History of ARAS | 1987 - 2000
2001
Nashville, Tennessee
The breath taking Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee was the site for the 2001 annual meeting. This was the first year the APDS/ARCS joined with the Association for Surgical Education and formed the "Surgical Week". ARCS was pleased to have Dr. David Leach, Executive Director from ACGME, as the Keynote Speaker.
2002
Baltimore, Maryland
Brought us back to the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland for our annual meeting. The sessions focused on the ACGME Outcomes Project and legal issues confronting the management of residency programs. Breakout sessions were utilized for small group discussion. The growth of the organization was evident in the topics brought up in the Open Forum: coordinator credentialing and internet-based residency management software programs.
2003
Vancouver, Canada
The ASE/APDS/ARCS meeting for 2003 was held in Vancouver, Canada. Despite a war in Iraq and the threat of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in Canada, 130 surgery residency coordinators gathered in this awe-inspiring city. Numerous topics were covered with the 80-hour week for the residents being a central focus. Doris Stoll gave an in depth presentation on the implementation and continuing expansion of the competencies. The most recent revisions to the Common Program Requirements were also presented. Included in the broad range of topics presented were updates on the Family Medical Leave Act, Visas, changes in the Board application process for the American Board of Surgery, the new PIF and the required competency addendum, a salary survey of coordinators, and portfolios for the residents. A very hot topic was the credentialing/certification of coordinators. After discussion, a vote was taken and the coordinators unanimously voted to start the process of applying for a credentialing/certification status. Ruth Nawotniak was named chair of the committee to be formed for the implementation of this process. The breakout sessions for Community/Military/University were well attended and will continue to be a part of the program in future years.
2004
Houston, Texas
ARCS, along with the APDS and ASE, met in Houston in 2004 with a record breaking attendance. For the first time since its inception, ARCS invited coordinators from all of the surgical subspecialties to attend the meeting and quite a few did so. This year, the new coordinators’ workshop was presented by a group of former ARCS Presidents, which will now be a tradition each year. This year seemed to encompass quite a few “hot topics”, i.e., the new PIF, the 80-hour work week and its documentation, and residency coordinator credentialing. All of these topics were covered quite thoroughly by presentations from within our own ranks, as well as two Program Directors that joined our panel discussion regarding a RRC site visit. This year, the Presidents of ARCS and APDS jointly endorsed the ARCS Task Force on Certification, and the ARCS Steering Committee will appoint a liaison to serve on this task force. Everyone had a great time in Houston and look forward to next year’s meeting in New York City.
2005
New York, New York
The Surgical Education Week, which includes ASE, APDS, and ARCS was held in New York, NY, with another record-breaking attendance record.
ARCS continues to invite Coordinators of all Surgery subspecialties with great success. Highlights of this meeting included a great presentation by Dr. Doris Stoll (which can be found as a link on our website) which keeps coordinators informed of changes at the ACGME/RRC level. Additionally, for the first time, certification was given to coordinators who were certified by the National Board for Certification Training Administrators in Graduate Medical Education of which our own Ruth Nawotniak, MS is the President. At this meeting, 15 Coordinators were certified by the Board. This was indeed a milestone meeting for Coordinators who will now be recognized at our Annual Meeting to be presented their Certification. Everyone had a great time in NYC. The weather was fantastic for meeting and sightseeing. We look forward to our meeting in Tucson, Arizona in March 2006. The organization continues to grow. ARCS is dedicated to educating our members in both the established and current trends in surgical education. With the support and network ARCS has established, we are able to promote the advancement of the professional stature of coordinators across the country.
2006
Tucson, Arizona
I guess you could say we brought the rain and cold with us to Arizona. It rained for the first time in over 200 days and the temperature was slightly chilly for Arizona during the 2006 APDS/ARCS/ASE held at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona. The White Sox Baseball team left when we arrived and Vice President, Dick Cheney arrived when we left. The meeting opened with the Workshop for New Coordinators in Surgery presented by Sandra Dubard, President along with other past Presidents, Donna Turovac, and Ellie Gray. Little did we know that this would be the last time we all would have the opportunity of enjoying Dr. Doris Stoll's presentation on the ACGME. Her humor, honesty, and commitment to graduate medical education will not be forgotten. Other goodbyes were said to our fellow coordinators, Kathy Garvin, University of Florida Health Science and Heddy Bergstrom, Temple University who both retired to pursue quiet, relaxing days at home (somehow we all doubt that, but it sounds good). Both of these women contributed greatly to our organization. New this year to ARCS was "Coordinator's Jeopardy". Three teams - the East, Central, and West participated and made this session a fun-filled hour of learning that everyone seemed to enjoy. The Central Team are the reigning "Champs". Let see who wins in 2007! Sessions about the ECFMG, Mock Oral Examinations, American Board of Surgery, Conducting your Program's Annual Evaluation, Technology, Coordinator's Stress, and Evidenced Based Practice were presented. A new area that will continue to be developed throughout the upcoming years will focus on the education and promotion of the residency coordinator as a professional. The first in this new series was given by Ruth Nawotniak on the "Attributes of a Professional" which was well received by all.
2007 - 20th Anniversary of ARCS
Washington, DC
Imagine 20 years since the birth of our organization – we certainly have come a long way. From a group of 30 coordinators to over 270 in attendance for the 2007 “ARCS Anniversary” Celebration. What a growth spurt!. What an honor it was to have Paula Ruscio speak to us at the 20th Anniversary Celebration Banquet! What insight she provided to us about the beginning stages of our organization. A slide show of the 20 years was one of the many highlights of the evening. President Ava Fulbright led the Steering Committee during this year to produce an up-to-date version of the “Coordinator’s Handbook”. There were two interactive sessions during this conference: “Coordinator’s Jeopardy” in which three teams of ten coordinators participated and “General Surgery Program Requirement Review” which was interactive session with responders. The New Coordinator’s Workshop was totally revised and all members of the Steering Committee presented various topics to all the new coordinators present. For the first time, many coordinators both new and old joined the Steering Committee for what we called “Dine Out” groups. Approximately 60 coordinators had dinner together and it was an enjoyable evening for all. Absent due to a much deserved retirement was Dr. Doris Stoll, Executive Director-RRC Surgery who kept us all abreast of the new requirements, what to look for in the future, and certainly her famous quote, “What is said in this room, stays in this room” was sorely missed. The 2007 ARCS Conference was filled with many wonderful and educational sessions that included: Dr. Robert Rhodes-ABS, Kerry Richards, Esq., Ellie Fitzpatrick-ECFMG, Barbara Gerkens-ABS, Pamela Rowland, Ph.D.-Maine Medical Center, Tom Richter-ACGME, plus all those members of ARCS who presented some very worthwhile topics to our membership. Well, here is to another 20 years and off to Toronto in 2008 – Don’t forget your passports!
2008
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Anyone not having a passport had to get one for this meeting, the last time we had our meeting in Canada we were allowed to use our birth certificate and drivers license to enter the country. The extra paper work was well worth it as we had a great meeting with very informative and interesting presenters. After the New Coordinators workshop, the dine-out groups organized by Donna Guinto were once again a great success. New as well as seasoned coordinators joined the dine-out group and new and lasting friendships were established. We had excellent guest presenters with topics of interest to all coordinators. Some of those were: Barbara Gerkens, Examination Coordinator with the ABS gave a talk on the Surgery Qualifying Examination Application; Dr. Robert Rhodes gave his last update from the American Board of Surgery; Doris Stoll, PhD, GME Consulting joined us once again in her new position and gave a talk on Graduate Medical Education Compliance for Surgical Residencies; Dr. Richard H. Bell, Jr., Assistant Executive Director, American Board of Surgery and Dr. Heather Yeo, gave a talk on the Prospective Study on Surgical Residency Training and Attrition; Patrice Blair, MPH, Associate Director, Division of Education ACS gave a update on the American College of Surgeons; Margaret Tarpley, MLS, and Dr. John Tarpley gave a talk on Including Cultural Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity in Surgical Curriculum; Peggy Simpson, EdD. Executive Director, RRC for Surgery and Tom Richter, Systems Manager, Department of Operations and Data Analysis, ACGME gave an update on ACGME and Operative Log; plus several other physicians and coordinators gave informative presentations.
The Toronto Coordinator’s Jeopardy session yet again, was such a huge success. Numerous coordinators requested we keep this fun and informative game in the program each year. It is amazing what we learn when someone gives the wrong answer?!
The meeting in Toronto gave us all motivation to return to our jobs refreshed. Somehow sharing ideas, difficulties, and success stories - we all come back invigorated to complete the year and begin a new one.
2009
Salt Lake City, Utah
The snowcapped Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City, Utah welcomed the Association of Residency Coordinators to the 2008-2009 ARCS Conference. We welcomed a record number of new Surgical Residency Coordinators on Wednesday, April 29, 2009 to the New Coordinator’s Workshop. 2008-2009 would mark the beginning of a brand new era for the Association of Residency Coordinator as we went “GREEN” to help the environment.
All those in attendance received a “flash drive” with all the presentations and job descriptions copied to it. This year also marked the introduction of the “Professional Development Curriculum” established by the ARCS Steering Committee. This curriculum was introduced with sessions from Dr. Pamela Rowland – “Designing your Professional Armor”, Ruth Nawotniak, MS, C-TAGME – DeMystifying Goals & Objectives, and Maggie Tarpley, MLS and Dr. John Tarpley – “I Know You Can’t Read this….the Principles of Powerpoint Presentations and Public Speaking”. The Professional Development Committee was developed and implemented in order to facilitate the coordinator’s personal and professional growth in their field. Attendees to any of the Professional Development Session received a “Certificate of Attendance”.
The 2008-2009 conference also marked a first for our counterparts in vascular surgery. We were asked by Dr. George Fuhrman, President of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery to assist our fellow coordinators in vascular surgery. The Vascular Surgery Coordinators wanted to form an association of vascular surgery coordinators which was headed up by Ms. Julie Gulley (former general surgery coordinator). The vascular coordinators would attend sessions at the ARCS conference, but would also have one or two separate sessions which applied to their specialty only.
An interactive workshop session on the “Common and Specialty Program Requirements” was coordinated and presented by Ava Fulbright, Judy Olenwine, and Linda Shaffer. We were fortunate once again to have the American Board of Surgery – Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens as well as Dr. Jo Buyske speak to our group. Dr. Peggy Simpson and Tom Richter from the ACGME gave us an update and answered many questions from those in attendance. We were very honored and excited to have Ms. Laurie Curtin from the National Residency Matching Program give us an overview of the policies, rules, and regulations of this very important aspect of our jobs. Dr. Tom Whalen and Dr. Mark Wallack gave us a report from the RRC in Surgery and Dr. Richard Bell and Melissa Banker educated us on the new SCORE curriculum.
Once again, ARCS was asked by Dr. Ajit Sachdeva to present to surgical students at the American College of Surgeons meeting in October.
Since the inception of the Surgical Residency Coordinator Recognition Award in 2006-2007, the ARCS Steering Committee continues to receive many excellent nominees.
In 2009, we honored two Surgical Residency Coordinators. Ms. Michele Bowman - Washington University – Barnes Jewish Hospital received the Surgical Residency Coordinator Recognition Award and was nominated by her Program Director, Dr. Mary Klingensmith.
When reading through the nominations, the Steering Committee felt that we must recognize Ms. Valerie Goussman from Tulane University for the 1st ARCS Humanitarian Award. Valerie’s program was just about lost to Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Korndorffer, Valerie’s Program Director stated “the oldest residency program in the United States would have ceased to exist had it not been for Valerie.”
Another year gone by with many of our fellow coordinators stepping up to educate us and keep us informed. Buy your cowboy hat and boots because we are off to San Antonio, Texas in April of 2010......YIPPEE KI YAY…
2010
San Antonio, Texas
President, June Cameron - Summary not submitted
2011
Boston, Massachusetts
An unusually high number (44) of coordinator’s registered for the New Coordinator Workshop (NCWS) which was held on Wednesday, March 23, 2011. The Workshop was a huge success and well attended by new and seasoned coordinators alike. With the help of Linda Shaffer, and using audience responders provided by Turning Point, the session was interactive, educational, and fun for all.
The ARCS Welcome Reception was held following the NCWS. The reception was a delight as always followed by Dine Outs / Dine Ins. This year, our traditional Dine Outs became Dine Ins and actually took place inside the hotel at the Side Bar & Grille. A good time was had by all and no one seemed to mind staying in as it was cold, windy, and snow flurrying outside. It was really nice to catch up with old friends and get acquainted with new ones. “Whoa” a few of us even had our picture taken with Fonzie (Henry Winkler for those of you too young to know who Fonzie is) on the elevator – “Aaay”….
Patricia Reilly, Administrative Program Coordinator at the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine, was the recipient of the 2011 Coordinator Award. Pat is a 19 year member of the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery and a past ARCS President (1996). Pat has published in several journals and is actively involved in her local American College of Surgeons Chapter & Surgical Societies. Pat has made substantial contributions to her residency program, and has served both locally and nationally as a mentor to colleagues. Over the years, Pat has always been someone that I have looked up to and who has inspired me, it was my privilege and honor to present her with this prestigious award.
With over 160 coordinators in attendance, our robust 2011 program went off without a hitch with a variety of educational presentations that were of interest to all. James C. Hebert, M.D., Vice-Chair of the RRC, kicked off the formal presentations with our annual RRC Surgery update presentation. His presentation was followed by an update on ACGME and Operative Logs by Peggy Simpson, EdD., Executive Director, RRC for Surgery and Thomas Richter, Systems Manager, Department of Operations and Data Analysis. Additional presentations included, Mary Klingensmith, M.D. with SCORE updates; Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens, ABS updates; Susan C. Haynes, presented On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!, Ava Fulbright and Judith Olenwine, provided a session titled Rx. For Accreditation which was very well attended. Innovative Strategies in Utilizing the Fundamentals of Surgery Curriculum was presented by Kim Echert, Kim Agretto and Gretchen Lynch; Kyla P. Terhune, M.D., Arna Banerjee, Stephanie Rowe and Allison Watts from Vanderbilt University presented a Multidisciplinary Clinical Orientation: Using Simulation to Usher in July 1. Lillian Badurina and Jeannine St. Pierre presented the Universal Job Description and Survey Update.
One of our program highlights was a presentation given by Program Director, Paul J. Schenarts, M.D., East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine. His presentation Caught in the Middle: Generation Y Residents, The Surgical Faculty and the Coordinator was very well received and a real eye-opener. Also making time to present, inform, and educate our organization was Jeff Kirk from New Innovations, Jill Anderson of E*Value, Laurie S. Curtin, PhD from NRMP and Angelique Johnson from ERAS.
Additionally, four Professional Development sessions were held over the course of the conference and included: Turning Your Presentation into a Manuscript, by Ruth Nawotniak, MS, C-TAGME; Professional Etiquette – If Looks Could kill. by Pamela A. Rowland, PhD.; Coming of Age – Taking the Step to Introduce Interactive and Social Media into your Residency Program by Meredith Meier, and The Engaged Coordinator: Activating Your Inner Educator by Carissa O’Neill, BA and Gayla Jewell, PhD.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery Steering Committee members met with Dr. Ajit Sachdeva and were again asked to present to 3rd & 4th year medical students at the American College of Surgeons 97th Annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco, October 2011. The ARCS Steering Committee is honored to be provided this opportunity. Maybe I am bias, but each year our presentation at ACS seems to get bigger and better. In 2010 it was estimated that over 150 medical students attended our presentation in conjunction with ACS.
As the meeting in Boston drew to a close, coordinators, seasoned and new alike, sat in awe trying to absorb required changes, new ideas, updated strategies, and endless possibilities that were presented over the past several days. After the initial shock wore off, all were invigorated and eager to return home and begin incorporating the creative and innovative approaches and tactics into our own training program.
2012 - 25th Anniversary of ARCS
San Diego, California
Beautiful, sunny Southern California was not so sunny when we first arrived for the ARCS 25th anniversary meeting. As usual, we began the meeting with the New Coordinators Workshop on Monday, March 19th. We changed the session around a bit so that we had a morning session (2 ½ hours), Lunch at the Fox Sports Grill followed by the afternoon session (2 ½ hours). In addition, this year we also incorporated a “Networking” open discussion and gave out cheat sheets to the new coordinators. Overall, evaluations were superb for the NCWS. Suggestions for future workshops include the Milestones Project, how to plan an orientation and, as always, actual examples.
This year thanks to Stephanie Rowe, the ARCS welcome reception was held at the Hard Rock Café this year which was sponsored by Surgical Job Search & Hospital Corporation of America. One lucky winner (Chi Quach) walked away with a Kindle Fire.
Ava Fulbright, former Residency Coordinator from Orlando Regional Medical Center, was the recipient of the 2012 ARCS Coordinator Recognition Award. Ava has been a member of ARCS for the past 14 years but has recently taken a job as Director, Graduate Medical Education TriHealth - Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. Ava was President of ARCS in 2006-2007 and was therefore ineligible for this award until this year. Since Dr. Mark Friedell has nominated Ava for the past 3 years, the Executive Committee felt that it was Ava’s time to win this award.
Our program this year included 4 Professional Development sessions: Professional Burnout, Utilizing a Team Approach to Manage Multiple Specialties, The Coordinators as Educators: Breaking the Barriers, and Job or Career. We also had our annual updates on the ACGME from Peggy Simpson, EdD; RRC updates from James Hebert, MD and American Board of Surgery Updates from Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens. Alison (Powers) Casey updated us on the ACS Fundamentals of Surgery and Mary Klingensmith, MD presented again this year giving us updates on the SCORE curriculum. Laurie Curtin gave us a great update from the NRMP. Additionally, Cindy Rudolph presented Which Hat am I Wearing Today which was very helpful and truthful yet done with some humor; Dr. Warren Widmann gave a great talk on How to Improve Your ABSITE Scores which was extremely well received.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery Executive Committee members met with Dr. Ajit Sachdeva and were once again asked to present to medical students at the American College of Surgeons 98th Annual Clinical Congress in Chicago in October, 2012. I think medical students now look forward to this presentation. As Sandy DelCoglin mentioned last year, the audience seems to continuously expand.
As usual, at the conclusion of the meeting, we all were eager to return to our works with some of the new and innovative ideas that we learned at the conference. I think this year’s meeting in San Diego was a great success and I having the best committee members ever was the reason.
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as President of the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery. Being on the committee has truly enhanced my knowledge both professionally and personally. Thank you to the Executive Committee, ARCS members, Dr. Charles Yeo (Chairman at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital) and Dr. Karen Chojnacki, my Program Director at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. I am looking forward to seeing everyone next year in Orlando, Florida!!
Donna Guinto – ARCS President 2012
2013
Orlando, Florida
Finally Sunshine! The 2011 ARCS meeting gave us snow, sleet and hail; the 2012 meeting gave us typhoon weather and temperatures we did not expect. The warmth of sunshine in Orlando, Florida was very welcoming to all of us. There were approximately 210 participants (including the NCWS) registered for the Orlando meeting. Wow! How we have grown over the years. We kicked off with over 60 participants in the ARCS conference with Part 1 of the New Coordinators Workshop on Wednesday morning. A superbly well thought-out lunch at a local restaurant organized by Kim Molteg went smoothly without a flaw. Kudos to Kim; the timely service and organization was appreciated by all. Part 2, the afternoon session concluded with approximately 75 new coordinators registered and attended the workshop. In addition this year we incorporated an “Overall Evaluation” for the NCWS. The evaluations were superb and will give the executive committee guidance and direction of topics to select for the 2014 meeting in Chicago. Suggestions for future NCWS include the Milestones Project, plan and organize an orientation, hands on how to navigate ACGME ADS, cleaning up the office - paper to electronic, and as always, handouts, examples and cheat cheats of how to save time. The evening ended with a wonderful welcome reception at Shrek’s Castle and Princess Fiona was a very gracious host.
Thursday kicked off the ARCS official meeting. Stephanie Rowe Burnham could not be with us in Orlando as she was at home with a beautiful new baby. Congratulations Stephanie! Hundreds of miles away, she still seemed to find time to organize a luncheon on Thursday, sponsored by Brock Allender, Financial Advisor, from Nashville, TN for the ARCS organization. Thanks to Stephanie for her hard work and dedication to ARCS. A lucky ticket was drawn during the luncheon and Laura Warner walked away with an iPad.
The recipient of the 2013 Recognition Award went to a well-deserved recipient, Dr. Juanita Braxton. Juanita has been with the surgery residency program at University of California - Davis, Sacramento, California for 19 years. Juanita was nominated by her Vice Chair of Education, Dr. Joseph Galente, with pride. I enjoyed very much working with Dr. Galente and the staff at UC Davis. Dr. Galente said that keeping the award a secret was very hard, as it is not easy to keep anything from Juanita; she has that motherly instinct and she always seems to be able to read your mind. Congratulations Juanita!
The program included three breakout sessions: E*Value update on the many new features that are available and how these features will assist many of us that use E*Value once the milestones are available. A wonderful session on Pub Med was very well received, as research and scholarly activity are a sought out area of the RRC. An update of the FLS Certification; this was a hot topic as many that attended were not aware that the certification is a requirement. After the session they were very well informed of the mandatory requirement of the residents and the programs, to sit for the American Board of Surgery Qualifying Examination. Four Professional Development lectures were presented: Team Building Strategies and Procedures, everyone enjoyed the hands on game and interaction with each other. Mean Boys, Mean Girls an eye-opening experience that we should be watching for in our own programs. Public Speaking that boosted our self-esteem, took pressure off the shoulders of anyone that is or would like to give a talk in the future. Outside the Job Activities for Self-Improvement, we all were very motivated and eager to share our outside interests and activities. We have already recruited a few members to assist with areas in the ARCS organization. All of the talks were very well presented and gave all of us an inspiring well-being for ourselves and our programs.
The main conference room sure was buzzing of program directors, coordinators, managers and administrators of how, when and what are our programs going to be expected to complete for the transition of NAS (milestones). The talk and panel discussion of updates by Peggy Simpson, EdD; James Hebert, MD; John Potts, MD from the ACGME, RRC and NAS/CLER allowed several questions and comments from the audience. There are still many unknowns but getting the heads up is a start. A well-received Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens gave us all the updates for the American Board of Surgery. Alison Casey, and Patricia Neumann, MD updated us on the ACS Fundamentals of Surgery and Mary Klingensmith, MD presented this year all the new and invigorating updates on the SCORE curriculum. Additionally, Dr. Warren Widmann gave a talk on the Looming Shortage of General Surgeons and Resident Involvement in the Recruitment into General Surgery; A very talked about area this year was supervision and Dr. Cynthia Graves gave an informative talk on Supervision for Visible Results; we were able to get a first-hand summary of The CLER Site visit-One Institution’s Experience from Ms. Ava Fulbright; Dawn Fountain gave a talk on Increasing Faculty Attendance and Resident Participation in Conferences; Dr. Matthew Loos gave his input from the hospital side of Academic and Institutional Integrations: CLER as Mud; Dr. Rick Burkhart gave a talk on Resident Attrition: Identifying those at Risk; Dr. Paul Schenarts gave great insight and tips for the Resident Selection; Dr. Kevin Sexton gave all of us a construction 101 class on how to build a $ 5.00 General Surgery Simulator, loved it, went home and tried a few things out; Jennifer Doty, RN gave the organization a birds-eye view of what the students see prior to interviews and becoming a resi dent on The Student Side of the Match and Dr. Robert Winfield gave a very informative talk on the American College of Surgeons Resident and Associate Society (RAS) on who they are, what they do and how your residents can participate.
For the sixth consecutive year, the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery Executive Committee members, Lillian Figueroa, Mary Burda and I met with Dr. Ajit Sachdeva. We were again asked to participate in the ACS Student Education session for 3rd & 4th year medical students at the American College of Surgeons 99th Annual Clinical Congress in Washington, DC, October 2013. The ARCS Executive Committee is honored to be provided this opportunity. In 2012 an estimated 300 students attended this presentation in conjunction with ACS. The student session has drawn attention by increased numbers each year and continues to be a wealth of information for the students.
I can’t agree more with several of the past presidents that it is an honor and privilege to serve as President of such an esteemed organization, The Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery. We share a common ideal and embrace a common goal. Regardless of our differences, we strive shoulder to shoulder, confident in one another’s faith, trust and commitment. In the end, teamwork can be summed up in five short words...”we believe in each other”. I would like to thank all ARCS Executive Committee Members, the ARCS organization and members, Dr. Richard Vaughan (my past chair) and Dr. Cynthia Graves (my PD) for affording me this opportunity and offering their support. I look forward to being the ARCS consultant for the upcoming year and seeing everyone in Chicago ne xt year. Let u s hope the sunshine and warmth will follow us to another great conference.
Linda Shaffer – ARCS President 2013
2014
Chicago, Illinois
The windy city welcomed 46 new and seasoned coordinators to the new coordinators workshop on Monday.
On Tuesday we kicked off the official ARCS meeting with over 225 coordinators in attendance. The program was packed full starting with the first professional development session and keynote speaker Greg Risberg who inspired all in attendance on “How to Stay Energized in a Changing World”. The other professional development sessions were “Getting a 2nd Chance” presented by Juanita Braxton and Maggie Tarpley presented “Communication Professional Competence: Resume, Interpersonal Exchanges and Public Presentations
Attendees received updates from Dr. James Hebert, Peggy Simpson and Dr. John Potts on the RRC, ACGME and Case Logs. Judy Olenwine gave a TAGME update. Dr. Rick Burkhart updated us on the Resident Attrition and the American Board of Surgery update was presented by Barbara Jalbert Gerkens.
This year the program had three breakout sessions Who’s Number 1?, Clinical Competence Committee-Merging Milestones and Evaluation for Effective Resident Assessment-Part 1 and Clinical Competency Committee and Milestones: How to Do It at Your Institution A Working Group Session-Part II. New Innovations and E*Value both gave updates on many new features that their programs have to offer to assist many of us with the milestones. We had a wonderful session on Optimization of a 4th Year Surgery Elective Clerkship Curriculum in an Independent Academic Surgical Residency Program while others had a session on 3 Things you Should Know about FSC.
The 2014 Coordinators Recognition Award was presented to Kim Agretto of Easton Hospital. Kim was nominated by her Program Director and has been a coordinator for over 13 years and a Past President of ARCS. Kim’s residents could not be in attendance for her award but sent a video expressing their gratitude of Kim’s hard work. Kim had been someone that inspired e since my first meeting in 2006. It was a true honor for me to present this prestigious award to her.
For the 7th consecutive year the ARCS Executive Committee was asked to participate in the ACS student Education session for the 3rd and 4th year medical students at the American College of Surgeons 2013 Annual Clinical Congress in Washington D.C. on October.
Other presentations that rounded out the conference were “Modernizing the Interview Process for the Preliminary Candidate: The Evolution from Face-to-Face Time and Airline rewards to Skype”, “Choice of Specialty”, “Residency: What is Was, Is and (Should/Could Be)”, Holding Them Accountable: Encouraging Professional Habits Without Hand Holding”, “Resident Boot Camp” and “Contrasting Perspectives on recruitment, Educational Needs & Mentorship of Preliminary R1’s”.
It was my honor and privilege to serve as President of the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery and I have grown both personally and professionally from my experience on the ARCS Executive Committee. I would like to give a huge thank you to those that presented and to the ARCS Executive Committee for their time and dedication and to all the ARCS members. I would also like to thank Dr. Gerald Zelenock my chairman and Dr. Munier Nazzal my program director for their support and affording me this opportunity. I am looking forward to seeing everyone in Seattle next year.
Mary Burda - ARCS President 2014
2015
Seattle, Washington
The Emerald City’s usual wet and cloudy climate was not so dreary when we arrived!
We began our meeting w ith the New C oordinator’s Workshop on Monday, April 20th, with a very good turnout of new coordinators. The committee updated the requirement for NCWS attendees to 0-3 years of experience as a coordinator. The ARCS Executive Committee decided to shake things up a bit; we spent most of the day reviewing and talking through the ARCS Handbook. Our evaluations on the sessions were positive. On Tuesday, we began our full ARCS program with Dr. John Tarpley, former Program Director at Vanderbilt, kicking off our meeting with the ARCS Keynote Address of an inspiring talk. Stephanie Hermes & Kim Echert spoke to our membership about using ACS FSC data to gain insight into resident learning behaviors. Attendees received a TAGME update from Judy Olenwine, a SCORE update from Mark Hickey, ACGME/RRC updates from Dr. Potts & Takanishi and Ms. Lamb, and an ABS update from Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens. We had five breakout sessions: The Program’s Grade Book: Back to the Basics presented by Jennifer Shieck from the University of California Riverside; How to Excel with Excel presented by Jessica Roof & Anna Marie DeBolt, Carolinas Medical Center; Using Operative Log Reports to Manage Your Residency presented by Judith Olenwine, Lehigh Valley Health Network; New Innovations – Practical Demonstration presented by Cathi Cooney, Cooper Health; E*Value – Practical Demonstration: Your New Best Friend-Program/Resident Portfolio presented by Linda Shaffer. We had four professional development sessions: Leading through Change: the Coordinator’s Role presented by Allison Jones, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital; Generational Methodology Differences presented by Sara Kidd-Romero, University of Maryland Medical Center, L Robin Newcomb, Johns Hopkins Hospital & Jean Sturdivant, Sinai Hospital; Chattanooga Surgery – Adversity and Change presented by Cindy Schultz Rudolph, University of Tennessee College of Medicine; and What I’ve Learned & What I Wish I Knew presented by Eileen Kleffner, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Ginger Hildebrand, University of Tennessee Medical Center. ERAS sought us out to be included in our meeting this year. They were well received and had good information to share with our membership. Margaret Tarpley’s presentation on Cultural Diversity was a great segue into the presentation by Drs. Dane Smith & April Grant, including Darlene Norton from Greenville Health System on the benefit of a global surgery rotation in a General Surgery residency program. Our meeting wrapped up with the third and final door prize of our stay in Seattle.
The 2015 Coordinator Recognition Award was presented to Anita Hagan of Stanford University. Anita was nominated by her program Director, Dr. Marc Melcher, and has served for over 14 years as the residency coordinator. Her time with the residency program spans three Program Directors, four Associate Program Directors, four assistant coordinators, and over a decade of surgical residents. In his nomination letter, Dr. Melcher describes Anita as caring, hard-working, loyal, dedicated and selfless. “Her institutional memory, experience, and initiative is a combination that gives Anita the edge required to keep up with the ever changing and challenging residency educational environment.” Anita has an incredible work ethic and is committed to her residents and her peers. Congratulations, Anita!
Since 2007 the ARCS Executive Committee has worked with the American College of Surgeons to help educate medical students interested in General Surgery. The committee has been asked again to present and share important information at the Clinical Congress in October 2015.
It was my privilege and honor to serve as ARCS president. I’ve learned many things, professionally and personally during my time on the Executive Committee, not to mention the relationships I’ve gained. I would like to thank the ARCS Executive Committee for their hard work, dedication and many good times! I would also like to thank Dr. John Tarpley (my former Program Director) and Dr. Kyla Terhune (my current Program Director) for offering their support. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Boston and attending another great conference!
Stephanie Rowe Burnham – ARCS President 2015
2016
Boston, Massachusetts
Our 29th meeting! Boston welcomed the ARCS annual conference with the Boston Marathon. We started our conference on Wednesday, April 13, 2015 with the new coordinator workshop followed by the Annual ARCS conference from Thursday, April 14 to Saturday, April 16, 2016. We had members from all across the states and even one from Lebanon. At the new coordinator workshop, the ARCS Executive Committee (ARCS EC) highlighted the Academic year timeline events of a residency coordinator and broke into round table discussions during the second half of the session. These workshops were a major success based on the evaluation summaries. On Thursday, April 14, we began our first day of our annual ARCS conference. Our day started with a presentation from Donna Guinto (Thomas Jefferson University) and Lauren Hook (Albert Einstein Health Care Network) on NAS Site Visit. Following their presentation, our keynote speaker from ACGME Dr. Timothy Brigham presented on Resident and Faculty Well Being. Dr. Brigham presentation on faculty and resident well-being was an eye opener for many coordinators in the mental health of many residents. Following our keynote speaker presentation, we took a short break and continue our presentations from other ARCS members, ABS, and ACGME. The following presentations were presented:
ACGME Milestones: A community program answer to the ACGME Milestone evaluation by Kim Agretto (Easton Hospital )
Professional Development: Time Management: Are you managing your time, or is your time managing you? by Lisa Olson and Robin Newcomb (Medical College of Wisconsin)
Evaluations, Forms and Surveys: Oh My! by Jessica Roof and Anna Marie DeBolt (Carolina Medical Center)
Skills/FEC/FES by Drs. John Scott and Kyle Conway (Greenville Health System)
TAGME update by Judith Olenwine
Accurately and Efficiently Reviewing Resident Milestones by Terri Mead, Lori Bybee and Daniel Vargo (University of Utah)
Professional Development: Using the framework of appreciative inquiry to lead culture change: changing culture: see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil by SuAnn White and Dr. Alix Darden (University of Oklahoma)
Teamwork and Surgical Residents: Team based education in surgical residency: a new paradigm by Ashley McGinity, Travis Holloway and Eileen Kleffner (UT Health Science Center San Antonio)
Coordinating in new residency programs: initial accreditation, program design and the coordinator – a year in the life of a coordinator without residents by Donna Brown (University of Texas –Rio Grand Valley)
Everything you ever wanted to know about ACS FSC but were afraid to ask by Dr. Patricia Numann, Patrice Blair, and Stepahanie Hermes (ABS)
ACGME updates by Donna Lamb (ACGME)
ABS updates by Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens (ABS)
Professional Development: Coordinator’s resume by Margaret Trapley and Stephanie Burham (Vanderbilt)
This week in SCORE by Drs. Robert Josloff and Christopher Pezzi (Abington Hospital)
Preparing the next generation of general surgeons with ACS transition of practice program by Drs. Robert Josloff and Christopher Pezzi (Abington Hospital)
A residency coordinator for over 20 years, Judith Olenwine from Lehigh Valley Health Network, not only oversees the General Surgery, Colon/Rectal, Plastic Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care programs, but also served as the Chair for the Surgery Training Administrators Certification and Assessment Tool Quality Review Committee residency program. Judith was duly recognized and was presented with the 2016 Coordinator Recognition Award. Congratulations Judith!
2015 marked the 9th year the ARCS EC worked with the American College of Surgeons at the Clinical Congress. At the October meeting in Chicago, we presented to the medical students on topics relevant to the planning of their residency in surgery. The following topics were presented to the medical students: Preparing for interview Day- Tips and Tricks from the Experts, Useful Information for International Medical Students, Tips and Tricks for NRMP/SOAP, I’ve Matched? – Now What, Considerations for Your Residency and A Day in the Life of an Intern – Tips for the First Months of Residency.
It’s been a great honor to serve as the President of the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery. I have grown personally and professionally through all the members of ARCS and lifetime friendship that was created. I would like to thank the ARCS EC for their hard work and making Boston conference a success. I would also like to thank the past Presidents of ARCS for providing mentorship. Finally, I would like to thank the Department of Surgery at UCLA for support. I look forward to seeing everyone in San Diego.
Chi Quach - ARCS President 2016.
2017
San Diego, California
The 30th year for ARCS was held in sunny San Diego. We began our conference on Monday morning, April 17 at 8:00 am with a warm welcome to our new coordinators ranging from 1-3 years. As President of ARCS we began with an introduction from the Executive Committee and a welcome from the APDS President. To break the ice of nervousness, we thought we would have some fun. Dawn Fountain, C-TAGME and Donna Heyduk, C-TAGME put together Bingo Acronyms followed by a presentation from APDS Board Member Dr. Farin Amersi on Integrating Associate Program Directors into Surgical Education. After a brief break, I reviewed the Academic Year Timeline. We thought it would be best to highlight the critical topics within the timeline with further explanation: GME Track, Frieda, NRMP and ERAS by Susan Ratliff, C-TAGME; Recruitment by Donna Heyduk, C-TAGME; Orientation/Graduation by Jessica Roof; ACGME Case Logs and FEC, FLS, FUS, ATLS and Simulation by Darlene Norton, C-TAGME; ACGME, Web Ads, ABS Annual Updates and ABS Board Application – QE & CE by Chi Quach; Milestones and CCC Meetings by Jessica Roof; ABSITE by SuAnn White, C-TAGME and Program Evaluation Committee (PEC and Annual Program Evaluation (APE) by Dawn Fountain, C-TAGME. During the last hour of the day we divided everyone into years of services for questions and answers. Later that evening members participated in a Dutch Treat Dinner.
On Tuesday, April 18, we began the first day of the annual ARCS Conference with welcoming remarks and special announcements. Dr. Daniel Dent, President of APDS, San Antonio, TX gave his welcome to ARCS. Next on the agenda was the ARCS Keynote Speaker, Amy C. Day, MBA, Director of Graduate Medical Education School of Medicine Dean's Office University of California, San Francisco, CA. Ms. Day presenting "Herding Carts: Effectively Managing Others: Up, Down and Sideways!
American Board of Surgery Updates by Barbara Jalbert-Gerkens, American Board of Surgery, Philadelphia, PA.
Score Updates by Mr. Mark Hickey, SCORE Chief Operating Officer.
Following our lunch, the Newest Coordinator Award was given to Kylene Smartis, North Georgia Health System. Welcome Kylene!
Dawn Fountain C-TAGME, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, KS gave a sincere presentation regarding this year Project Bob Fundraiser "Girls on the Run". We exceeded our fundraising goal raising $595. A million thanks from everyone who participated and a special thank you to Dawn for heading Project Bob the last several years.
Resident Recruitment: Best Practices from Multiple Institutions; Sandy DelCoglin, C-TAGME, Christina Care Health System, Judy Olenwine, C-TAGME Lehigh Valley Health Network, Donna Guinto, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Juanita Braxton, C-TAGME, University of California, Gretchen Lynch, Florida Atlanta University.
This year we had two Breakout Sessions: Med Hub – Michael Benge, University of Colorado, Moderator Jessica Roof and New Innovations – Laura Hook, Einstein Medical Center, Moderator Donna Heyduk, C-TAGME.
We ended the day's session with FES Certification – Rules of Engagement and How a Community is Answering the Call: Carla Bryant, MHR, BA – SAGES; Jessica Mischna, BAA, FES, Kim Agretto, C-TAGME, Easton Hospital.
Later that evening ARCS had a special 30th Anniversary Celebration Reception and Dinner. Invocation was given by Dr. Lowell Chambers, Mount Carmel Health Columbus, Ohio.
Guest speakers included APDS President Daniel Dent and Donna Lamb Executive Director, Surgical Accreditation, RRC for Surgery. We had a wonderful dinner and lovely dessert selected by Tom Fise, Executive Director APDS. We ended the evening with a special trip down memory lane given by Historian and Past President of ARCS, Linda Shaffer, C-TAGME. All past Presidents and their Executive Committee where all recognized and a pearl necklace was given to the past Presidents as a token of appreciation for their leadership.
Wednesday, April 19 started out strong with TAGME Updates and the recognition of several new certified TAGME members from Linda Shaffer, C-TAGME Wester Virginia. SuAnn White, C-TAGME, University of Oklahoma gave the Mentor/Mentee Updates. The winner for this year's Mentor/Mentee award went to Lauren Hook from Einstein Philadelphia.
Every year, The Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery recognizes one Coordinator, nominated by her program director and members of her residency who has consistently gone above and beyond. This year's winner was awarded a crystal plaque as an extra thank you for all that she has given to her program and to ARCS. She has been a program coordinator for 27 years and certified by TAGME. The letter I received from her program director mentioned her as "superlative, the back bone of our surgical education program, she has been a sister, a mother, a shoulder to cry on and taskmaster for her surgical residents". It was a pleasure to announce this year's winner of the Program Coordinator Recognition Award. Congratulations Sandy DelCoglin from Christina Care Newark, Delaware!
Using Electronic Formative Feedback – Quicknotes Dr. Lowell Chambers, MD Program Director, Mount Carmel Health System and Lillian Badurina, President ARCS, Mount Carmel Health System.
We resumed our program following the Presidential Address by Dr. Dan Dent with Can Resident Morale Make or Break Program? Alessandra Landman, MD, Jason Lees, MD, Arpit Patel, MD and SuAnn White, C-TAGME University of Oklahoma.
We had two very outstanding Professional Development Sessions: I am a Residency Coordinator...hear me roar! Darlene Norton, C-TAGME Greenville Health System and Jessica Roof Carolinas Health Care system. Our second PDS was Resident and Physician Wellbeing in General Surgery Amanda Bailey, DO and Linda Shaffer, C-TAGME West Virginal University.
It's always nice to hear from Dr. Donna Lamb Executive Director, Surgical Accreditation, RRC for Surgery with Updates and Announcement from ACGME and to close Thursday session was the results from our Research Outcomes of Survey by the 2016-2017 ARCS Executive Committee. Reporting for the EC was Darlene Norton, C-TAGME Greenville Health System and Susan Ratliff, C-TAGME Emory University. Another day comes to an end and we are off to the APDS/ASE/ARCS Joint Reception.
Our final day was Thursday April 20th with morning announcements from Lillian Badurina who introduced the 2017-2018 Executive Committee. As mentioned before we had our second professional development session that morning, attended the APDS Keynote Address and then our two final presenters took the stage; 360 Documentation of Adverse Action by Rhonda Peavy, Creighton University and Evaluation Compliance by Michael Benge, University of Colorado. Thank you to all our 2016-2017 presenters!
It has been a great honor to serve as your President of the Executive Committee of the Association of Residency Coordinators in Surgery. I have worked with so many loyal and compassionate administrators who have helped bridged our organization into the future. This year we have been successful in reaching so many milestones. Thank you to APDS for approving our request to change the name of our organization to the Association of Program Administrator in Surgery. Thank you to all the members who participated in our first survey and our first presentation of our results to the Association of Program Directors and members of ARCS. We submitted our first manuscript and it has been accepted for publication to the Journal of Surgical Education which should appear in the November issue and we had a wonderful celebration for the 30th Anniversary of ARCS. In closing, I would like to personally thank each member of the Executive Committee who helped me lead the way to new beginnings and their dedication and hard work to make a successful program in San Diego. Finally, I would like to thank the Mount Carmel Health Department of Surgery Residency for their encouragement and support they have given these last five years. I would also like to thank Dr. Thomas Hartranft (my former Program Director), Dr. Lowell Chambers (my current Program Director), and David Aufdencamp, GME Operations for offering their support and to my family who is very proud of my accomplishments. I have met so many friends that I will cherish forever. I hope to see you all in Austin in 2018!
Lillian Badurina
President 2016-2017
