Dr. Ben Anderson (pictured right) will receive the National Consortium of Breast Centers' Inspiration Award during the 2013 National Interdisciplinary Breast Conference.

Doug Wood, MD, Division Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery and newly elected Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) President and participant in “Choosing Wisely” comments on the recommendations of this campaign.

“Comparable effectiveness can be achieved using IV contrast alone in CT scans for suspected appendicitis,” said lead author Frederick Thurston Drake, MD, (pictured right) a surgery resident and fellow at the Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE), University of Washington, Seattle. He presented the findings at the 2012 American College of Surgeons’ Annual Clinical Congress.

For decades, mice have been the species of choice in the study of human diseases. But now, researchers report evidence that the mouse model has been totally misleading for at least three major killers — sepsis, burns and trauma. As a result, years and billions of dollars have been wasted following false leads, they say.

Richard Bach, the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and now a Friday Harbor resident, was recently in a severe plane crash. Ron Maier, MD, (pictured left), Professor and Jane and Donald D. Trunkey Chair in Trauma Surgery at Harborview Medical Center comments on how Airlift Northwest and Harborview Medical Center assisted in saving his life.

The Patient Safety Innovations Program (PSIP) is a pioneering small grant initiative supported by the UW Office of Risk Management and UW Medicine. The goals of this grant initiative are to improve patient safety and the quality of healthcare. Additionally, the work sponsored by PSIP supports advancement of UW Medicine’s mission of improving the health of the public by integrating the core activities of providing outstanding patient care, training the next generation of healthcare professionals, and researching the best ways to improve patient care. The Department of Surgery had three awardees: Sara Kim, PhD, Erik Van Eaton, MD; Thomas Varghese, MD.

The Department of Surgery wishes to congratulate Drs. Nicole S. Gibran and Sara Kim for being named recipients of two endowments.

Douglas E. Wood, MD was elected by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' (STS) membership to serve as the Society's 2013–2014 President.