Ep. 7 - What to Say When You're Not Sure What to Say - Confronting Bias in Surgery

Have you ever had that moment when a patient or colleague said something subtly or not-so-subtly offensive that you weren't sure how to respond?  Join Avery, Biddy, Erin, Jon and Sam as they share their own stories, insights, and approaches to confronting bias in surgery.  CO-HOSTS Avery Walker, MD, FACS, FASCRS El Paso, TXAvery Walker is dually board-certified in General Surgery and Colorectal Surgery. He earned his medical degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago, his General Surgery residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, and his Fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at The Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans. A former active-duty officer in the United States Army, Dr. Walker served 13 years as a general and colorectal surgeon with his most recent duty station in El Paso, TX at William Beaumont Army Medical Center. While there he was the Chief of Colon and Rectal surgery as well as the Assistant Program Director for the general surgery residency program. He currently practices colon and rectal surgery at The Hospitals of Providence in El Paso, TX. Dr. Avery Walker is married and has two daughters aged 13 and 9.   Biddy Das, MD, FACS Houston, TXDr. Bidhan "Biddy" Das has board certifications for both colon and rectal surgery, and general surgery. His passion for medical education and medical process improvement has resulted in book chapters and publications, and national and regional presentations on those subjects. Highlighting his medical expertise on fecal incontinence, he has been featured on patient education videos and national and international television and radio as a featured expert on these colorectal conditions. Dr Das also has a particular interest in surgeons redefining their careers -- he serves as both a software consultant and private equity consultant in Boston, New York City, and Houston.   Erin King-Mullins, MD, FACS, FASCRS Atlanta, GADr. Erin King-Mullins is a double board-certified general and colorectal surgeon. She graduated summa cum laude from Xavier University of Louisiana. After obtaining her medical degree at Emory University in Atlanta, she completed her internship and residency in general surgery at the Orlando Regional Medical Center in Florida. Her fellowship training in colorectal surgery at Georgia Colon & Rectal Surgical Associates concluded with her joining the practice and serving as Faculty/Research Director for the fellowship program until her transition into private practice with Colorectal Wellness Center. She has a husband with whom she shares an amazing, blended family of 4 daughters. The kids keep them pretty busy, but their favorite times are spent on warm sunny beaches.   Jonathan Abelson, MD, MS Arlington, MADr. Abelson was born and raised in Scarsdale, New York in the suburbs of New York City.  He has 2 older brothers and both of his parents are dentists.  Dr. Abelson went to college at University Pennsylvania, took 2 years off between college and medical school to work in healthcare consulting.  He then went to medical school at University of Virginia, returned to New York for general surgery residency at Weill Cornell on the upper east side of Manhattan.  Dr. Abelson then did colorectal fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis and am now at Lahey clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts for my first job after training.  He is 2 years into practice and has a wife and two sons. His wife works in wellness consulting and they have a dog named Foster who we adopted in St. Louis.   Sam Eisenstein, MD La Jolla, CA   Sam Eisenstein is an Assistant Professor of Colon and rectal surgery and director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease surgery at UC San Diego Health.  He has worked there for the past 8 years after graduating both residency and fellowship at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.  Sam is best known as the founder and organizer of the IBD-NSQIP collaborative, a large multi institutional data collaborative examining outcomes after IBD surgery, but he also is involved in several clinical trials for perianal Crohn's and has extensive experience with stem cell injections for anal fistulae. He is also on the scientific advisory board for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation for his work on the next big IBD data collaborative, IBD-SIRQC (Surgical Innovation, Research and Quality Collaborative).  Sam has a Wife and 3 kids (6,8, and 3) and spends most of his free time running around after them these days, but also enjoys traveling and getting out into nature with his family.