Dear SAGES Education and Research Foundation supporters,
By now SAGES members who follow the foundation’s progress and who take the time to read these comments know who I am, but as I complete my third and final year as President, I thought a Pep Talk and vision statement were appropriate. It would not be complete without an appeal for continued or new philanthropic support.
I have been a SAGES member since the late 1970’s when I was a mid-level resident. I am a former Chair of Surgery and am still an attending with a busy practice at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida. Early on in my 42 year career I focused first on flexible endoscopy and then innovated as an early adopter of laparoscopic surgery. I was very active in teaching both nationally and internationally and served in SAGES leadership at the beginning of the Laparoscopic era. In the early 2000’s I focused on the philanthropic side, working with the cadre of leadership who understood the need to ensure the future of our organization.
At SAGES 2023 spring meeting, I received the Distinguished Service award and was incredibly touched to be recognized for my longstanding support of the society, and I am personally humbled because I am now included amongst the ranks of heroes and mentors who inspired me on my journey as a SAGES member.
I had a vision in taking the role of President to use my three year term to revitalize the board, stimulate more donations, and mold the board to better reflect the youth, vitality, and diversity of our membership. I am planning to retire from active clinical practice at the end of May 2025, so I thought it was appropriate to step down at the end of my term and pass leadership to my trusted colleagues.
About the Foundation –
SAGES Foundation came to fruition at a time when corporate sponsors had greater leeway to invest in the advancement of surgical training and education through foundations such SERF. The Foundation was fortunate to capitalize on that timing. We have invested the endowment carefully and rely on member donors to increase our corpus. We spin off 5% of our three-year average net worth to fund grants that affect research, guidelines, leadership development, and resident and continuing education of our membership.
What We Do –
The list of projects funded by SERF is remarkable. FLS, FES, FUSE, Career Development Awards, and annually awarded research grants help fulfill SAGES mission to train and educate surgeons. Donor specified funding has allowed the Foundation to support SAGES Go Global initiative as a major priority. SERF Funding is a huge part of the development of the OWLS platform which will allow better use of SAGES online educational resources. Patient safety remains a prime focus with extensive funding of the safe laparoscopic cholecystectomy project as well as multiple safety initiatives in other applications of laparoscopic surgery as well as funding of guideline development initiatives. We have instituted a new Giving Plus initiative which allows members to specifically donate to areas that match their interests or that they wish to especially support.
SERF has also served as a catalyst for honoring and memorializing important leaders who have had an impact on our specialty and our organization.
The Board’s Role –
First and foremost, we are committed to personal, annual philanthropic support of SERF. Through our mindful stewardship of the corpus, the Foundation also safeguards the funds which allow support of critical SAGES initiatives. We have worked hard to make the board reflect our youthful, energetic, diverse society. We are trying to capture the wisdom, influence, and ideas of truly active SAGES members so that we can make the society, as a whole, understand and contribute to our mission.
Your Role –
This is the most important point of this message, and I cannot emphasize it enough.
As a member of SAGES, you have already made a commitment to advancing your own surgical education and training. It is only logical that you expand that commitment to include a pledge to the Foundation, as this is the way to ensure excellence and continuity for the next generation of general surgeons and support our efforts to enhance patient safety.
We will continue to reach out to you to solidify that pledge.
At the beginning of the New Year there will be some changes to the make-up of the Board. Firstly, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the following SERF Board members who are rotating off the Board after years of dedicated service – Drs. Michele Gagner, Edward Phillips, Gary Vitale, Sherry Wren, and Manabu Yamamoto. Secondly, I am excited to welcome several new members to the Foundation Board who I’m sure will bring new energy and ideas to the table, they are: Drs. Adnan Alseidi, Horacio Asbun, Jake Greenberg, Caitlin Halbert, Anne Lidor, Eirc Pauli, Adrian Park, John Romanelli, Don Selzer and Pat Sylla. Lastly, Dr. Michael Brunt, currently serving as Vice-president will assume the role of President, Dr. Danny Scott will become the new Vice-President and my status will change to emeritus.
Finally, I would like to thank our executive director, Colleen Elkins, for her enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and persistent support. It has been an honor to serve as the Foundation President and to work with so many people committed to our mission.
Sincerely,
Stephen Wise Unger
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