it provides PAs with 

prescriptive authority. According to Michael 

Bowen, a member of the Physician Assistant 

Policy Committee to the State Medical Board 

of Ohio, PAs in Ohio will be credentialed, 

licensed, and granted full prescriptive authority 

in Ohio effective late 2008. 

The PAs have commented that working in 

the Department of Surgery provides great 

opportunity. They enjoy the challenges and 

rewards of working with patients, faculty, 

residents, students, and staff. They universally 

enjoy working at a high level in an intellectually 

challenging environment and are completely 

committed to excellence in patient care. 

Residency Programs – Oral and 

Maxillofacial Surgery 

Likith V. Reddy, M.D., D.D.S., 

Program Director 

Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery 

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency - 

University of Texas 

Southwestern Medical Center, Parkland 

Memorial Hospital, Dallas, Texas 

Board Certification - American Board of Oral 

and Maxillofacial Surgery 

Special Interests - Facial trauma, surgical 

reconstruction of skeletal deformities, cleft 

lip and palate repair, facial cosmetic 

surgery, and sleep apnea 

Ella Turner, Program Coordinator 


Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 




(513) 584-2586 

Ella.Turner@uc.edu 

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 

residency training program, which received full 

accreditation in January 2001, offers state-ofthe-art 

training in treatment for facial trauma, 

surgical reconstruction of skeletal deformities, 

facial cosmetic surgery and trauma surgery. 

Resident OMSITE scores are consistently very 

competitive with the national average. 

The Division of Oral and Maxillofacial 

Surgery offers a four-year program whose 

principal goal is the training of oral and 

maxillofacial surgeons to practice the broad 

scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery and to 


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become qualified and prepared to take the 

Board examination. An optional educational 

track is available for the M.D. degree. To 

qualify, the candidate must pass Part I of the 

National Medical Exam to enter the third year 

of medical school after first completing the 

four-year Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 

residency program. 

The first year of the residency is intended 

to provide the resident with a comprehensive 

working knowledge of oral and maxillofacial 

surgery, methods of diagnosis, patient 

management, ambulatory sedation and 

anesthesia principles, and basic operative 

techniques. In the second year, residents 

spend 9 months on off-service rotations and 3 

months on the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 

Service. The third-year residents alternately 

spend 5 months on the Oral and Maxillofacial 

Surgery Service and 7 months on off-service 

rotations. Off-service rotations include 

anesthesia, plastic surgery, family medicine, 

internal medicine, general surgery, trauma, 

SICU, ENT, surgical implantology, and clinical 

or laboratory research. Chief residents are 

responsible for the pre- and postoperative care 

of all oral surgery patients and perform a 

majority of the oral surgery at The University 

Hospital, as well as perform cases at the 

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Veterans 

Affairs Medical Center. 

Reconfiguring the support staff at the 

Holmes Hospital Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 

Center and a concentrated human relationship 

program have dramatically improved the 

patient flow and the ability for the residents to 

more efficiently treat patients. The potential 

conflict of resident duty hour restrictions and 

the increasing need of service patients with 

oral and maxillofacial surgical needs has been 

pre-empted by renewed Center staff cooperation 

and a creative scheduling philosophy. The 

program organized and managed by Dr. Steve 

Sunderland to develop resident and staff 

competencies in cross-cultural relationships 

continues to be very successful. A spirit of 

teamwork and a patient-centered professional 

orientation have clearly emerged. Improving 

community relations is an important part of 

the goals and objectives of the Oral and 

Maxillofacial Surgery Center. 

The Division of Oral and Maxillofacial 

Surgery continues to embrace diversity in its 

resident cadre, and this year two women are 

enrolled as first-year residents. Current residents 

hail from Canada, India, Iran, Norway, and the 

Sudan. An increasing number of female and 

foreign born applicants to the program are 

anticipated in future years. 

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 

Residents 2005-2006 

First Year 

Dale L. Alto, D.D.S. 

University of Michigan School of Dentistry 

Theron C. Waisath, D.M.D. 

Southern Illinois School of Dental 

Medicine 

Second Year 

Haithem M. Elhadi, D.M.D., M.D. 

University of Pennsylvania School of 

Dental Medicine 

Matthew F. Pagnotto, D.D.S. 

Ohio State University College of Dentistry 

Third Year 

Sunil P. Sinha, D.D.S. 

New York University College of Dentistry 

Rodney C. Stigall, D.M.D. 

University of Louisville School of Dentistry 

Chief Year 

Babak Emami, D.M.D. 

University of Oslo 

John E. Hammen, D.M.D. 

University of Kentucky College of 

Dentistry 

Residency Programs - Plastic, 

Reconstructive and Hand 


W. John Kitzmiller, M.D., Program Director 


Chief, Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and 

Hand Surgery 

B.S. - Duke University, Durham, NC 

M.D. - Duke University, Durham, NC 

General Surgery Residency - University of 


Plastic Surgery Residency - University of 


Hand and Microvascular Surgery Fellowship – 

Davies Medical Center, San Francisco 


Surgery, American Board of Plastic Surgery 

with Certificate of Added Qualification in 

Surgery of the Hand 

Special Interests - Reconstructive microsurgery, 

correction of aging skin changes, wound 

healing 

Kathy Hoh, Program Coordinator 


Division of Plastic, Reconstructive and 

Hand Surgery




513-558-4363 

Katherine.Hoh@uc.edu 

Faculty of the Division of Plastic Surgery 

are committed surgeon educators who have 

developed an expanded educational 

environment to help fulfill their mission of 

providing the best training experience. With 

the wide variety and volume of clinical 

opportunities available at the Children’s 

Hospital, The University Hospital, Veterans 

Affairs Medical Center, Shriners Burns Hospital 

Cincinnati and in the surrounding community, 

the Division provides excellent educational 

content for students and residents, while 

delivering first-rate patient care and providing 

opportunities for collaborative efforts for both 

clinical and basic science research in plastic 

surgery. Although each member of the 

Division has unique areas of interest and 

expertise, their major strength is their core 

value of teamwork, dedication to excellence, 

and ability to work as a cohesive group. 

The faculty are dedicated to providing an 

environment for training plastic surgeons 

within the entire spectrum of plastic surgery. 

The Division provides training in the 

independent (5 +2) pathway in plastic surgery 

training as well as the integrated (3 + 3) 

pathway. The rotations, progression, knowledge, 

skill and responsibility vary according to the 

pathway and the individual; however, the 

ultimate level of proficiency and dedication to 

core values is the same for all residents. The 

residency program was given full accreditation 

in October, 2005 by the ACGME. 

The Division of Plastic Surgery and the 

Department of Surgery are committed not 

only to meeting but exceeding the ACGME 

requirements for the 80 hour work week. 

Senior residents are on call an average of every 

third to fourth night from home. 

Conferences 

The conference schedule is based on a 

curriculum that covers the entire spectrum 

of plastic surgery. Active participation in 

conferences by both the faculty and residents 

enhances the quality of the conferences and 

improves learning. Presentation skills are a 

critical part of plastic surgery education, and 

these skills are developed during the residency. 

Over the course of the year, the curriculum of 

plastic surgery is covered and a weekly topic is 

assigned in advance. A faculty member and 

resident are assigned to lead each week. The 

faculty member and resident “leaders of the 

week” make recommendations for the “classic 

articles” that comprise the core reading review. 

On Tuesdays after the weekly pre-op conference, 

cases are selected by the faculty “leader of the 

week” which relate to the weekly topic. The 

residents are asked to discuss evaluation 

and management of these cases. Ethical 

considerations (including CPT coding) are 

frequently addressed. The readings for the 

week help prepare for this conference and 

improve the quality of the discussion. 

The resident “leader of the week” begins 

the Wednesday morning conference with a 

formal didactic presentation which overviews 

the topic of the week. This is followed by a 

faculty didactic presentation which highlights 

personal experience and encourages group 

discussion. Outside speakers are encouraged 

for segments of the conference with advanced 

planning to enhance the discussion and 

coverage of the curriculum. 

The Division hosts Visiting Professors 

approximately twice a year. Morbidity & 

Mortality conference is held once per month. 

Dr. Yakuboff and the Chief Resident(s) organize 

Hand Conference which uses Green’s textbook 

as a basis for review. 

Approximately five times per year, cadaver 

dissection workshops are held on Thursday 

mornings. The Chief Resident schedules the 

workshops so that all major anatomic areas are 

addressed over the course of the academic 

year. A plastic surgery resident and faculty 

member are assigned to plan each dissection 

workshop. 

Reading of all Plastic Surgery literature is 

enthusiastically encouraged. Residents may 

wish to bring “classic articles” to Journal Club. 

Journal Club is held off campus at the home of 

a Division member or in a private room at a 

local restaurant. 

Residents rotating with Drs. Billmire 

and Gordon are expected to attend the 

Craniofacial Anomalies Team (CFAT) meeting 

which is held the first Friday of each month at 

Children’s Hospital. 

2005-2006 Visiting Professors 

Robert L. Walton, M.D. 

Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation 

Traveling Professor 

February 22, 2006 

Topics: “A Reconstructive Surgeon’s Approach 

to Facial Aesthetic Surgery” 

“Backside of the Power Curve: Achieving 

Excellence in Plastic Surgery” 


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Publications and Meetings 

Each resident is expected to submit a paper to 

a peer-reviewed journal or text book chapter 

each academic year. With prior approval, 

expenses for resident travel to meetings will 

be paid if the resident is presenting at the 

meeting. In addition, a stipend of $1,000 per 

resident is provided for academic travel or to 

purchase educational materials if all academic 

requirements have been met. A paper from 

the Chief Resident(s) is expected to be submitted 

to the annual Chief Residents Conference 

sponsored by the Plastic Surgery Educational 

Foundation. 

Plastic, Reconstructive and 

Hand Surgery Residents 

2005-2006 

First Year 

T. Kevin Cook, M.D., University of Texas Medical 

School at Galveston 

Second Year 

Brian S. Pan, M.D., Creighton University School 


Third Year 

Rian Maercks, M.D., Duke University 

Fourth Year 

Shannon P. O’Brien, M.D., University of Texas 

Medical School, San Antonio 

Fifth Year 

Ryan P. Flannagan, M.D., Indiana University 

School of Medicine 

Sixth Year 

Lauren P. Archer, M.D., University of Vermont 

College of Medicine 

Seventh Year 

Thaddeus P. O’Neill, M.D., Rush Medical School 

Resident Honors and Awards 

Lauren P. Archer, M.D. 

Inamed 2006 Breast Scholarship in the 

amount of $2,500 

Residency Programs – 

Thoracic Surgery 

Walter H. Merrill, M.D., Program Director 

John B. Flege, Jr. Professor 

Chief, Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery 

B.A. - The University of the South 

M.D. - The Johns Hopkins University School 


General Surgery Residency - The Johns 

Hopkins Hospital 

Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency - The Johns 

Hopkins Hospital 

Fellowship - The Hospital for Sick Children, 

Great Ormond Street, London, England 


Surgery, American Board of Thoracic 


Special Interests - Adult heart surgery, heart 

transplantation, adults with congenital 

heart disease 

Debi Hansert, Program Coordinator 


Division of Cardiac Surgery 




513-584-3278 

Debra.Hansert@uc.edu 

The ACGME granted accreditation for a 

new residency training program in 

cardiothoracic surgery, and we welcomed our 

first resident, Dr. John Mehall, on July 1, 2004. 

This program provides three continuous years 

of clinical training in cardiothoracic surgery, 

with one new resident starting each year. 

Residents will rotate on adult cardiac surgery 

at The University Hospital and the Good 

Samaritan Hospital, on general thoracic 

surgery at The University Hospital and the 

Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and on 

pediatric cardiac surgery at Cincinnati 

Children’s Hospital Medical Center. 

The Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery is 

an integral part of the Department of Surgery 

at the University of Cincinnati. The Section 

includes the Division of Cardiac Surgery and 

the Division of Thoracic Surgery. The Division 

of Cardiac Surgery is also aligned with the 

Division of Vascular Surgery from the 

Department of Surgery and the Division of 

Cardiology from the Department of Medicine 

to form the UC Heart & Vascular Center. The 

Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery also includes 

our colleagues in pediatric cardiac surgery 

who care for patients at the Cincinnati 

Children’s Hospital Medical Center. There are 

several hours of conferences each week 

devoted to adult cardiac surgery, pediatric 

cardiac surgery, and general thoracic surgery. 

Each cardiothoracic surgery resident is expected 

to attend at least one national scientific 

meeting annually. Attendance at additional 

meetings is encouraged dependent upon 

academic productivity.

The faculty and residents meet twice a 

month to discuss various clinical, research, 

educational, and administrative issues. Each 

faculty member provides a written evaluation 

of each resident at the conclusion of each 

rotation, and all residents are encouraged to 

provide a written evaluation of each faculty 

member and each rotation. The cardiothoracic 

residents are required to complete the annual 

in-training examination offered by the 

American Board of Thoracic Surgery. The 

Program Director will meet with the residents 

weekly to discuss patient care issues and 

educational needs. In addition, the director will 

undertake a formal evaluation and discussion of 

the progress of each resident at least twice a 

year or more frequently if necessary. 

The service at The University Hospital is 

augmented by general surgery residents 

(PGY-1 and PGY-4) rotating on a monthly and 

bimonthly basis, respectively. In addition, 

there are two physician assistants and two 

nurse practitioners. We have active programs 

in adult and pediatric heart transplantation, 

insertion of left ventricular assist devices, 

surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation, and 

robotic cardiac and thoracic surgery. The 

Division of Thoracic Surgery performs a wide 

variety of operative procedures including 

video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy 

and other minimally invasive procedures. In 

collaboration with the Section of General 

Surgery and the Division of Surgical Oncology, 

we offer a multidisciplinary approach to the 

care of patients with esophageal disorders. 

The Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery is 

under the direction of Walter H. Merrill, M.D. 

As Program Director of the Thoracic Surgery 

Residency Training Program, Dr. Merrill is 

responsible for the coordination and direction 

of the training program and the overall 

administration of the Service. The Section 

participates in the National Resident Matching 

Program (NRMP) for cardiothoracic surgery 

applicants. There are thirteen faculty members 

who are the primary teachers for the residency 

program. Each faculty member is delegated a 

major role and responsibility. 

Cardiothoracic Residents 

2005-2006 

Jeffrey V. Garrett, M.D. 

M.D. - University of Oklahoma 

General Surgery Residency - Vanderbilt 


John Mehall, M.D. 

M.D. - University of Texas 


Texas, Houston, TX; Abington Memorial 

Hospital, Abington, PA 

Pediatric Surgery Residency - Arkansas 

Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, AR 

Residency Programs - Urology 

James F. Donovan, Jr., M.D., 

Program Director 


Chief, Division of Urology 

B.S. - University of Colorado 

M.D. - Northwestern University Medical School 

Surgical and Urological Residency - 

Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Evanston 

Hospital, Children’s Memorial Hospital, VA 

Lakeside Hospital 

Fellowship in Male Infertility - Baylor College of 

Medicine 


Surgery, American Board of Urology 

Special Interests - Minimally invasive surgery of 

the urologic patient, including robotic 

technology, in the areas of urologic 

oncology, stone disease, sexual 

dysfunction, pelvic floor and urodynamics 

Perri Wright, Program Coordinator 


Division of Urology 




513-558-0983 

Perri.Wright@uc.edu 

The Urology residency program continues 

to sustain the optimal case volume in the 

nation for resident surgical experiences in 

several procedural and surgical care areas. 

Most notable of these are all forms of minimally 

invasive endoscopic procedures and female 

incontinence procedures. The Urology program 

is a five-year program with rotations at the 

Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Good 

Samaritan Hospital, Children’s Hospital Medical 

Center, and The University Hospital. Three and 

one half years of adult urologic surgical training 

are complemented with six months of training 

in all forms of pediatric urologic surgery. Recent 

changes in faculty and close cooperation within 

the Transplant Division have fine-tuned our 

laparoscopic capabilities. As a result, the 

residents benefit by increased skill upon 

completion of the program. Residents 

completing our program historically have had 

no difficulty being accepted in fellowship 


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programs or developing successful careers in 

urologic surgery. 

Residents receive funding to attend the 

week-long national meeting of the American 

Urologic Association in their third year. 

Residents whose submitted papers are accepted 

for presentation at a national or sectional 

meeting are given funding to attend the 

meeting. Annually, at the state level, all 

residents in the program are encouraged to 

attend the Ohio Urological Society meeting. 

There they are exposed to the expertise of 

nationally known urologists and issues of 

managed care and reimbursement. 

Conferences 

The Pathology Conference at Veterans Affairs 

Medical Center complements a vigorous 

amount of time spent in courses devoted to 

pathology at the University. The CUP 

(Cincinnati UroPathology) Lecture Series adds 

vibrancy to the pathology arena with visiting 

lecturers and hosts. Other regularly held 

conferences include Morbidity and Mortality, 

adult and pediatric radiology, didactic lectures, 

oral examinations of medical knowledge, adult 

and pediatric journal clubs, and a pediatric 

lecture series. In conjunction with 

Interventional Radiology, Urology has a 

monthly tumor board meeting. Indications 

conference has been added to the weekly 

conference schedule under a new format. 

Urology Visiting Professors 

Three times each year Visiting Professors meet 

with faculty and residents (normally twice a 

year the adult urology interests are addressed 

and once per year the pediatric area). The 

speaker culminates a busy day by giving a 

major address to The Cincinnati Urological 

Society. Residents, full time and volunteer 

faculty, as well as private non-faculty urologists 

in the surrounding communities attend this 

meeting. We also host numerous visiting 

professors who spend a single evening with 

the residents and give a lecture followed by a 

question and answer period and social hour. 

Urology Residents 2005-2006 

First Year 

Sundeep Deorah, M.D., All-India Institute of 

Medical Sciences 

Second Year 

Benjamin Dehner, M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Alex Caillat, M.D., Wright State University 

Third Year 

Lisa Kramer, M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Torre Rhoades M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Fourth Year 

Gwen Roesel, M.D., University of Cincinnati 

Rebecca Roedersheimer, M.D., University of 


Fifth Year 

Eric Giesler, M.D., University of Texas/Houston 

Resident Honors and Awards 

Gwen Roesel, M.D. 

Award for most improved academic 

performance 

James B. Colombo, M.D. 

Director’s Achievement Award, an 

all-encompassing award 

Rebecca Roedersheimer, M.D. 

Award for publications and presentations 

Fellowship Programs – Pediatric 

Surgery Fellowship 

Brad W. Warner, M.D., Program Director 


B.A. - University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO 

M.D. - University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO 



Pediatric Surgery Fellowship - Children’s 

Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 


Surgery, with Added Qualifications in 

Pediatric Surgery and Surgical Critical Care 

Special Interests - Extracorporeal membrane 

oxygenation (ECMO); surgical nutrition; 

ulcerative colitis; short bowel syndrome; 

necrotizing enterocolitis; childhood tumors 

Julie Ludwig, Program Coordinator 

Division of Pediatric Surgery 

Children’s Hospital Medical Center 

3333 Burnet Avenue 

Cincinnati, OH 45229 

513-636-7365 

Julie.Ludwig@cchmc.org 

The Division of Pediatric Surgery offers 

a 2-year residency (fellowship) in pediatric 

surgery. One new resident is chosen each year 

through the National Resident Matching 

Program. To date, almost 40 pediatric surgery 

residents have been trained in the Division. 

The pediatric surgery residency at Cincinnati

Children’s Hospital is one of the more 

renowned programs in the United States. The 

program matches one resident each year for a 

two-year position after completion of a general 

surgery chief residency. During the training 

period, the resident assumes graded 

responsibility and is exposed to the entire 

spectrum of pediatric surgery, including 

trauma, neonatal surgery, transplantation, 

bariatric surgery, extracorporeal membrane 

oxygenation, fetal intervention, and advanced 

anorectal reconstruction. 

The Division 

of Pediatric 

Surgery includes 

twelve full-time 

pediatric 

surgeons, three 

PhD researchers, 

six pediatric nurse 

practitioners, 

pediatric 

residents, general 

surgery residents 

from three 

different programs in Cincinnati, and medical 

students. The operating room is one of the 

busiest in the country with over 25,000 cases 

performed annually. The emergency 

department evaluates roughly 80,000 patients 

each year. Each resident completes 

approximately 1,400 pediatric surgery cases 

during the residency. The pediatric surgery 

residency was recently reviewed by the 

ACGME and received full accreditation for the 

next 5 years. 

2005-2006 Conferences 

Morbidity/Mortality (weekly) 

Tumor Board (weekly) 

Pediatric Surgical Grand Rounds (weekly) 

Radiology/Surgery Conferences (weekly) 

Pathology Conference (monthly) 

Trauma M&M (monthly) 

Trauma Case Review (monthly) 


Dr. Biswanath Mukhophyay 

Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons 


“Adrenal Insufficiency” 

Edward Barksdale, M.D. 

University of Pittsburgh 

March 29, 2006 

“Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction” 

Jose Boix-Ochoa, M.D. 

Barcelona, Spain 

June 7, 2006 

“Prenatal Diagnosis and Treatment of 

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia: 

The Euro Fetus Group Experience” 

CSI Holds Cardiothoracic 

Technology Symposium 

The Center for Surgical Innovation (CSI) hosted the inaugural 

Cardio-Thoracic Symposium in the new CSI space on 

May 19-20, 2006. The course was initiated by Drs. John Mehall 

(cardiothoracic resident), Randall Wolf and Walter Merrill. 

Comprising didactic and laboratory components, the course was 

attended by 60 cardiothoracic residents and fellows from across 

the United States. The CSI provided animate and inanimate labs 

for presentation and training on minimally invasive surgical 

procedures. Several companies were present to showcase their 

technologies in cardiac and thoracic surgery. 

Pediatric Surgery Fellows 

2005-2006 

Ala S. Frey, M.D. 

M.D. – The Pennsylvania State University 

General Surgery Residency – 


Jaimie D. Nathan, M.D. 

M.D. – Yale University School of Medicine 

General Surgery Residency – 

Duke University Medical Center 

Pediatric Urology Fellowship 

Pramod P. Reddy, M.D., Program Director 

MBBS - Nagarjuna University, Guntur, India 

General Surgery Residency - Albany Medical 

Center Hospital, Albany, NY 

Urology Residency - Albany Medical Center 

Hospital, Albany, NY 

Fellow in Pediatric Urology - Hospital for Sick 

Children, Toronto 

Pediatric Renal Transplantation Fellowship - 

Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto 

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NIH) - 

Albany Medical Center Hospital, Albany, NY 

Board Certification - American Board of Urology 

Special Interests - Pediatric urology and renal 

transplantation 


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Page 34 

Debbie Ramsey, Program Coordinator 


Division of Pediatric Urology 

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 

3333 Burnet Avenue ML 5037 

Cincinnati, OH 45229 

513-636-7143 

debbie.ramsey@cchmc.org 

The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical 

Center, Department of Surgery, Division of 

Pediatric Urology, sponsors the Pediatric 

Urology Fellowship program. The fellowship is 

fully accredited by the ACGME. The goal of the 

fellowship is to prepare our trainees for a 

career as an academic surgeon. 

This fellowship program covers a full 

complement of pediatric urologic issues with 

particular attention to the areas of genitourinary 

reconstructive surgery (including micro-surgical 

techniques), kidney transplantation, autotesticular 

transplantation, and fetal urology. 

The majority of the fellowship related clinical 

activity takes place at the Cincinnati Children’s 

Hospital. The program has one or two dedicated 

fellows for the duration of two years. 

The fellowship comprises a clinical year 

and a research year. The first year of the 

fellowship program is dedicated to clinical 

rotations in Pediatric Urology, Pediatric 

Surgery, Pediatric Nephrology, the Bladder 

Center for Voiding Dysfunction, and the 

Myelomeningocele Clinic. The fellows also 

spend time in the various multidisciplinary 

clinics that exist at Cincinnati Children’s 

Hospital Medical Center. The following year 

focuses on basic science research related to 

the genitourinary tract. 

The fellowship has a strong emphasis on 

didactics. A list of our conference schedule is 

listed below. 


Pediatric Urology Topic Review 

(bi-weekly, fellow directed) 

Pediatric Urology Grand Rounds (monthly) 

Pediatric Urology Radiology Conference 

(monthly) 

Urology Basic Science Review (monthly) 

Urology Community Grand Rounds (monthly) 

Pediatric Urology Journal Club (monthly) 

Complex Center conference (monthly) 

Combined Complex Urology/Colorectal Center 

conference (monthly) 

UC/CCHMC Morbidity and Mortality 

Conference (monthly) 

Current Fellows 

Shumyle Alam, M.D. 

Ashok Rijhwani, M.B.B.S. 

Transplantation Fellowship 

Amit D. Tevar, M.D., Program Director 


Combined BA/MD Honors Program - 

University of Missouri School of Medicine 


Indiana School of Medicine 

Fellowship in Transplantation - University of 

Chicago 

Fellowship in Hepatobiliary and Multi-Organ 

Transplantation - University of Cincinnati 



Special Interests - Solid-organ transplantation, 

laparoscopic and hepatobiliary surgery 

Shiela Holmes, Program Coordinator 


Division of Transplantation 




513-558-6010 

Shiela.Holmes@uc.edu 

The Division of Transplantation sponsors 

the Multi-Organ Transplant Fellowship 

Program. This fellowship program spans all 

major aspects of transplantation with specific 

emphasis in the areas of kidney, pancreas and 

liver transplantation and hepatobiliary 

abdominal laparoscopic surgery. We are 

particularly proud of our pioneering efforts 

in laparoscopic “living” donor nephrectomy 

procedures and laparoscopic surgery. Our 

clinical efforts are conducted at The University 

Hospital and The Christ Hospital. 

The Multi-Organ Transplant Fellowship 

Training Program is approved through the 

American Society of Transplant Surgeons. The 

program employs two fellows for a duration of 

two years. Upon completion of our program, a 

number of fellows have gone on to successful 

careers in academic medicine and specialized 

private practice. 


Transplant Grand Rounds speakers were of 

national and international stature. We have 

also developed formal teaching rounds on 

Thursday afternoons and a Friday conference 

for the residents, students, and fellows where 

informal teaching is held.

2005-2006 Visiting Speakers 

Ronald W. Busuttil, M.D., Ph.D. 

University of California - Los Angeles 

Medical Center 

“Two Decades of Liver Transplantation at 

UCLA: Experience with 3200 Cases” 

August 30, 2005 

Sommer E. Gentry, Ph.D. 

Mathematics Department, United States 

Naval Academy 

“Mathematical Optimization for Physicians and 

Transplant Specialists” 

September 26, 2005 

Dorry L. Segev, M.D. 

John Hopkins University School of Medicine 

“Kidney Paired Donations: Math Meets 

Medicine” 


Edward J. Holland, M.D. 

Cincinnati Eye Institute 

“Ocular Surface Transplantation” 

November 8, 2005 

Andrea A. Zachary, Ph.D. 

John Hopkins University School of Medicine 

“Renal Transplantation and the Sensitized 

Patient: Improving Access Outcomes” 


Alvin E. Roth, Ph.D. 

Harvard Business School 

“Matching for Kidney Exchange” 


M. Utku Unver, Ph.D. 


“Beyond Two-Way Kidney Exchange” 

March 14, 2006 

Transplantation Fellows 

2005-2006 

Thavamchenthan Thambi-Pillai, M.D. 

M.D. - University College Galway, National 

University of Ireland, Republic of Ireland 

General Surgery Residency - Graduate 

Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 

Andreas Karachristos, M.D., Ph.D. 

M.D. - University of Crete, School of Medicine, 

Crete, Greece 

General Surgery Residency - Evgenidion 

Hospital, University of Athens, 

Athens, Greece 

Transplantation Research 

Fellows 2005-2006 

Anastasia Balducci, Pharm.D. 

Pharm.D. - Medical University of South Carolina 

Transplant Residency - University of Cincinnati 

Jennifer Walker, Pharm.D. 

Pharm.D. - Ferris State University 


Nicole Weimert, Pharm.D. 

Pharm.D. - University of Wisconsin-Madison 

School of Pharmacy 


Honors and Awards 

Adele Rike, Pharm.D., Assistant Research 

Professor of Surgery, received the Young 

Investigator Travel Award for the World 

Transplant Congress, Boston, MA, July 2006. 

Trauma/Surgical Critical 

Care Fellowship 

Betty J. Tsuei, M.D., Program Director 


M.D. - University of Cincinnati 

General Surgery Residency - 

University of Cincinnati 

Fellowship - Trauma and Critical Care, 

University of Cincinnati 


Surgery with added qualification in 

Surgical Critical Care 

Special Interests - ARDS, sepsis, mechanical 

ventilation, surgical education 

Ana Madani, Program Coordinator 


Division of Trauma and Critical Care 




513-558-3090 

madania@ucmail.uc.edu 

The Surgical Critical Care Fellowship 

encompasses all aspects of care within the 

Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), with a 

strong emphasis on cardiopulmonary 

mechanics, principles of resuscitation and 

mechanical ventilation. The fellowship 

program was granted Continued Full 

Accreditation for five years, with no citations or 

recommendations, after the 2004 review by 

the Residency Review Committee of the 

Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical 

Education. In addition, a commendation was 


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given to “the program director, faculty, and 

institution for the quality of the educational 

program.”The Division currently supports two 

fellows; both a one-year clinical track and a 

two-year academic clinical scientist track are 

available. 

The recent expansion of the SICU to 24 

adult beds enriches the educational experiences 

of fellows and residents. In addition, the 

fellowship provides rotations in the 

Neurosurgical ICU (20 beds), Anesthesia and 

Trauma. The Division also collaborates with 

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 

to provide our fellows with rotations in 

Pediatric Critical Care. Graduates from the 

fellowship are currently providing academic 

and clinical leadership in the trauma and 

critical care communities throughout the 

United States. 

Our current surgical critical care fellows 

are Drs. Bracken Burns and Bryce Robinson. 

J. Bracken Burns, Jr., D.O., received his 

undergraduate degree from the University of 

Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana and a 

Masters of Science in Physiology from Ball 

State University in Muncie, Indiana. Dr. Burns 

received a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine 

degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic 

Medicine and completed his general surgery 

residency at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, 

Ohio. 

Bryce R.H. Robinson, M.D., received his 

undergraduate degree from Miami University 

in Oxford, Ohio. Dr. Robinson received a 

Doctor of Medicine degree from the University 

of Cincinnati and completed his general 

surgery residency at Rush University Medical 

Center in Chicago, Illinois. 


• SICU Daily Rounds 

• SICU Core Lecture Series 

• Fellows Conference - case presentations, 

multidisciplinary planning meetings 

• Resident Trauma Conference (weekly) 

• Critical Care Journal Club (monthly) 

• SICU Morbidity & Mortality Conference 

(monthly) 

2005-2006 Lectures 

Karyn Butler, M.D. 



University of Cincinnati, Department of 

Surgery Local Program 

79th Annual Halsted Society Meeting 

“Surgeon-Scientist Perspective and 

Cardiovascular Research” 

Joseph Solomkin, M.D. 


December 7, 2005 

University of Rochester Medical Center 

“New Guidelines for Nocosomial Pneumonia” 



February 9, 2006 

Academic Surgical Congress, San Diego, CA 

“Increased Age is Associated with Reduced 

Survival Following Trauma to the 

Duodenum or Pancreas” 



March 15, 2006 

Surgical Grand Rounds 

“Ventilator Associated Pneumonia in the 

Surgical Patient” 

Joseph Solomkin, M.D. 


April 2, 2006 

Government of Japan, Tokyo 

“Creation of an International Consensus for 

Acute Cholecystitis and Cholangitis” 

Peter Muskat, M.D. 


May 16, 2006 

Aerospace Medical Association 77th Annual 

Scientific Meeting, Orlando, FL 

“Critical Care Air Transport Teams: Going Where 

We Have Not Gone Before … And Beyond” 

Vascular Surgery Fellowship 

Amy B. Reed, M.D., Program Director 


Director, Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program 

Director, University Pointe Noninvasive 

Vascular Laboratory 

B.S. - University of Wisconsin 

M.D. - University of Wisconsin 

Surgical Residency - Brigham and Women’s 

Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 

Boston, Massachusetts 

Vascular Surgery Fellowship - Brigham and 

Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical 

School, Boston, Massachusetts 

Venous Surgery Fellowship - Mayo Clinic, 

Rochester, Minnesota 


Surgery, American Board of Vascular 

Surgery, American Academy of Wound 

Specialists 

Special Interests - Minimally invasive vascular 

surgery, endovascular surgery, complex 

peripheral reconstruction, venous disease

Georgeanna Adams, Program Coordinator 


Division of Vascular Surgery 




513-558-5367 

adamsg1@uc.edu 

A fellowship leading to a Certificate of 

Added Qualification in Vascular Surgery is 

available and fully accredited by the Residency 

Review Committee (RRC) for Surgery. New 

training paradigms initiated by the Association 

of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery have 

been approved by the Surgery RRC allowing 

interested medical students to potentially 

match in a “3 + 3” program (3 years of general 

surgery and 3 years of vascular surgery) leading 

to a Primary Certificate in Vascular Surgery. 

Additional pathways for primary certification 

in vascular surgery without obtaining board 

certification in General Surgery include 4 years 

of general surgery and 2 years of vascular 

training, or the traditional 5 years of general 

surgery followed by 2 years in vascular surgery 

training. The University of Cincinnati Vascular 

Surgery Fellowship program is capable of 

working with interested candidates on these 

various options. 

All fellows to date have passed their 

qualifying examinations on initial attempt. Dr. 

Amy Reed continues to advance the training of 

vascular surgery fellows and to attract more 

female surgical residents interested in vascular 

surgery. 

The University of Cincinnati Vascular 

Surgery Fellowship is a two-year, fully-accredited 

clinical fellowship. In addition to a full standard 

operative caseload, all fellows perform more 

than 400 endovascular procedures during their 

fellowship and thus meet all credentialing 

standards for endovascular privileging. This 

fellowship offers a rare opportunity to become 

facile in both standard open surgical procedures, 

catheter-directed therapy for the treatment of 

vascular disease, as well as non-invasive vascular 

diagnostic laboratory training. Experience 

in outpatient venous interventions, dialysis 

access, and exposure to private practice vascular 

surgery completes the training, making the 

fellows quite marketable in both academic and 

private practice employment opportunities. 

Academic and scholarly pursuits are critical to 

a fellow’s development and future career. Each 

fellow publishes at least two papers and/or 

chapters during their clinical fellowship. 

A formal lecture series has been developed 

in collaboration with other departments at 

the University to enhance the fellows’ 

understanding of vascular physiology, anatomy, 

embryology and pathology. The fellows are 

required to take the Vascular Surgery Education 

Program (VSEP) examination annually. In 

addition, a teaching session is held at the start 

of the academic year in the gross anatomy 

laboratory where the surgical anatomy of less 

frequently utilized operative exposures is 

reviewed. 

The expanded clinical base provides an 

excellent educational experience for our 

vascular surgery fellows and the general 

surgery residents. Our past fellows have, with 

their endovascular skills, enjoyed unlimited 

employment opportunities in the geographical 

region of their choosing. The University of 

Cincinnati was one of the first programs 

approved for such a two-year clinical fellowship. 

The ACGME/RRC approval was based on the 

conventional and endovascular experience 

and the ability to obtain comprehensive 

non-invasive vascular lab training. 


Vascular Conference, every Tuesday 

Vascular Preoperative Conference, 

every Tuesday 


Anthony D. Whittemore, M.D. 

Kempczinski Visiting Professor 

Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School 

Chief Medical Officer, Brigham and Women’s 

Hospital - Harvard Medical School, Boston, 

Massachusetts 

April 26, 2006 

Surgical Grand Rounds - “History and 

Management of Abdominal Aortic 

Aneurysms” 

Vascular Surgery Fellows 

2005-2006 

Catherine Cagiannos, M.D. 

M.D. - University of Western Ontario, London, 

Ontario, Canada 

General Surgery Residency – University of 

Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada 

John Hutto, M.D. 

M.D. - University of Wisconsin, Madison, 

Wisconsin 

General Surgery Residency - Rush Medical 

Center, Chicago, Illinois 


Page 37

Third Annual Outstanding Educator Award Given 

to James P. Fidler, M.D. [posthumously] 

This award is given to a faculty member, who by vote of the surgical resident staff, has made 

significant contribution to the education and mentoring of surgical residents. Previous winners 

include Dr. Syed Ahmad (2004) and Dr. David Fischer (2005). This award was presented at Final 

Grand Rounds on June 21, 2006, to Sara Fidler who accepted the award on behalf of her father, the 

late James P. Fidler, M.D. 

Dr. Fidler, Professor of Surgery and Director of Endocrine Surgery in the UC Department of 

Surgery, died of a heart attack in India on May 18, 2006, while on one of his frequent humanitarian 

missions to the far east. Dr. Fidler received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, 

then moved to Cincinnati in 1960 and completed his surgical residency at UC. After joining the 

surgical faculty in 1967, the next year Dr. Fidler 

took a leave of absence to spend two years as a 

medical missionary in Liberia, where he was one 

of only three surgeons in the country’s few 

surgical hospitals. In 1970 he returned to the 

UC Department of Surgery as a member of 

the transplant team and later as Director of 

Endocrine Surgery. His clinical expertise included 

kidney transplantation, vascular access, endocrine 

and general surgery. 

Dr. Fidler’s many honors included election to 

the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and serving 

as President of the Mont Reid Surgical Society. He 

was known not only for his technical skills, but 

also for spending countless hours with his patients 

and their families to ensure that every question 

was answered. He was also renowned for his great 

patience in the operating room, where he treated 

medical students and residents with great respect while grilling them with questions. 

In addition to the two years he spent in Liberia, Dr. Fidler made numerous trips to India and 

China to treat the underserved and train the staffs of local hospitals. Dr. Fidler’s selfless devotion 

to the underprivileged in poor countries around the world has inspired UC medical students and 

surgical residents to continue his humanitarian mission. However, despite his devotion to others, 

Dr. Fidler remained a steadfast family man and completely devoted to his wife and three daughters. 

He will be remembered by all as a great surgeon, great humanitarian, great husband, and great 

father. Dr. Fidler will be missed by all who knew him. 


Page 38 

Minimally Invasive Surgery 

(MIS) Fellowship 

Michael S. Nussbaum, M.D., Program Director 




Interim Chairman, Department of Surgery 

Vice Chairman, Clinical Affairs 

Chief of Staff, The University Hospital 

Director, Residency Program in General Surgery 

B.A. - Northwestern University 

M.D. - University of Pennsylvania 

Surgical Residency - University of Cincinnati 


Surgery, with Certificate of Added 


Special Interests - Gastrointestinal surgery, 

minimally invasive surgery, robotic 

assisted surgery

Karen Simms, Program Coordinator 






Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0558 

513-558-4014 

Karen.Simms@uc.edu 

A one-year fellowship program funded by 

Ethicon Endosurgery is available for candidates 

desiring additional training in advanced 

minimally invasive and gastrointestinal surgery. 

This will include experience in minimally 

invasive gastrointestinal, bariatric, solid organ, 

hepatopancreatobiliary surgery, robotics, and 

flexible endoscopy. The overall goal of the 

fellowship is to develop academic general 

surgeons with an interest in advanced 

gastrointestinal surgical management and 

techniques. The program will teach advanced 

operative skills and patient management, and 

further develop clinical research and teaching 

skills. Expectations include teaching and 

rounds with residents, medical student lectures, 

presentation and coordination of general 

surgery conferences, and development and 

implementation of research projects related to 

the content areas of the fellowship. 

The fellowship allows the unique 

opportunity to obtain experience in 

development and application of advanced 

surgical technologies within the Center for 

Surgical Innovation (CSI). Examples of CSI 

research available to the fellow include device 

development, virtual-reality surgical simulation, 

surgical informatics, robotic surgery, and robotic 

telesurgery. Within the CSI, the fellow also has 

a unique opportunity to learn about commercial 

and educational aspects of experimental 

technology through exposure to our worldleading 

academic, industrial and government 

partners. Manuscript preparation, poster 

preparation, oral presentation, etc. are 

expected. The fellowship is approved by 

The University Hospital Graduate Medical 

Education program, accredited by the 

Fellowship Council, and is part of the national 

Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Match. 

Minimally Invasive Surgery 

(MIS) Fellows 2002-Present 

Adel Bahksh, M.D., 2002-2003 - The Ohio State 


Calvin Selwyn, M.D., 2003-2004 - Marshfield 

Clinic 

Rheena Bhargava, M.D., 2004-2005 - University 

of Western Ontario 

Arif Malik, M.D., 2005-2006 - Medical College of 

Georgia 

John Scott, M.D., 2006-Present - Greenville 

Hospital System University Medical Center 

Medical 

Student 


Richard J. Stevenson M.D., 

Director Surgical Student Education 

Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery 

B.A. - The Ohio State University 

M.D. - University of Cincinnati 



Pediatric Surgery Residency - Cincinnati 

Children’s Hospital Medical Center 


Surgery, American Board of Pediatric 


Special Interests - Imperforate anus, 

Hirschsprung’s disease, appendiceal colic 

Elaine M. Mullen, Program Coordinator 




Cincinnati,OH 45267-0558 

513-558-2134 

Elaine.Mullen@uc.edu 

The Department of Surgery is committed 

to providing excellent educational experiences 

for medical students. Richard Stevenson, M.D., 

has been Director of the Student Education 

Program since November 1999. Under his 

leadership, a dedicated team of faculty and 

staff have developed one of the strongest 

clerkships within the College of Medicine and 

increased the number of graduating students 

who have chosen to pursue a career in surgery. 

Improvements to the structure of the surgery 

clerkship curriculum have helped us to 

increase the depth and breadth of students’ 

knowledge of surgery. We are also efficient 

with the students’ time. These improvements 

include an intense first week of the clerkship 

filled with didactic and interactive teaching 

sessions. During this week, all students 

participate in 9 lectures, 15 interactive teaching 

sessions, and 6 two-hour “practical sessions” in 

the Skills Lab and the Anatomy Lab. During 


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Page 40 

these sessions, they learn to insert chest tubes, 

insert central venous catheters, manage Swan- 

Ganz catheters, manage ventilators and other 

important clinical skills. In addition, there are 

4 two-hour sessions during which students 

are taught suturing techniques and receive 

hands-on experience suturing cadaver pigs’ 

feet. Collectively, these sessions broaden each 

student’s knowledge of surgical disease and 

procedures and also begin to develop their 

technical skills. Students and faculty have 

responded very positively to this initial week 

of concentrated teaching and learning. When 

they begin their clinical rotations in the 2nd 

week, the students are better prepared for 

their patient management and operating 

room experiences and are able to make a 

more valuable contribution to the surgical 

team. 

We have adopted the National Board of 

Medical Examiners (NBME) Surgery exam as 

our clerkship final written examination. The 

use of this exam will help to maintain the 

integrity of our testing system and will provide 

data that shows how our results compare to 

those from other surgical education programs 

throughout the country. 

An online evaluation system has been 

established that enables students to provide 

timely, constructive feedback regarding their 

learning experience on the Surgery Clerkship 

as well as comments regarding faculty and 

resident teaching performance. 

An additional offering is the Clinical Skills 

Lab/Surgical Workshop series taught by Dr. 

Stevenson. These optional classes are offered 

to all medical students within the College of 

Medicine. The classes meet twice weekly and 

provide hands-on training to groups of 

approximately six students at a time. Subjects 

include: 

• Basic surgical instruments, knots and ties 

• Elementary wound closure and local 

anesthesia 

• Subcutaneous and fascial closures 

• Wound debridement, irrigation and drainage, 

securing tubes, Z plasties, VY plasties, rotation 

flaps 

• Skin grafts, dressings, splints 

• Grafts, nerve, vessel and tendon repair, hand 

examination 

Honors and Awards 

Richard J. Stevenson, M.D. 

Recipient of the “Golden Apple Award” (fifth 

consecutive year) which is given by the 

students of the College of Medicine to the 

faculty member they believe has most 

benefited their clinical education. 

Medical Student awards presented on 

Honors Day, May 28, 2006 

Department of Surgery Award for the student 

with the highest overall grade in the 

clerkship - Benjamin Gibson. 

Cincinnati Surgical Society Award for the 

student with the highest grade that will 

be specializing in surgery - Benjamin 

Wilkins. 

Continuing 

Medical 


The Department of Surgery offers a number of 

conferences and symposiums for physicians 

who are seeking Continuing Medical 

Education (CME) credits, including weekly 

Surgical Grand Rounds, annual Mini Medical 

College classes, and various symposia 

throughout the year. The University of 

Cincinnati College of Medicine designates 

these educational activities for Category 1 CME 

credit toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition 

Award. The University of Cincinnati College of 

Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation 

Council of Continuing Medical Education to 

sponsor CME for physicians. 

The Department of Surgery works closely 

with the Cincinnati Surgical Society, a 

community-wide society of surgeons, to 

provide continuing education of high quality. 

As part of the Department’s visiting professor 

program, invited experts often address the 

Cincinnati Surgical Society membership at 

their evening meeting. 

We welcome members of the community 

to participate in continuing medical education 

activities sponsored by the Department of 

Surgery. For more information regarding 

upcoming events, please refer to our website 

www.ucsurgeons.com. Additionally, if you 

wish to receive mailings which list the topics 

for our Wednesday morning Surgical Grand 

Rounds Conference, please contact Gilda 

Young at gilda.young@uc.edu. 

The UC Department of Surgery was 

honored to host the 79th Annual Meeting of 

the Halsted Society on September 7-10, 2005, 

in Cincinnati. The Halsted Society, a select 

group of senior surgeons, was formed in 1924 

in honor of Dr. William Halsted, a renowned

surgeon at Johns Hopkins University who 

trained the first generation of American 

surgeons in the Halstedian surgical residency 

training method. One of his students, Dr. 

George Heuer, became the first Christian R. 

Holmes Professor and Chair of Surgery at the 

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 

1922. Dr. Heuer brought Halsted’s method of 

surgical training as well as an entire group 

from Johns Hopkins (known as “the Hopkins 

invasion”) including future chairmen Mont 

Reid, B. Noland Carter and Max Zinninger. The 

local scientific program was held at the 

University of Cincinnati in the Surgical 

Amphitheater. An afternoon scientific session 

followed at the Queen City Club. Additional 

scientific sessions were held at the host hotel, 

The Cincinnatian. A varied social program 

showcased many of Cincinnati’s cultural 

institutions. 

Drs. Kenneth Davis and Karyn Butler, 

Division of Trauma/Critical Care, and the 

Department of Surgery hosted the Society of 

Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS) meeting, 

April 6-8, 2006. The meeting was attended by 

over 100 African-American surgeons from 

across the country. SBAS inspires and mentors 

young surgeons and medical students in the 

pursuit of academic careers. Each year the 

society partners with a leading department of 

surgery to hold a scientific meeting to share 

information about scientific and surgical 

advances. The Honorable Mark Mallory, Mayor 

of the City of Cincinnati, read a proclamation 

welcoming SBAS to Cincinnati during a 

reception at the National Underground 

Railroad Freedom Center, where the Society 

was welcomed by the Center’s President, 

Spencer Crew, PhD. At the black tie dinner and 

dance held at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland 

Plaza, Oscar Robertson, basketball icon and 

Cincinnati business entrepreneur, was the 

guest speaker. 

Dr. Walter Merrill, the Department of 

Surgery, and the Cincinnati Veteran’s Affairs 

Medical Center hosted the Association of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) Surgeons annual meeting 

May 7-9, 2006. 

The Central Surgical Association’s annual 

meeting will be held in Cincinnati in March, 

2008. Dr. Syed Ahmad, Division of Surgical 

Oncology, will serve as local program director. 

All presentations and publications by 

surgical residents are located in the 

Publications Section, page 168. Resident 

names are indicated by bold type. 

(Photo courtesy of UC Communications 

Services/D. Davenport) 


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Education - Surgery - University of Cincinnati

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