A Message from the 49th President of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons
Dear SGS Friends:
Happy New Year from my home to yours! The 49th Annual Scientific Meeting is just around the corner, and I am so EXCITED! Attending SGS on March 19-22 at the beautiful JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in sunny Tucson will be educational and hopefully inspirational and rejuvenating! I can’t wait to see everyone who registers in person (register here), but for those who cannot get away or must cover their gynecologic practice, I hope to engage ONLINE through our virtual attendance option. The theme of this year’s meeting is Impact Factor, and you can be certain that our program chairs, Drs. Amy Park and Sawsan As-Sanie, have put together a program chock-full of cutting-edge abstract and video presentations, as well as lectures and panels on contemporary and controversial issues impacting today’s gynecologic surgeons.
On Sunday, March 19, there are four postgraduate courses from which to choose: Innovations in Training Gynecologic Surgeons with Drs. Cecile A. Ferrando, Cara Robinson King, Vicki Reed, and George Wendel; Urologic Surgery For the Gynecologic Surgeon: GU Injury, Ureteral Stents, Complex Fistula and More with Drs. Brian J. Linder and John B. Gebhart; The Sim Factor: Making an Impact in Surgical Education with Drs. Veronica Lerner, Mireille Truong, Grace Chen, Christine Vaccaro, Christine Helou, Payton Schmidt, and Whitney Horner; and Advanced Endometriosis Surgery and Pelvic Pain- Patient Centered Approach with Drs. Ted Lee, Shannon Cohn, Sadikah Behbehani, Linda Yang, Sawsan As-Sanie, Nucelio Lemos and Jon Einarsson. A Social Media Session, #Gynfluencing: Using Social Media to Find Your Digital Voice, chaired by Drs. Jocelyn Fitzgerald and Mireille Truong, will also take place on Sunday. On Sunday evening, the SGS Equity Council lecture, What Your Patients REALLY Want to Know, will be presented by Patty Brisben, philanthropist, CEO, and founder of Pure Romance.
Three provocative TED Med Talks by Jason D. Wright, MD; Ebony B. Carter, MD; and Kelly Wright, MD, will tackle gynecologic surgical volume; racism and bias in peer review; and sustainability in the operating room respectively. Don’t miss them! Two mornings of excellent Academic Roundtables will take place on Monday and Tuesday on a wide variety of topics. A panel on the ergonomics of gynecologic surgery, moderated by Drs. Amanda Fader and Kimberly Kho, will take place on Tuesday and many of you will relate to the information presented.
Our two named lectures are highlights of the meeting and include the Mark D. Walters lecture which will be delivered by Dr. Beri Ridgeway entitled Surgeon in the C-Suite and the TeLinde Lecture delivered by Dr. Pam Moalli on the latest basic science research on stem cells and regenerative medicine pertinent to gynecologic surgeons.
Networking and social events include the President’s Reception on Monday night from 7:15 – 8:30 pm, immediately following the Annual Awards Ceremony. Tuesday afternoon leisure activities will feature the SGS Annual Golf Tournament, a hiking excursion, and biking tour, but a pool & spa day on Tuesday afternoon could be just right for some surgeons!
Residents and fellows-in-training and other attending surgeons can partake in special sessions designed for them, and we will all surely be impressed by the impactful work of three research engines at SGS: the Fellows Pelvic Research Network (FPRN)®, the Systematic Review Group (SRG), and the Collaborative Research in Pelvic Surgery Consortium (CoRPS).
And what would SGS be without a fun night dancing and reveling under the Arizona skies?! Join me for the Taste and Toast of SGS at the Tuesday night FUNraiser organized by Dr. Lauren Siff and the Social Media Committee. This is a not-to-be-missed event!
I’m so grateful to all the corporate sponsors, the Scientific Program Committee and all the dozens of volunteers who serve on committees and share their time and talents with SGS. I am especially grateful to all my colleagues on the SGS Executive Board, Tessa Benitez, Vivian Gies, Missy Render, and Alyssa Miller of Status Plus. I look forward to providing updates on all that has been accomplished this year in the Presidential Address.
Cheers to all of you! Wishing you peace, prosperity, and the opportunity to make a positive impact for those with whom you work, care for, and love in 2023 and beyond!
Truly yours,
SGS President
Cheryl B. Iglesia MD FACOG
Professor, ObGyn and Urology
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Director, FPMRS, MedStar Health
Washington, DC
SGS Statement on Roe v Wade ruling
The SCOTUS ruling on June 24, 2022, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, now ends the nearly 50-year-old constitutional protection for abortion, returning the rights to state legislatures and severely restricting access to reproductive health care for millions of US women. As members of the executive board of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, we continue to support full access to essential women’s reproductive health care and the preservation of the patient-physician relationship.
Pregnancy termination, regardless of indication and including elective, is proven scientifically to be a safe and effective procedure when performed medically or surgically by a trained provider. Training in pregnancy termination is essential for healthcare providers in women’s surgery. Denial of access to pregnancy termination by trained providers not only harms women seeking pregnancy management due to limited access to safe medical care but will deny access for appropriate training of present and future gynecologic surgeons, further restricting access to safe gynecologic procedures for pregnancy.
We firmly support the necessary training and availability of comprehensive health care for women and stand with ACOG reiterating the message that abortion is essential health care: https://www.acog.org/advocacy/abortion-is-essential
SGS Board Supports ACOG Efforts to Protect a Woman's Right to Healthcare and Preservation of the Physician-Patient Relationship
We on the SGS Board of Directors support ACOG and its efforts to protect a woman's right to healthcare and preservation of the physician-patient relationship. For more information regarding advocacy efforts at ACOG please see: https://www.acog.org/news/news-articles/2022/05/a-message-to-the-acog-community-regarding-the-future-of-abortion-care-and-acogs-role
SGS Releases SGS Tradition of Mentoring Vol 2 at SGS 2022
Joint Statement on Re-introduction of Hospital and Office-based Procedures in the COVID-19 Climate for the Practicing Gynecologist
View the new joint statement HERE
A guide for urogynecologic patient care utilizing telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: review of existing evidence
Thanks to the hard work from the SGS' Systematic Review Group (SRG) and the Collaborative Research in Pelvic Surgery Consortium (CoRPS) the above titled manuscript is now published in the International Urogynecology Journal. Click HERE to read the manuscript.
