Department of Surgery research resident Meixi Ma M.D., M.S., is an American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Scholar-in-Residence and member of the ACS Board of Regents Anti-Racism Task Force. She will be reporting on the group’s discussions and progress as a panelist at the 2020 ACS Clinical Congress Conference.
Following the killing of George Floyd, the ACS Board of Regents assembled an Anti-Racism Task Force to investigate elements of systemic racism in the ACS and make recommendations to counteract racism in the ACS and profession of surgery. The group’s initiatives are characterized by four pillars, which encompass a proposed roadmap of anti-racism goals and objectives.
Ma will present on pillar two, which encompasses the task force’s efforts to achieve a culturally competent and diverse surgical workforce. Ma will first provide context on the spirit of the discussions underpinning the task force’s initiatives before exploring the more granular ways in which the task force hopes to enact these changes within the ACS as an institution and outward within the profession of surgery as a whole.
UAB School of Medicine Dean, Selwyn M. Vickers MD FACS, also sits on this Task Force. Attendees can expect to walk away from the session knowing more about the ACS’s intentions to:
- Create a just and inclusive environment
- Promote a culturally competent and diverse surgical workforce
- Pursue research and public health initiatives to combat racism in medicine and health care discrepancies
- Participate in advocacy efforts to drive legislative reform
As the singular resident member of the Task Force, Ma is delighted to join the impressive array of surgical leaders on this panel presentation which include: Chair of Surgery at Wake Forest and President-Elect of the ACS J. Wayne Meredith, M.D., FACS, MCCM; Founder of “Stop the Bleed” and ACS Regent Lenworth Jacobs M.D., MPH, FACS; Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery at UNC Chapel Hill and President of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons Andrea Hayes-Jordan M.D., FACS, FAAP; and Kessler Director for the Center for Surgery and Public Health and Trauma Surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Zara Cooper M.D., MSc, FACS.
“I’m deeply humbled and honored to be part of this group,” said Ma. “I think my place on the committee speaks to the sincerity and thoughtfulness– to truly be inclusive of all perspectives and experiences in the name of creating a better future for us all– that is embodied within this tremendous cadre of surgical leaders and thinkers.”
The hour-long session, “Report of Regents Task Force on Racism,” will take place on Oct. 6 at noon. Register for the 2020 ACS Clinical Congress Conference at no cost to join this session and gain access to thousands of other talks and free CME opportunities.