Dr. John H.T. Waldhausen elected APSA president-elect

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) officially announced last month the transition of Joseph P. Vacanti, MD, from President-Elect to President. Dr. Vacanti succeeds President Ronald B. Hirschl, MD, who is now Immediate Past President. The handover took place during the 2019 APSA Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, where the organization celebrated its 50th anniversary with more than 1,000 attendees.

In addition to Dr. Vacanti, incoming APSA board members include President-Elect John H.T. Waldhausen, MD, Chief of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery and Director of the Pediatric Fellowship Surgery Training Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Waldhausen comments, “Being elected the President of the American Pediatric Surgical Association is the pinnacle of a pediatric surgeon’s career and to follow in the footsteps of so many who have influenced and led our profession is a great honor. One of the major issues confronting our specialty is how we train surgeons of the future and maintenance of competence. Much of my career has been devoted to surgical education and my plan as president will be to work with the American Board of Surgery and the RC-Surgery to solve some of these significant educational issues that confront us.”