ACS Bulletin - May 2017

Dr. Henri Ford accorded
honorary fellowship
in RCSEng

Henri R. Ford, MD, MHA, FACS, FAAP, vice-president and surgeon-in-chief, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; professor of surgery and vice-dean for medical education, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California; and member of the American College of Surgeons Board of Regents, was accorded Honorary Fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSEng) on March 7 in London, U.K.

A world-renowned Haitian-American surgeon, Dr. Ford played a prominent role in organizing and leading medical teams in response to the catastrophic

2010 earthquake in Haiti. Born in Haiti, Dr. Ford regularly returns to his native country to teach, lead operating teams, and assist in developing surgical systems, which the island nation historically has lacked. His accomplishments there are myriad. For example, in May 2015, Dr. Ford led a team of health care professionals that made history by completing the first separation of conjoined twins in Haiti. (Read more about the operation at www.cbsnews.com/news/more-than-just-a-surgery-conjoined-twins-separated-in-haiti/ or at bulletin.facs.org/2015/08/dr-henri-ford-performs-first-separation-of-conjoined-twins-in-haiti/.)

Dr. Ford and his family fled Haiti’s oppressive regime and came to the U.S. when he was 13 years old. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, and trained in general surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY. He completed his pediatric surgical training at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to joining Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2005, Dr. Ford was professor and chief, division of pediatric surgery, and surgeon-in-chief, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Su-Anna Boddy, MS, FRCS, council member for the RCSEng, introduced Dr. Ford at the ceremony and spoke of his accomplishments, and Clare Marx, CBE, DL, PRCS, RCSEng president, formally awarded him the honor. ♦

Personal and professional well-being of surgical residents in New England

Peter S. Yooa, MD, FACS; John J. Tacketta, MD, MHS; Mark W. Maxfielda, MD, MHS; and colleagues found that surgical residents attend to their own preventive health maintenance, finances, sleep, and stress reduction with variable success. Residency programs should make modest programmatic accommodations to allow trainees to tend to various aspects of their personal well-being.