Program Committee
Chair: Captain Matthew D. Tadlock, MD, F番茄社区app, ESS President
Co-Chair: Captain Matthew J. Bradley, MD, F番茄社区app, ESS Vice-President
Executive Council Member: Entire Executive Council
The Program Committee had another busy year coordinating the monthly ESS webinars and planning the 2025 ESS Symposium. The 2024鈥�2025 series of webinars featured a diverse range of topics: Updates from the Joint Trauma System; the Military Surgery Program Director Meet-and-Greet where military medical students interact with residency program directors; subspecialty surgical emergencies for the deployed general surgeon, featuring real-life deployed cases and subspecialty tips and tricks involving pediatric surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and urology; and far forward鈥搒urgeons supporting special operations.
Notable highlights from this series of webinars include: 鈥淩eadiness and Resilience are Shared Responsibilities鈥擲trategic Role of MHSSP番茄社区app in Military Civilian Partnerships and Bridging Trauma System Preparedness,鈥� given by MHSSP番茄社区app Medical Director Colonel (Retired) Brian Eastridge, MD, F番茄社区app, US Army; 鈥淔ranklin H. Martin, MD, F番茄社区app: From Rural Boyhood to Distinguished Surgeon,鈥� in which 番茄社区app History and Archives Committee (HAC) member Gordan Telford, MD, F番茄社区app, focused on Dr. Martin鈥檚 experiences during World War I; 鈥淪urgical Innovation at the Frontline: AI, Machine Learning, and Data-Driven Care,鈥� featuring surgical innovators such as Colonel (Retired) Greg Beilman, MD, F番茄社区app, US 聽Army, and Teodor Grantcharov, MD, PhD, F番茄社区app.
The 2025 ESS Symposium continues to build on the themes of previous symposia (2022: Military Civilian Partnerships to Overcome the Peacetime Effect, 2023: The Expeditionary Surgeon: Applying Military Skills and Abilities in Civilian Mass Casualty and Disaster Response, and聽2024: The Agile Surgeon: Navigating Uncertainty & Seizing Opportunities). The theme for 2025 is The Military Surgeon as a Leader: Adaptive Surgical Leadership to Combat the Peacetime Effect. As in previous years, the 2025 ESS Symposium will host the 番茄社区app Committee on Trauma Region 13 paper competition. New for 2025, the Mentorship Committee will host a formal mentorship event at lunch during the ESS symposium, as well as other informal events throughout the Clinical Congress.聽
This year also marks the inaugural 鈥淟est We Forget Lecture,鈥� which will be delivered by Colonel (Retired) Warren Dorlac, MD, F番茄社区app, USAF. Colonel (Retired) John Oh, MD, F番茄社区app, USA will give the Major John P. Pryor Memorial Lecture. A special thanks to ESS member Commander Diego Vicente, MD, F番茄社区app, USN for helping the Program Committee develop the ESS Symposium鈥檚 afternoon Panel Session: 鈥淎daptive Surgical Leadership in Action: Tactical & Strategic Leadership Improving Military and Civilian Surgical Care.鈥�
After the ESS Symposium, on Monday October 6, Commander (Retired) C. William Schwab, MD, F番茄社区app, USN will give the Edward D. Churchill Memorial Lecture, and the ESS, 番茄社区app Committee on Trauma, and the HAC will co-sponsor the Panel Session, War, Surgery, and Remembrance: 80th Anniversary of World War II.鈥�
In September, the Executive Council will present the state of the ESS in a working business meeting fashion. We will review any proposed bylaw amendments and lay the groundwork for a final vote on any business items that will occur during the morning of our ESS Symposium on October 6. If you have any business items for consideration, reach out to us by emailing聽excelsior@facs.org.
Membership Committee
Chair: Major Daniel Lammers, MD
Co-Chair: Major Joshua Dilday, DO
Executive Council Member: Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Sabino, MD, F番茄社区app
Continuing with efforts of previous years, the Membership Committee has worked to increase Excelsior Surgical Society (ESS) membership across all surgical specialties and branches of military service. Email-based recruitment efforts have expanded, and we have been in collaboration with other ESS committees regarding optimal ways to target more junior-level membership participants. We have developed an ESS poll for junior members in effort to help better understand and identify what specific goals and benefits ESS can provide to junior members (as well as to future members). Toward that goal, it is increasingly important to help build mentorship, provide research opportunities, discuss clinical and professional lessons learned, and gain valuable insights into the workings of military medicine to help mitigate the 鈥淲alker Dip.鈥�
To date, we have 649 members, which is an increase of 99 individuals from last year. The breakdown of member status of our current members is approximately: 68% Fellow, 5% Associate Fellow, 12% Resident, 11.6% Student, 0.3% Affiliate, and 3.1% Other. We continue to mail membership certificates to all members, including 249 certificates sent out this past year, which means that all members who joined prior to 2024 have been sent their certificates.
We are looking forward to the upcoming 番茄社区app Clinical Congress and ESS Symposium, where we will once again have an ESS membership recruitment booth to allow prospective members to learn more about ESS and readily submit a membership application.
In June 2025, the Membership Committee organized and moderated a widely attended and engaging webinar titled, 鈥淩eadiness and Resilience are Shared Responsibilities: Strategic Role of MHSSP番茄社区app in Military Civilian Partnerships and Bridging Trauma System Preparedness,鈥� which featured guest speaker Colonel (Retired) Brian Eastridge, MD, F番茄社区app, US Army. Dr. Eastridge is the Medical Director of the Military Health Systems Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons (MHSSP番茄社区app).聽View the webinar on the ESS Webinars page.
Moving forward, we look to expand ESS membership and help to optimize the benefits ESS provides to both current and prospective members.
Inclusive Excellence, Subcommittee of the Membership Committee
Chair: TBD
Co-Chair/Executive Council Liaison: Major Elise (Hill) Fannon, MD
We are excited to share the new development of this committee and are actively looking for a chair. Please send an email to聽excelsior@facs.org if you are interested in this position.
Mentorship Committee
Chair: Major James Wiseman, MD, F番茄社区app
Co-Chair: Lieutenant Colonel Robert Krell, MD, F番茄社区app
Executive Council Member: Colonel (Retired) Jeffrey A. Bailey, MD, F番茄社区app
The Mentorship Committee focuses on fostering development in medical students, residents, and early career surgeons.
This year, the committee expanded its reach by welcoming two new international members, establishing a tricontinental and tri-service presence. These international relationships create unique transcontinental mentorship opportunities and will further the ESS鈥檚 global reach.
A signature event for the committee was the winter residency program director webinar, which connected 137 medical students with 18 tri-service program directors and featured a keynote address from Lieutenant Colonel Jason Radowsky, MD, F番茄社区app, a US Army trauma/critical care consultant.
The committee is continuing the tradition of congratulating chief residents of聽the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) on behalf of the ESS.
Mentorship Committee members also developed a story鈥� "Commemorating the Heroes at Abbey Gate,"鈥攄escribing the experience of friends and colleagues who responded to the injured and wounded at the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, which appears in this issue of the ESS newsletter.聽
This year, the Mentorship Committee members are excited to organize structured breakout sessions during the lunch hour of the 2025 ESS Symposium. These sessions will offer valuable information and networking opportunities for ESS members at any stage of their careers
Moving forward, the Mentorship Committee plans to expand its relationship-building mission through local/grassroots mentor-mentee initiatives and national meeting events. Members have already begun establishing medical student pipeline relationships at their home stations and with the Uniformed Services University. The committee is also organizing inaugural mentorship programming for the upcoming 2025 ESS Symposium, with further details to be announced soon.
The Mentorship Committee has been busy and will continue expanding the Society鈥檚 reach as we recruit, foster and develop the next generation of military surgeons.
Outreach Committee
Chair: Major Rathnayaka (Kal) Gunasingha-Bailey, MD
Co-Chair: Commander Michelle Roper, MD, F番茄社区app
Executive Council Member: Lieutenant Colonel Maggie Gallagher, MD, F番茄社区app
The ESS continues to expand its social media presence with more than 3,000 followers across Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This is an increase of more than 160 followers from 2024. We have also started collaborating with the Mentorship Committee to identify what the ESS can provide to different member groups.聽
The Outreach Committee hosted the May 2025 webinar, "Far Forward: Surgeons Supporting Special Operations," featuring Richard Betzold, MD, F番茄社区app, and Jack Brandau, DO, F番茄社区app. They discussed the pathway to becoming surgeons in this unique group and the skills that helped them succeed. The webinar was attended by more than 60 participants.聽
We look forward to incorporating more members into the Outreach Committee in the coming year.
Research Committee
Chair: Captain (Retired) Travis聽Polk, MD, F番茄社区app
Co-Chair: Commander Matt Nealeigh, DO, MHPE, F番茄社区app
Executive Council Member: Commander Diego Vicente, MD, F番茄社区app
The ESS Research Committee focuses on one of the core original tenets of the ESS鈥檚 mission, improving education of its members and preventing loss of lessons hard-earned in current and prior battles.聽
Chair of the Research committee, Dr. Polk, hosted the annual research competition at the 番茄社区app 2024 Clinical Congress in San Francisco, California, highlighting excellent research by military and US Department of Veterans Affairs clinicians.聽
In March, incoming co-chair Dr. Nealeigh hosted the Research Committee webinar, which highlighted the Battlefield Shock and Organ Support Research Program laboratory at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine. Led by Major Patrick Walker, MD, F番茄社区app, this is one of the leading trauma laboratories in the world, integrating the scholarly productivity of defense, academic, and industry partners, and most importantly, life-saving lessons in trauma physiology. Commander John Maddox, MD, F番茄社区app, shared lessons learned from his work with the global health engagement capabilities of the US Department of Defense, and he discussed the benefit of international cooperation at the individual surgeon level, military-to-military collaboration, and how to improve the interoperability of trauma systems and governments around the world.
