Monday, March 20. Day 2 of SGS.
Day 2 of the SGS meeting started off with a gentle sunrise over the cacti-covered hills surrounding the JW Marriot Starr Pass Hotel, the venue for the 49th SGS annual scientific meeting. The first official event of the day after some engaging academic round tables was the recognition of the new SGS members. Much celebration was had over the 18 gynecologic surgeons who were inducted.
The second day included the first 3 scientific sessions of the conference. Some highlights include the work of Dr. Shawn Menefee on a randomized trial of sacral colpopexy, transvaginal mesh, and native tissue apical repair for posthysterectomy vault prolapse; a video by Dr. Matthew Fallon on a robotic-assisted laparoscopic approach to repairing a chronic uterine inversion; and the impact of age on regret following hysterectomy by Dr. Nathan King. Dr. Candace Parker-Autry also presented her work on the impact of perineorrhaphy on both female and male sexual function, and Dr. Cassie (Clarissa) Niino spoke elegantly on the “red bag problem” that exists in all of our operating rooms, which increases pollution and cost unnecessarily.
There were also several excellent talks given. Dr. Jason Wright spoke about the importance of surgical volume on gynecologic surgery. In particular, he noted that surgical volume needs to be considered not only at the surgeon level but also at the hospital level. Higher-volume hospitals will provide better care, in the same way that general, high-volume surgeons have less complications and better long-term outcomes. Of note, volume is not the whole picture. We need to also consider measurements of surgery and hospital quality and surgeon skill in addition to volume, as Dr. Shawn Menefee insightfully commented.
Dr. Beri Ridgeway gave the Mark D. Walters Lecture about surgeons in the c-suite and the importance of having a seat at the leadership table as surgeons and medical providers. In her words: “If we aren’t at the table, then we are on the menu.” Overworked and underpaid, burned out doctors feel powerless because they are managed by leaders with a business and not a medical background, and we need to have physicians in leadership who understand how medicine is practiced and to ensure equitable care
Dr. Kelly Wright gave a talk on the environmental impact of gynecologic care—from OR to clinic. She gave examples of how metal, reusable speculums become more cost-effective and produce less waste after only 2-3 uses and how there is no evidence that bouffants reduce surgical site infections (and a reusable scrub cap could work just as well without creating waste). Finally, Dr. Ebony Carter gave an impassioned talk on the need for equity in publication and grant funding in our field. She shared about her initiative through the Green Journal (Obstetrics and Gynecology) to create an issue focused on furthering equity and dispelling racism in medical research.
Later in the afternoon, I attended the Fellows’ Pelvic Research Network (FPRN) meeting, which includes AUGS-SGS (urogynecology fellows) and FMIGS-SGS (fellows of all other gynecologic subspecialities, including minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, family planning, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, and pediatric and adolescent gynecology). Dr. John Gebhart gave an excellent lecture with some impressive photos and videos on how to manage mesh exposure and erosion.
Afterwards, updates were given on the current FPRN projects, and 4 new projects were proposed and underwent audience feedback for improvement. It was exciting to see the multicenter collaborations fostered through the FPRN, and I look forward to seeing which projects will get funded for this upcoming year!
The evening ended with the President's Award Ceremony led by Dr. Cheryl Iglesia, the 49th SGS President, as well as the President's Reception. I also wantd to highlight the winner of the Distinguished Surgeon Award: Dr. Dee Fenner. The remaining awardees are listed on the SGS website (https://sgsonline.org).