August 19, 2004
Strauss Lecturer to speak on overhauling residencies
“The Overhauling of Graduate Medical Education: The Time Has Come” is the title for the Department of Surgery’s 55th annual Alfred A. Struass Lecture, set for 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 17, in Hogness Auditorium at the Health Sciences Center.
The speaker is Dr. L.D. Britt, Brickhouse professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He is an internationally recognized trauma surgeon and a leader in surgical professional organizations and medical education advisory groups.
In a brief abstract of the lecture, Britt wrote: “Never before have there been so many challenges to the three major missions of academic surgery — education, clinical practice, and research. Advanced technology, short-stay admissions, declining reimbursement, medical liability, specialty apathy, duty- hour limitations, and compliance regulations have prompted many educators to call for a complete overhaul of graduate medical education. Such a ‘renaissance’ for GME needs to be meticulously orchestrated, with all stakeholders providing meaningful input.”
A native of Suffolk, Va., he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and then went on to graduate from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. The first African-American to hold an endowed chair in surgery, he is also a reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine and a member of several editorial boards for surgical journals.
He is on the Board of Regents for the American College of Surgeons and the Executive Board of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination. He was recently elected vice chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee for Surgery.
Britt has received the nationwide Glaser Distinguished Teaching Award, given by the American Association of Medical Colleges in conjunction with the national medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha, and has been honored as outstanding teacher of the year eight times by Eastern Virginia Medical School. He also received Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award, presented by the governor for excellence in teaching, research and public service.
He was recently nominated by President Bush to the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and confirmed by the Senate.
The lecture honors the late Dr. Alfred Strauss, a 1904 UW graduate who went on to earn an M.D. degree from Rush Medical College of Chicago. As an indication of his continued interest in the UW, Strauss began sponsoring annual surgical lectureships at the School of Medicine in 1950. Sponsorship of the Strauss Lecture was maintained for many years by Margery Friedlander, Strauss’ daughter, until her death this spring, and is continued by her family.
