Performa

Society of Asian Academic Surgeons

SAAS Foundation

President

Herb Chen, MD

President Susan Tsai, MD, MHS

President-Elect

Eugene Kim, MD

Treasurer Tejal Brahmbhatt, MD

Secretary

Daniel Chu, MD, MSPH

Address

ATTN: Herb Chen

Boshell Diabetes Building (BDB) 505 1720 2nd Avenue South Birmingham, AL 35294-0012

The Society is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all donations are taxdeductible, to the extent allowed by the law.

The founding of SAAS can be traced to the Presidential Session on Unconscious Bias in Academic Surgery that took place during the 6th Annual Academic Surgical Congress (ASC), directed by then-Society of University Surgeons (SUS) President Dr Dai Chung. Dr. Don Nakayama presented an eye-opening talk on the lack of Asians American Pacific Islander (AAPI) in the leadership of American academic surgery and would later publish that data in the Annals of Surgery. As it turned out, Dr. Chung was the first AAPI to ever be elected to the SUS presidency. That October, during the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress in Washington, DC, a group of nine AAPI academic surgeons gathered to talk about the implications of that talk This group of nine would become the founding members of SAAS. During that meeting, they agreed to pay the initial dues that would provide the seed money to create a new society. Initially the organization served to facilitate members of the AAPI community to meet and network, but quickly evolved to focus on personal and professional development of AAPI academic surgeons with the belief that the best way to increase AAPI

representation in the leadership of academic surgery was to prepare future generations to succeed. From the beginning, our society has been fully inclusive We defined “Asian” in the broadest sense to include those from East, Southeast, and Pacific Islanders, but also Persians, Arabs, Turks and any other nationality from the Asian continent. SAAS Membership is open to anyone of any ethnicity who has an interest in promoting underrepresented populations in any area of academic surgery. Our membership quickly grew by word of mouth, and we hosted get-togethers at the ACS Clinical Congress and at the ASC. Our inaugural Annual Meeting was held in 2016 and hosted by Dr Mary Hawn and the Stanford Department of Surgery The society has continued to grow and now has over 1000 members and interest has never been stronger.

Founding Members

Herb Chen, MD

Dai Chung, MD

Dev Desai, MD

Lillian Kao, MD

Tien Ko, MD

Paul Kuo, MD

Nipun Merchant, MD

Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH

George Yang, MD

Reference: Nakayama, DK Asian Americans in leadership positions in academic surgery Ann Surg 255(3):583-8 2012

Bamboo Ceiling

Process and barriers that serve to exclude AAPI from leadership positions based on subjective factors such as “lack of leadership potential” Stereotypes of AAPI qualities (passive, not gogetters, or risk-takers)

Model Minority Myth

Characterizes AAPI as quiet, industrious workers who avoid conflict

Places AAPI in a subservient role and pits APPI against other minority groups

Female faculty who identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander account for less than 1% of full-time faculty, full professors, and department chairs. Male faculty who identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander account for less than 1% of full-time faculty, full professors, and department chairs. Not underrepresented in medicine includes faculty who identify as White, multiple race and ethnicity, non-Hispanic, or other or whose race and ethnicity is unknown.

Reference: Choi AMK, Rustgi AK. Diversity in Leadership at Academic Medical Centers: Addressing Underrepresentation Among Asian American Faculty. JAMA. 2021;326(7):605–606.

The concept of AAPI as the “model minority” emerged from the success of East Asian Americans following systematic discrimination and racism during World War II and during the period of racial conflict of the Civil Rights Movement. The success of the minority was attributed to filial piety and respect for other authority. The characteristics of AAPI being quiet, polite, was used to contrast AAPI against other minority groups. And ultimately, the overrepresentation of AAPI in the professional workforce in some ways was used to invalidate past discrimination As a result, despite a long history of discrimination, AAPI are a forgotten minority in the discussions on diversity, and are often excluded from initiatives dedicated to these topics. Furthermore, the perpetuation of the “model minority” only serves to distance AAPI from other underrepresented minorities and further isolate/diminish the AAPI experience.

BAMBOO CEILING

Despite strong AAPI representation in professional workforces, AAPI are the least likely of all racial groups to be promoted to management and leadership roles across multiple fields, including medicine, business, technology, and law This barrier has been coined the “bamboo ceiling” and relegates AAPI to being forever "worker bees" Currently, there are no AAPI on the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons, American Board of Medical Specialties surgical boards and councils.

East Asian Americans

Chinese, Hong Kong, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Ryukyuan, Taiwanese, Tibetan, and Vietnamese Americans

South Asian Americans

Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian (including Indo-Caribbean Americans and Indo-Fijian Americans), Maldivian, Nepalese, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan Americans

Southeast Asian Americans

Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, and Thai Americans.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Americans

Chamorro, Fijian, French Polynesian, Marshallese, Micronesian, Polynesians with New Zealand citizenship (Maori, Tokelauans, Niueans, Cook Islanders), Native Hawaiians, Palauan, Polynesian, Samoan, Tongan Americans

Western/Southwestern Asian Americans

Armenian, Azerbaijani/Azeri, Bahraini, Cypriot, Emirati, Georgian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Omani, Qatari, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Turkish, Yemeni/Yemenite

A N N U A L M E E T I N G

ABOUT MEETINGS

The SAAS Annual Meeting brings together scientists, clinicians, and many other health care workers to participate in a program that focuses on the advancement of Asians in academic surgery. The meeting is focused on professional development, establishing strong networking relationships, and opportunities for personal growth. Each meeting focuses on the following goals:

Create programs to improve the professional development of Asians in academic surgery.

Promote advancement of underrepresented minorities to leadership positions within academic surgery.

Advance initiatives to promote the health and welfare of Asian populations.

Encourage and assist the study of diseases of importance to the Asian community.

FUTURE MEETINGS

20 23 20 24

September 14-15, 2023 The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Baltimore, MD

Host: Andrew Cameron, MD, PhD, Surgeon-In-Chief, Department of Surgery Local Arrangements Chairs: Gina Adrales, MD and Jinny Ha, MD

September 5-6, 2024 Tulane University

Department of Surgery New Orleans, LA Local Host: Mary Killackey, MD, Chair, Department of Surgery Local Arrangements Chairs: Jessica Zagory, MD and David Yu, MD

SAAS PROGRAMS

The fundamental mission of SAAS is to support the personal and professional growth of its members. The society's initiatives focus on opportunities for mentorship, sponsorship, and professional development SAAS seeks to be an open, accepting organization where AAPI experience can be shared and needs and challenges can be identified and addressed.

MENTORSHIP

Mentorship Sponsorship Development

SAASSips STARS Program

A casual happy hour setting for members to connect with leaders in academic surgery to to create opportunities for younger members to develop personal connections and receive career advice.

SPONSORSHIP

Opportunity for associate mentors to engage in peer mentoring Open to medical students, residents, and fellows SAAS STARS provides associate members an avenue to discuss challenges and successes in their training and career planning.

SAAS Liaisons

SAAS members serve as liaisons to other surgical organizations such as Association of Academic Surgeons and Association of Women Surgeons

With these connections, SAAS creates opportunities to strengthen relationships with ally organizations and ultimately support the advancement of AAPI surgeons in academic medicine.

S C H O L A R S H I P S A N D A W A R D S

ANNUAL AWARDS

Esther Tsai Sugg Research Award

The Esther Tsai Sugg Research Award is granted to the highest scoring abstract submitted by a SAAS member as either first or senior author to the annual Academic Surgical Congress

Early Career Development/Junior Faculty Award

The SAAS Junior Faculty Award/Early Career Development Award is a travel grant supporting the attendance of a faculty member within 5 years of their first appointment at the Surgical Investigators’ Course at the Academic Surgical Congress. The recipient of this award serves a two-year committee on the Scholarships Committee.

Mid-Career Award

The SAAS Mid-Career Award is a grant supporting the attendance of a faculty member to the Society of University Surgeons’ (SUS) Mid-Career Academic Surgery Professional Development Course This grant was made possible by a generous contribution from Past President Tracy Wang.

SAAS Annual Meeting Travel Award

The SAAS Annual Meeting Travel Award is a travel grant, awarded to the first author of the highest scoring abstract submitted by a SAAS member to the annual meeting.

SAAS-SUS Leadership Agility Program Award

Sponsored by SAAS in partnership with the Society of University Surgeons, this award funds the tuition to the annual Society of University Surgeons (SUS) Leadership Agility Program. The Tseng Family Award, endowed by Dr. Jennifer Tseng, provides the annual SAAS contribution for this award.

SAAS Trailblazer Award

The SAAS Trailblazer Award is presented in recognition of contributions to surgical science and for paving the way for the next generation of surgeons.

Annual Scholarships

Resident/Fellow Development Scholarship

The SAAS Resident/Fellow Development Scholarship is a travel grant supporting attendance of a surgical trainee at the Association for Academic Surgery’s Fall Courses, held each year just prior to the American College of Surgeons’ Clinical Congress The recipient of this award serves a two-year term as a Resident member of the Scholarships Committee.

S A A S V I S I T I N G P R O F E S S O R S H I P S

VISITING PROFESSORSHIP

The Society of Asian Academic Surgeons Foundation Visiting Professorships were developed to encourage the national visibility of active SAAS members who are early to mid-career (Assistant or Associate Professor level) and are within the first 10 years of their faculty appointment. The visiting professorship supports travel to host institutions within the United States to give grand rounds and will promote the exchange of ideas with rising stars in academic surgery

Many of the SAAS Visiting Professorships have been endowed by SAAS members who have given at the Lotus level to the SAAS Foundation.

RECENT SAAS VISITING PROFESSORSHIPS

TaniaArora(MedicalCollegeof Georgia)|MasamiandKanemi Mizuno-SAASLectureship@Loyola University(Host:VivianGahtan,MD)

MonicaDua,MD(Stanford University)|GeorgePYang–SAAS Lectureship@UT-Southwestern (Host: HerbertZeh,MD)

EmilyKeung,MD(MDAnderson)| AssociationofWomenSurgeonsHongMoandHsiMeiChen Lectureship@DartmouthUniversity (Host: SandraWong,MD)

AnaiKothari,MD(MedicalCollegeof Wisconsin)|TehLingandYuChen Ko–SAASLectureship@Boston University(Host: JenniferTseng,MD)

AartiMathur,MD(JohnsHopkins)| AlamFamily-SAASLectureship@ NorthwesternUniversity(Host: HasanAlam,MD)

JeffVelotta,MD(Kaiser/University ofCaliforniaSanFrancisco)@Cityof Hope(Host: YumanFong,MD)

ShaileshAgarwal,MD(Brighamand Womens)|AshvinShah–SAAS Lectureship@UniversityofSouth Florida(Host:PaulKuo,MD)

ShipraArya,MD(Stanford University)|AssociationofWomen SurgeonsJNSAhujaLectureship@ YaleUniversity(Host: NitaAhuja,MD)

CarlosChan,MD(UniversityofIowa) |RaymondandRoseTseng–SAAS Lectureship@MayoClinic Jacksonville(Host: MikeEdwards, MD)

PriyaDedhia,MD(OhioState University)@CityofHope(Host: YumanFong,MD)

ErikaRangel,MD(Brighamand Womens)|MikeandFayeYang–SAASLectureship@Tulane University(Host: MaryKillackey,MD)

HeatherWachtel,MD(Universityof Pennsylvania)|Wen-HainWang–SAASLectureship@Universityof Michigan(Host: JustinDimick,MD)

2023 - 2024

2022 - 2023

EDITORIAL BOARD-JOURNAL OF SURGICAL RESEARCH

The Journal of Surgical Research (JSR) supports SAAS by highlighting academic work from the annual meeting in a dedicated issue each year. In addition, two SAAS council members are on the editorial board at JSR

ASA-SAAS SURGICAL LEADERS FELLOWSHIP GRANT

This award is sponsored by the American Surgical Association (ASC) and SAAS to provide funds to travel to an ASA member’s home institution for a shadowing experience of being a surgical leader in academic surgery. A SAAS member will be selected every other year, on even years

SAAS-Executive Leadership Course

The Surgical Leadership Boot Camp, designed in collaboration with the SAAS and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, challenges surgeons to reflect on their leadership goals and prepare for the future.

With interactive sessions and featured speakers from the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons, the UAB School of Health Professions and the UAB Department of Surgery, the course will provide tangible strategies to strengthen leadership skills

Job Board

Check out the job board for career opportunities!

SAAS provides a Job Board for institutions to advertise for open positions in academic surgery. This service connects members with career opportunities and allow institutions to diversify their workforce.

S A A S F O U N D A T I O N

Since its inception, the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons has been committed to the personal and career development of Asian academic surgeons. In keeping with this mission, the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS) Foundation supports the SAAS Visiting Professor Program, the SAAS-Society of University Surgeons Promising Leaders Program, SAAS Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, and annual SAAS awards.

Donations can be made by individuals, industry, and/or departments. If you are interested in pledging to the Foundation, please contact Herb Chen, SAAS Foundation President at herbchen@uab.edu. For more information about donating, visit our website at www.asiansurgeon.org/saas-foundation/donate-to-saas/.

DONATION LEVELS

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The Society is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all donations are tax-deductible, to the extent allowed by the law

There has been a long tradition of educ young surgeons through international traveling fellowship. Perhaps most com the 19th and early 20th centuries, man American surgeons would have extend observerships to learn from continenta masters. Indeed, many of the founding fathers of American academic surgery as William Stewart Halsted, were traine this fashion In modern times, a select traveling fellowships exist, most notabl American College of Surgeons Internat Guest Scholarship Program and the Ja traveling fellowship. Participants in trav

fellowship benefited professionally from their experiences with a significant proportionofawardeesgoingontoholdleadershiproles(Divisionhead,department chairs) and have had increased academic productivity with national and internationalpublications. Insomecases,exchangeprogramswerecreatedasa resultofthevisitandperpetuatedopportunitiesforacademicexchangeforthenext generationofsurgeons.

SAASseekstoestablishanannualinternationaltravelingfellowshipbuildingupon our existing national visiting professorship program. The goal of international expansionistoprovideSAASmemberswiththeopportunitytovisitclinical, teaching,andresearchcentersabroadandtostrengthenourengagementwith AsiansurgeonsoutsideoftheUnitedStates.Theprogramwouldprovideastipend tosupporttwoweeksoftraveltoahostcountry/institution.

Reference: Fong et al JACS 2010

I N T E R N A T I O N A L T R A V E L I N G

A

Promote the exchange of surgical knowledge and the highest standard of clinical care.

Strengthen international engagement and collaboration among AAPI surgeons to support training and mentorship

(Future) reciprocal international traveling fellowship

Active SAAS member who participates in annual meetings or other SAAS functions.

Applicants must have been in surgical practice for a minimum of 5 years after completing all formal training

Applicants are expected to attend the annual SAAS meeting and provide a full written report of their experiences upon completion of the program to the membership.

Confirmation from the awardees institution for the ability to travel an additional financial support