• Congratulations to the 2022-2023 SAAS Visiting Professors!
  • Lily Cheng, MD is the recipient of the 2022 SAAS Junior Faculty Award!
  • Vivek Pamulapati, MD is the recipient of the 2022 Esther Tsai Sugg Award for the highest scoring SAAS abstract to the Academic Surgical Congress!
  • Romeo Ignacio MD, Chee-Chee Stucky MD, and Hop Tran Cao MD are the recipients of the 2022 SAAS – SUS Mid Career Award!
  • Calvin Chao, MD, is the recipient of the 2022 SAAS Resident/Fellow Development Scholarship!
  • Jaewon Lee is the winner of the 2022 SAAS Annual Meeting Travel Award!
  • Romeo Ignacio, MD is the recipient of the SAAS – SUS Leadership Agility Program Scholarship!

Welcome to the launch of Lotus Scroll, the official newsletter of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS). Through the Lotus Scroll, we are excited to distribute and enhance the vision of SAAS: to promote diversity and inclusion in academic surgery through the sponsorship and development of its leaders.

In launching this inaugural edition, we had a chance to reflect on what makes SAAS uniquely special. As a group, Asian Americans have been successful in obtaining achievements that are largely based on objective measures – getting into medical school and surgical residency. However, the next phase, securing a faculty position and obtaining academic promotions and leadership positions pose greater hurdles. As highlighted by Abelson et al,1 minorities face challenges in promotion and retention in academic medicine, particularly junior faculty. Some of the professional challenges that minorities face are unique such as implicit bias, diversity-related responsibilities, cultural upbringing, and lack of role models.

While the lack of Asian role models in surgical leadership positions reflects the historic dearth of Asians in medicine, this translates into few Asian leaders to mentor and shepherd the next generation of Asian surgeons attempting to climb the academic ranks. In a single surgery department, it is rare to find a senior surgeon of Asian descent that can serve as a role model. Founded by Asians who are current leaders in academic surgery, SAAS provides our community the opportunity to develop relationships, find support and mentorship, and obtain the tools to develop into leaders in surgery and medicine. The annual conferences provide an opportunity to rub elbows with the premiere leaders in surgery and connect with people that inspire us.

In this inaugural edition of the Lotus Scroll, we start with an in-depth interview with one of the SAAS founders and current president, Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH. We also connect with the local hosts of the upcoming annual meeting in Boston, MA to learn about the meeting highlights.

We look forward to providing the SAAS community with inspiring and engaging articles through the Lotus Scroll and are excited to represent the voice of SAAS during this exciting and prosperous adventure.

  1. Abelson et al. Racial and ethnic disparities in promotion and retention of academic surgeons. American Journal of Surgery Oct 2018

Archives

SAAS Leadership Highlights

SAAS congratulates Drs. Kenric Murayama, Thomas Varghese, Ankush Gosain, Shaun Kunisaki, and Vikas Dudeja for their recent accomplishments.

Medical Student Student Reflections

Medical students Gopika SenthilKumar and Nate Verhagen attended their first SAAS meeting in September and said the meeting offered a place for trainees to build new, lasting relationships.

Kuo Family Lectureship: Debbie Lum

“Why do we always have to play the side part? Why aren’t we the protagonist of the story?” asks award-winning filmmaker Debbie Lum at this year’s 2022 Kuo Family Lectureship.

Kui and Wai Fong Lectureship: David Hu

The 2022 Kui and Wai Fong Lectureship was delivered by Professor David Hu from Georgia Institute of Technology. David Hu is a professor of mechanical engineering who draws inspiration from his observation of nature.

Sustainability in Surgery

Connie Shao, MD, discusses the importance of sustainability in surgery in this issue of the Lotus Scroll.

SAAS Leadership Highlights

The Society of Asian Academic Surgeons would like to congratulate our members on their many recent accomplishments.

Presidential Address: ‘A is for… American. Asian. Ally.’

Tracy S. Wang, MD, MPH, delivered her Presidential Address to the Society during the 2021 SAAS 6th Annual Meeting, focusing on her thoughts regarding Asian American identity in relation to her role as SAAS president for the past two years.

President’s Message: December 2021

SAAS President Dr. Allan Tsung discusses this year’s SAAS annual meeting, the pandemic and the future of the society in his December 2021 President’s Message.

The Sequelae of Hate

Dr. Lindsey Zhang discusses the recent rise in hate crimes, racial discrimination and violence toward the Asian American community.

A Day in Ramadan as a Surgical Trainee

Dr. Hassan Mashbar, a trauma fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses his experience with Ramadan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Q&A: Dr. George Yang

The Lotus Scroll interviews George Yang, MD, PhD, former president of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons.

SAAS Foundation 2018-2019 Visiting Professorships

Congratulations to the 2018-2019 SAAS Foundation Visiting Professors! SAAS Foundation Visiting Professorships support travel to host institutions for junior faculty to give grand rounds and increase the national visibility of rising stars in academic surgery.

SAAS on Twitter!

This year, SAAS was active more than ever on Twitter! In addition to updates and announcements, more content was created for our followers to improve engagement, highlight issues and events important to our society and members, and promote the activities at SAAS.

SAAS Executive Council: Message on the Rise of Racism

First, as the current pandemic continues to affect our communities and families, we want to express our profound gratitude to our surgical colleagues and to all healthcare professionals who are the frontlines of caring for patients with the SARS-CoV2 virus/COVID-19.

Q&A: Dr. Kenric Murayama

The Lotus Scroll is honored to interview Kenric Murayama, MD, this year’s host of the SAAS Annual Meeting.

Resident’s Corner: Work in the Time of Coronavirus

Sterile technique has leaked into the public domain, marked not only by how expensive Purell has become or how frequently we are reminded to wash our hands, but also by the ways we have come to treat one another.

President’s Message: December 2019

SAAS President Dr. Tracy Wang discusses how far the Society has come and what’s in store for 2020 in her December 2019 President’s Message.

SAAS 2019 Meeting Recap

SAAS held its 2019 Annual Meeting at the Boston Medical Center, Sept. 26-27, with more than 148 scientific presentations and breakout sessions.

SAAS 2019 Meeting Highlights

The fourth annual meeting of the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons will be held in Boston, Massachusetts, Sept. 26-27, 2019, and promises to be an incredibly fun, impactful and meaningful gathering of academic surgeons, trainees and students from both the U.S. and abroad.

Q&A: Dr. Jennifer Tseng

Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH, is the James Utley Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine and surgeon-in-chief at Boston Medical Center.